Syracuse (3-1, 1-1 ACC) goes on their first road trip of the season to take on UNLV on Friday evening.

Opponent: UNLV Rebels

Date & Time: Friday, Oct. 4, 9:00 p.m.

Location: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

TV: FS1

While #25 UNLV has been a topic of conversation in the college football world recently for off-field reasons, they made an on-field statement last week under new starting quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams, manhandling Fresno State, 59-14. Williams passed for 182 yards and three touchdowns while adding 119 yards and another score on the ground against the Bulldogs, presenting a dual threat similar to Stanford’s quarterback, Ashton Daniels.

Williams is backed by a committee of running backs (five players between 13 and 28 carries on the season) and aided by a primary receiving threat in Ricky White III, who has 20 catches for 253 yards and five scores with nearly half of that (10 receptions for 127 yards and two scores) coming in the Fresno State game.

It was not just the offense that was spurred on last week, as the Rebel defense held Fresno State to under a yard per rush attempt while piling up four sacks and four interceptions.

Their special teams also made big contributions by returning a blocked punt for a touchdown and adding a kickoff return touchdown. UNLV seems to be firing on all cylinders with some preliminary discussion about the college football playoffs, making this road trip a clear step up from what Syracuse has seen to this point of the season.

Perhaps more concerning over just last week’s performance is that, with sacks removed, UNLV averages 6.04 yards per rush. The SU defense has allowed 5.22 yards per carry on the season, including exhibiting issues stopping quarterbacks on the ground, as they gave up 67 yards on six carries to Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and 53 yards on 12 rush attempts to Daniels.

The task for Kyle McCord and his offensive mates is to offset that UNLV ground game against the hosts’ defense, which has logged 13 sacks and nine interceptions, the latter tied for second in the nation. Syracuse stands third in NCAAF in passing yards per game, so how the offense handles this challenge should go a long way toward seeing if they can pull off the upset.

The Rebels, however, looked galvanized last week and are welcoming an Orange team that is traveling across three time zones for a late kickoff time on a short week. It all proves to be a little too much for SU to overcome, setting up a long flight home to Central New York as UNLV takes this one, 34-28.

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