Syracuse Orange v. Western Michigan Broncos Prediction & Preview (9/9/23)

Syracuse will look to improve to 2-0 on the season when it hosts Western Michigan on Saturday.

Opponent: Western Michigan (1-0)

Date & Time: Saturday, Sept. 9, 3:30 p.m.

Location: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.

TV: ACCNX

First year Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor is no stranger to coaching in the Dome.

Taylor replaced former Syracuse offensive coordinator Tim Lester last December after Lester's first losing season in six years as Broncos head coach. That caused athletic director Dan Bartholomae to go in another direction with the program's leadership.

(Lester moved on to a Senior Analyst role for Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, a college teammate at WMU.)

Taylor served as Louisville's offensive coordinator in 2022, including the season-opening 31-7 Syracuse victory over UL, his team plagued by three turnovers and an inspired 'Cuse overall performance.

Last week in his head coaching debut, Taylor watched WMU pull away from FCS member St. Francis (Pa.) 35-17 gaining 509 yards of offense, the majority on the ground (67 attempts), but like Syracuse did in its 65-0 blitz of Colgate, kept the total game plan condensed.

Look for the Broncos to attempt to pass the ball more Saturday (Taylor called a wide receiver sweep/pass play that gained 45 yards and a near touchdown for UL vs. SU last season), set up by the run.

For Syracuse, Garrett Shrader figures to be itching to get right back to game action after coming out for all but the first series of the second half against Colgate, while OC Jason Beck figures to start testing the Western Michigan secondary early (victims of a 77 yard TD pass play last week) with his array of receiving options.

Defensively, it will be interesting to see how many quarters Rocky Long's unit goes before giving up its first points, the opponent a step-up from FCS to Mid-American Conference, and what is the over/under on those annoying Syracuse penalties? Five? Six?

That aspect of the game, self-forced errors, has to be cleaned up by the coaching staff.

After SU wins the coin toss and receives the kickoff, Shrader methodically leads the Orange downfield for an early 7-0 lead on his 3-yard keeper.

The 'Cuse builds on a 21-3 halftime lead to win going away, and just as importantly, escape relatively unscathed on the injury front as Syracuse rolls to a 38-10 win.

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