Syracuse Football: Is This A Must-Win Game for the Orange?

With back to back losses to Louisville and USF, how important is this game for Syracuse football? The Orange are currently 3.5-point underdogs to the Huskies.

Isn’t it ludicrous to ponder whether a team, in the midst of a complete overhaul, would have any must-win games in year No. 1 of the rebuild? For the Syracuse football team, there’s a new sheriff in town patrolling the sidelines. It takes time to implement a new system, so it’s foolish to expect microwaved results.

"“We’re in the beginning stages because of where we started from,” Babers said in his weekly press conference. “I’ve said that out of all the places I’ve been, this is going to be the toughest transition I’ve ever had because of what was taught previously taught before we got here.”"

Now before you scream “shots fired” at the top of your lungs, he proceeded to quell that very narrative. Babers said it’s not that his predecessors were “wrong” in their teachings, it just drastically differs from his philosophy. And naturally, that kind of dichotomy presents a tough challenge for any coach, especially at the collegiate level.

But an interesting question surfaced a few months ago on ESPN Syracuse. Would you rather SU go 5-7 and beat a ranked team or finish 6-6 with eligibility for a bowl game not having knocked off any of those significantly superior opponents? If perhaps you gravitated toward the latter, then this game against UConn becomes critical and dare I say…must…win.

Barring something catastrophic, the Orange will be heavy underdogs against Florida St., Clemson, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. And not that spreads are gospel, but assuming they prove to be, that would give the Orange six losses on the season. The rest of their schedule consists of toss-ups against Wake Forest, Boston College, N.C. State, this weekend’s game against UConn and maybe you could throw Virginia Tech into that mix.

In program history, the Orange are 4-0 against the Demon Deacons and the average margin of victory is 14. Scott Shafer’s tenure ended with a game winning field goal against B.C., courtesy of Cole Murphy last year. And quarterback Eric Dungey didn’t play in the loss to the Wolfpack. So, at least on paper, these could be winnable games for the Orange in this year’s campaign. And the Hokies have looked impressive thus far, but they’re in a new era with a new head coach. There’s the element of the unknown in that regard.

But first thing’s first for the Orange. The Huskies are 2-1 on the season with both victories coming on game-winning field goals by Bobby Puyol. Their lone loss came against Navy in Week 2 on a potential game winning drive that was stymied on the half-yard line. This is a team that could realistically be 3-0 on the year and is favored by 3.5 points at home against the Orange.

Syracuse comes into this contest with a sense of urgency with consecutive blowout losses at home in the rear-view mirror. Eric Dungey was incredibly efficient in that season-opening victory against Colgate. Since then, he has struggled in that department. He’ll need to get it going against a UConn team that ranks 56th in the country in defense.

And the Orange are hoping to get production from running back Dontae Strickland, who had his best game of the young season in the loss to USF. Assuming the defense does its job, this combination should be enough to corral a victory.

So if the Orange have any hope of getting to a bowl game this year, this is probably one of those “must-win” games. I know we loathe that term, especially when it comes during the fourth week of a season. But how does Syracuse possibly get to 6-6 sans a win this weekend?