Syracuse Football: Orange v. Wake Forest Preview

The Syracuse Orange and  the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are in a battle to stay out of the cellar of the ACC. Can SU get the running game going?

We’re a few hours shy of kickoff between the Syracuse football team and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. For many, this is a season-defining game. A win wouldn’t necessarily clinch a non-last place season, but it would continue the “at least we didn’t lose to Wake Forest” narrative.

With Hurricane Matthew running its course, weather could play a factor in this game. Quarterback Eric Dungey is 6th in the country in passing yards, but the rain could put a damper on the Orange’s gameplan. This could mean a more concerted effort to develop a rushing attack, which has been one of the team’s weaknesses this year.

Of the 128 teams in college football, the Orange are 111th in rushing yards per game (125.0). And when you factor in Dungey has five of the team’s six rushing touchdowns, that just shows the running game isn’t quite where Dino Babers would like it to be.

This is the type of game we might see Dontae Strickland look to make his presence felt early and often. His best game came in Syracuse’s 45-20 loss at home against USF when he rushed for 127 yards on 30 carries. On the opening drive we saw a heavy dose of Strickland, as the Orange looked to create that dual attack with both the passing and running game.

But outside of that performance, Strickland has been pretty pedestrian, failing to rush for more than 51 yards in the other four games played. He’s also yet to rush for a touchdown this season. Part of that issue isn’t really his fault. Syracuse has scored a bunch of touchdowns on deep-pass plays. And as previously mentioned, Dungey has taken matters into his own hands, or legs rather, frequently. But because of how much success he’s had, teams might be better prepared to stop him…paging Dontae Strickland.

For Wake Forest, they’ll still be without quarterback Kendall Hinton, who suffered a sprained PCL a few weeks ago. John Wolford has split some of the action with Hinton in the five games this year and is coming off a solid game in the loss to Duke. But the Orange remember his Carrier Dome performance last year. Though SU won the game 30-17, Wolford went 30-of-45 for 373 yards. This was perhaps his best game of the season. Unfortunately for Wake Forest, he was victimized by three critical interceptions.

Even if Wolford has similar success like last year against the Orange’s defense, Dungey is capable of matching him. He could become the first player in program history to have four straight games of 300 passing yards. That’s remarkable.

But Mother Nature might have her imprints all over this game, so offense could be limited. And with the wet conditions possibly inducing sloppiness, turnovers, and special teams could be the story of this game. Syracuse is hoping that story is different from the one written last week in the loss to Notre Dame.

This isn’t quite the heavyweight match-up from last week that featured Louisville and Clemson. But it’s a pretty important game for both teams. With a win, Wake Forest would capture its 5th win of the year, which would be the most since 2012. Furthermore, a bowl game would be in striking distance for the Demon Deacons, who haven’t had winning record since 2008.

An interesting argument would be who this game is more important too. While a loss probably means “on to basketball season” for some Orange fans. But a win? That could have them fantasizing about a bowl game.