Syracuse Football: ‘The Quest for 6’ (2nd quarter breakdown)

Can the Syracuse football accomplish the quest to six? Our Paul A. Esden Sr. continues his quarterly breakdown of the schedule.

The past several articles I have broken down what the Syracuse football squad needs to do to break the cycle.  We have discussed the essentially brand new receiving corp, the need to find a running game, keeping Eric Dungey healthy and the hope that the new defensive scheme will hold up in the ACC.  Now it is time to begin our analysis of the upcoming season.

We enter into the second quarter with a record of 3-0 (1-0 in the ACC) based on my predictions let’s push forward.

First up on the slate is Connecticut.

My analysis for this one has the Huskies entering the game with a 1-2 record losing to Boise State and UCF, but coming off a win against Rhode Island.  I will say here as I have said it before the Orange cannot afford to look past anyone.  This will be a trap game for the Orange and we need to be ready for it.  We cannot be lulled into a false sense of security based on our recent success against the Huskies (wins in 2012 and 2016) or their 2017 record (one of the few teams Syracuse will play who had a worse record then the Orange last year).

No we have to stay alert for the upset in this one as they will have something to prove to their second year coach Randy Edsall who is with the team for a second stint as head coach.  This team has a Senior QB with starting experience, complimented by the return of their leading receiver and rusher from the 2017 campaign.  I have a focused Orange squad winning this one by a wide margin.

So for my detractors out there that say I am a pessimist and do not give Dino and the gang a break I have the Orange going undefeated for the first four games of the season.

But pump your brakes before you start booking travel for January or clearing off the shelf for a trophy, next up comes Clemson with revenge on their mind.  I do not intend on spending a lot of time for this particular pre-preview suffice it to say that I do not have the stars aligning as they did last October 13^th, we will be taking the OITNF to Death Valley and we will not escape undefeated.

My goal for this game is for Eric Dungey to leave the game healthy and ready to go for the remainder of the season.  We will revisit this as the season progresses and I would like nothing better than to eat crow here but I fear we will lose and lose big.

We round out the second quarter of the 2018 campaign with a winnable game against Pittsburgh.

These teams are mirror images of each other last season.  Pittsburgh ended the season with 5 wins, losing three games by one score.  Syracuse ended the season with four wins losing four games by one score.  I was in the Carrier Dome last year for this tightly contested game, a tough fought well-earned win.  The next week we shocked the world and were 4-3 on the road to putting the Orange back in the conversation and then the wheels came off…but I digress.  I expect a big game for our Heisman hopeful on this one as he will improve his 33-for-49 and 365 yards with 2 touchdowns in what I predict will be a rout of the Panthers on their home field.

I wrap up my review of the second quarter with our Orange team 5-1.  These next 3 games of the 2018 schedule will be the key to whether this is a special year that will be a turning point or more of the same old same old on the way to another 4-8 year.  Always bet on ORANGE!!!