Andrew Carey (contributor) 5-2
This is a huge game for Syracuse. The fact that it is a night game on a Saturday, in the Dome is not to be sold short, that is significant. NC State is a good football team with a very good Quarterback. Unfortunately not much is known about them, other than their blowout loss to Clemson, they haven’t really played anybody. Their top non-conference matchup against West Virginia would have been a good barometer for the Wolfpack, but that didn’t happen.
Ryan Finley is the signal caller for NC State, he is a Boise State transfer, who feels like he has been at NC State forever. North Carolina State likes to break defenses down with their quick passing attack. That is what UNC did to Syracuse with some success last week, but most of their touchdowns were results of one big play.
The Syracuse secondary is extremely capable, and might be the strongest positional unit on the defense, but they will have their hands full. Good news is that according to Dino Babers it sounds like both Chris Fredrick and Scoop Bradshaw will be at their disposal after both were injured last weekend. The key for the Syracuse defense will be, whether or not they can put pressure on Ryan Finley and make him uncomfortable. The Orange have two of the best edge rushers in the conference in Kendall Coleman and Alton Robinson, they will need to each come up with some big plays on defense. That brings me to the Syracuse offense. After Eric Dungey struggled mightily to get anything going last weekend in the second half, Tommy DeVito came in and won Syracuse the game. Dungey, who I believe has an injured throwing arm, does not look comfortable right now, leading to a QB controversy this week.
If I were Babers I would start DeVito and rotate both guys in. From the sounds of things, he is going to stick with Dungey and go to DeVito if needed, the NC State defense gave up over 300 yards passing last weekend to Clemson, and their secondary is suspect. I would imagine this being the perfect game to find playing time for DeVito. Ultimately, I think this game comes down to Dino Babers, is he too stubborn to move on from a kid like Dungey, who has given this program everything, but is clearly hurt? Only time will tell, but I think the Wolfpack pulls out a 35-27 win.