Syracuse football must avoid ACC landmines to reach finish line

Syracuse football must avoid the countless ACC landmines to fulfill its destiny. Here are all the details on who stands in SU’s way.

At the conclusion of ACC Football Kickoff, the conference’s version of media day, the media voted on how they think the divisions will finish up.

The Syracuse football squad received the second most votes (913), only behind the Clemson Tigers (1,209).

This voting process was conducted through 173 credentialed media members.

"“The projected second-place finish is Syracuse’s highest preseason prognostication since the Orange joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013,” per the Syracuse press release."

For what it’s worth, two media members were bold enough to predict Syracuse would finish in first place.

But ultimately if Syracuse wants to reach the finish line and live up to the massive expectations, they’ll have to avoid a variety of ACC landmines.

On ‘Drive Time Sports’ Boy Green spoke with PFF’s Lead College Football Analyst Cam Mellor to get the temperature of SU’s competition in the ACC:

"On Florida State (753 votes, third most)“FSU is the dark horse in the ACC. Everyone wants to root for Florida State because in theory it would return balance to college football. Although from an analytics perspective, I don’t think they’ve quite caught up to our PFF rankings. I think the Seminoles have to improve defensively, but they’ll be a better team than they were last season for sure.”On NC State (666 votes, fourth most)“Our PFF mantra is the quarterback is the most important position. Losing Ryan Finley is an underrated loss. Say what you will about him at the next level. Maybe he had a boring style of play as a quarterback, maybe that’s why fans/media are downplaying the loss? I’m not as high on the Wolfpack as some others, they have to replace too much.”On Boston College (588 votes, fifth most)“Continuity is a big thing in the world of contract extensions and BC winning 7 games every year was a huge part of Steve Addazio getting extended there. I might even pick Boston College higher than NC State. They have a returning quarterback and AJ Dillon you can’t say a bad thing about. But even with that being said, I see another 7 win team here.”On Louisville (253 votes, seventh most)“When I look at the PFF grades Jawon Pass has the second lowest grade we’ve ever given out to a quarterback. I just don’t see much improvement going forward and not sure there’s a lot to be excited for there heading into future. If they want to do anything, we’ll have to see a dramatic improvement from Pass.”"

"Dino Babers said it best at the ACC Football Kickoff, “In 2018 we were 10-3 and that was being occasionally great, I want us to be consistently good.”"

Now that huge expectation is on the Orange, they can’t afford to collapse like a used lawn chair back to the “4-8” days.

Syracuse isn’t good enough to overlook anyone in the ACC, so they have to focus and take their schedule one game at a time. If they do that, they’ll have a shot to reach the finish line and accomplish their goals.