Syracuse Football: Top takeaways from 2020 Orange schedule release

Syracuse football has released its full schedule for the upcoming 2020 season. Here are the top takeaways and what it means for the Orange moving forward.

Syracuse football fans were left with a sour taste in their mouths following a disappointing 5-7 season.

Despite that, every time we reach the offseason there’s always new hope with every team undefeated at 0-0.

On Wednesday morning the team released its full schedule for the upcoming 2020 season:

Week 1: at Boston College

This will be only the second time in program history that they’ll open the season vs a conference opponent (the last time was vs West Virginia in 2005).

Week 2: at Rutgers

Syracuse will play Rutgers for the first time since 2012 when they were roommates in the BIG EAST

Week 3: vs Colgate

Of course, you’ve got your regular creampuff game against an FCS opponent in Colgate. The Orange is 17-0 at home (in the Carrier Dome era, since 1980) vs FCS opponents.

Week 4: at Western Michigan

This will be the second time in the last three seasons that Syracuse will play Western Michigan on the road.

Week 5: vs Louisville

Historically speaking Syracuse has fared much better at home vs Louisville. In fact, four of the Orange’s seven wins vs the Cardinals have come in the lovely confines of the Carrier Dome.

Week 6: BYE

Week 7: vs Liberty

In Week 7 Syracuse will complete it’s required non-conference portion of the schedule vs Liberty. Last season Syracuse kicked off the 2019 campaign with a 24-0 thumping of the Flames.

Week 8: at Clemson

This will be the only road game on the docket for the Orange in the month of October and boy it’s a doozy. Although despite Clemson’s 29 straight regular-season winning streak, their last regular-season loss was vs Syracuse back in 2017, so we have that going for us.

Week 9: vs Georgia Tech

This will be the first time that Syracuse has the pleasure of hosting Georgia Tech. This won’t be the same team you’re used to as the  Yellow Jackets have completely changed their offense under head coach Geoff Collins who will be entering his second season at the helm.

Week 10: at Wake Forest

When Syracuse and Wake Forest play, points are usually scored. In five of the last six games in this series, the Orange has scored 30 points or more. Additionally, Syracuse ended the 2019 season on a positive note when they won in walk-off fashion 39-30 thanks to a 96-yard “rip-six” from defensive back Trill Williams.

Also, one other nugget to consider, Wake Forest’s quarterback Jamie Newman entered the transfer portal and joined the Georgia Bulldogs this offseason. So that’ll be one less thing Syracuse needs to worry about.

Week 11: vs NC State

This will start a two-game homestand in the month of November. The last time Syracuse hosted the Wolfpack, Eric Dungey had the best game of his career as a passer in a thrilling 51-41 game that secured a bowl berth for the Orange in a Saturday night primetime affair.

It’s also worth noting that prior to this game, there was a lot of talk about a potential quarterback change to Tommy DeVito who saved the team’s season a week prior vs North Carolina. Ultimately Babers perfectly handled his quarterback limbo situation and got the best out of everyone involved.

Week 12: vs Florida State

We’ve got some Thursday Night Football as the home finale for the 2020 Syracuse football season! This will be only the third TNF game in the history of the dome which dates back to 1980.

FSU is under new leadership with Willie Taggart out and Mike Norvell in. It should be interesting to see the fourth head coach (including interim status) in four years for the Seminoles.

Week 13: at Pittsburgh

Finally, the Orange will put a bow on their season with a road trip vs longtime rival the Pittsburgh Panthers. Two interesting nuggets here: this year’s contest will be the 76th between the rivals in a series that dates back to 1916. The other nugget is this has been a true rivalry with four of the last five matchups being one-score games.

"“The on-sale date for individual game tickets, prices and theme days will be announced later this spring. Game times and television designations will also be released at a later date,” per the press release."