Syracuse football: Non-conference opponents the Orange should schedule

1. Mississippi State

This should be no surprise if you’ve studied the Syracuse football offseason over the last few months. Let’s quickly recap.

With three weeks left in the 2019 regular season, Dino Babers had no choice but to fire his long-time friend and defensive coordinator, Brian Ward. In the short term, Syracuse promoted Steve Stanard to DC.

While Stanard was considered for the position long-term he was passed over for some young hot stud on the rise by the name of Zach Arnett.

On January 11 Syracuse officially announced the hire of their new defensive coordinator. In that statement Dino Babers loved the “qualities both as a professional and as a person” and he called Arnett an “excellent fit” for the Syracuse program.

11 days later, Arnett skipped out of town and took the same position at Mississippi State. He left a sour taste in the mouth of the Syracuse front office and Orange fans everywhere. From all intents and purposes, he agreed to a contract offer and then went back on his word.

Ultimatley, Dino Babers pivoted to Tony White who comes from the same 3-3-5 coaching tree and hired him instead.

Maybe, in the long run, this will be for the better, but that doesn’t make the embarrassing sting feel any better. Someone agreed to come here, he coached the players for a few days and made promises and built relationships, then skipped out of town.

We as Syracuse fans want blood! Historically speaking there’s not much of a history between the Orange and the Bulldogs (they’ve only played twice), but we can create a new rivalry. These two squads haven’t played in 34 years, but both programs have had varying levels of success in their team’s history.

There’s no opponent that Orange fans would rather play in the non-conference portion of the schedule than Mississippi State.