Syracuse football seeks to pick up its first victory of the fall term against Georgia Tech in the 2020 home opener at a spiffy new Dome with no fans.
This coming Saturday at noon, Syracuse football will welcome Georgia Tech to the Hill as the Orange attempts to turn around its 2020 campaign. No fans are permitted to attend this Atlantic Coast Conference contest, one in which Syracuse University leaders will unveil their $118 million in renovations to the Carrier Dome.
Per cuse.com, the newly renovated Dome, or the “stadium” as SU officials like to describe it as, includes a new roof, impressive scoreboard, upgraded lighting and sound, and a turf field.
The novel coronavirus pandemic led university administrators to prevent fans from watching the Orange and the Yellow Jackets (1-1, 1-0) in-person, which is a bummer given the Dome’s make-over. To add insult to injury, so to speak, Mike Curtis of Syracuse.com is reporting that the ‘Cuse home opener versus Georgia Tech “will not be broadcast live on local television Saturday.”
At this juncture, the Yellow Jackets, despite suiting up on the road, are an eight-point betting favorite in this league clash, which will air on the Regional Sports Network (RSN). Syracuse football (0-2, 0-2) didn’t look so good in its first two affairs, although both of them came on the road against foes ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll.
Despite no fans in attendance, Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers is looking forward to a duel on the Orange’s own turf.
All-time in their short series together, Georgia Tech is 3-0 versus the Orange. A cuse.com press release notes that Syracuse football is 91-33-4 in home openers, and the team has captured six of its past seven such encounters, including three of the last four under head coach Dino Babers.
Babers said in the announcement on the Orange athletics department Web site that he’s pumped to compete in Central New York after two-consecutive meetings on the road to commence the 2020 stanza.
“We are really excited,” Babers added. “We are planning to go down there Thursday morning early for a practice to let the freshmen and the upperclassmen see it because we don’t want them to walk in Saturday for the very first time. It is like they are walking into a new venue and it’s supposed to be their home field.”