Syracuse Football: Breaking down the Orange 2022 schedule, Virginia

Before the Syracuse football 2022 schedule was released, I said that despite the tough teams on the schedule, I thought this team could still have success and be a bowl team based on what I have seen so far this offseason. And when the schedule came out, it does appear difficult but I still stand by it.

So I sat down and decided that instead of just saying that I believe it again, I wanted to break the games down one by one and give you the information you need to decide for yourself. I will go game by game with fun stats like head-to-head outcomes, players to watch, my way too early rating of difficulty, and a few other notes that might help.

Here are the teams scheduled and links to those that are already published in case you missed one:

Louisville

UConn

Purdue

Virginia

Wagner

Bye Week

NC State

Clemson

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

Florida State

Wake Forest

Boston College

Breaking down the Syracuse football home game against ACC foe Virginia.

Syracuse Orange vs Virginia Cavaliers

Friday, September 23, 2022 (time and viewing options TBD)

Location: Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY

Last season head to head: Haven’t played since 2015 when it went to triple overtime in Charlottesville. According to winsipedia, these teams have only played 5 times with Virginia holding a 3-2 advantage with the last Syracuse football win against them occurring in 1977 (which was the same year of the release of the original Star Wars film).

Opponent’s overall record last season: 6-6 (4-4 in the ACC Coastal division). They had a bowl game scheduled but it was canceled.

Stats from their last face-off: As previously mentioned, the last time they played turned into a triple-overtime game of epic proportions. I looked up the stats and game recap on ESPN.com and this is what I found. The game started out with a 44-yard fumble return by Antwan Cordy and ended regulation play with Virginia coming back in the 4th quarter from a 10-point deficit to take it to overtime, including a last-second field goal. Eric Dungey had 150 yards passing and 2 touchdowns and even led the team in rushing with 85 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well (did I mention that rushing TD involved him hurdling a Virginia defender as well?).

Possible level of difficulty on a scale of 1-10: I’m going 6 here. Virginia only finished a game better than the Orange last season but also saw its head coach resign and former offensive coordinator and quarterback coach both join the Orange in similar positions.

Key person on opposing team: Tony Elliot. When Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall resigned at the end of the 2021 season, Virginia hired Clemson’s offensive coordinator Tony Elliot as his replacement. Virginia was a bowl-caliber team last season and bringing in a coordinator from a successful program like Clemson can’t hurt. This does leave many questions surrounding this matchup. Will Coach Elliot make this team better especially with returning QB Brennan Armstrong at the helm? Can new Orange OC Robert Anae and QB coach Jason Beck who formerly coached Armstrong help Syracuse defeat them and maybe help the defense as well? Will the Friday night lights matchup provide enough of an atmosphere for one team to really step up? How will Elliot do coaching his first time in the Carrier Dome as head coach?

How can Syracuse win: One key to winning is definitely stopping or at least containing Brennan Armstrong. Also, this will be Syracuse’s 4th game of the season so by now I hope the passing game has found its rhythm because while Sean Tucker is special, he will be more effective if the passing game is effective as well. And hopefully with the home crowd on a Friday night, if Syracuse football can manage to utilize their special teams or defense to pin Virginia back in Syracuse territory, the crowd can get loud and be a factor. Some of the louder Syracuse football crowds I’ve heard are when it’s third and long or when the opposing offense is pinned back in near safety territory.

Other news, notes and nuggets:

• Virginia has Bojangles. Syracuse needs Bojangles. Actually, they have Waffle House too and while I’d enjoy that as well, first things first. I love me some Bojangles Supremes and their breakfast biscuit sandwiches are so good.
• If you need reasons to root against Virginia, consider these facts. Georgetown OL Mac Hollensteiner transferred to Virginia. Virginia is also the same school that shrugged their shoulders thinking they had the Orange beat when they were ranked #1 in the nation only to lose 68-62 thanks to 23 points by Malachi Richardson.
• This will close out the September portion of the schedule for Syracuse Football. Game 4 will not be a “must-win” but it will definitely tell a story good or bad. Plus 3 of these 4 will be at home in the Dome which means ending September with a losing record will possibly require some road wins if this team wants to vie for a bowl game in 2022. Even if they’re 2–2 with 4 home games remaining, that’s a large task to undertake considering the schedule won’t get much easier with the only exception being Wagner the next week. Like it or not, based on last season’s results at least, this is the easiest portion on their schedule when you include the Wagner game as well so you’d like to see them have at least 3-4 wins by now to have confidence going forward.
• Want to visit Charlottesville someday? It’s about an 8-hour drive to the 434 mostly down Interstate 81 South. Enjoy the Pennsylvania scenery along the way.
• Sean Tucker’s chances at being even in the conversation for the Heisman or being a pro prospect will hopefully be in the discussion by now. Hopefully, he’s happy with his performances at this point in the season. Hopefully, he’s not the only one getting any attention at this point either.
• Did you know literature icon Edgar Allan Poe attended Virginia? Rumor is he left after a year due to financial problems but still pretty cool. Sad that all these years, money still often impacts who can attain a higher education and who can’t… or at the very least leave one in a crazy amount of debt. “Quoth the Raven Nevermore.”