Syracuse Football: In 2022, SU will look to exact revenge on Florida State

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

Let’s do a deep dive on Syracuse football hosting Florida State.

Syracuse Orange vs Florida State Seminoles

Saturday, November 12, 2022 (time and viewing options TBD)

Location: Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY

Last season head to head: FSU won 33-30 with a literal last-second field goal after Syracuse football fought back from a 30-20 deficit. And Winsipedia has informed me that an FSU win isn’t rare with them leading in the head-to-head matchup 12 out of 14 times.

Opponent’s overall record last season: FSU finished 5-7 (4-4 in the ACC Atlantic division) after a rough start in head coach Mike Norvell’s second season as head coach.

Stats from their last face-off: Wanted to source this one from syracuse.com and according to Nate Mink and the staff there, this is what I found. Both QB Garrett Shrader and RB Sean Tucker had over 100 yards rushing the ball with Shrader actually scoring 3 touchdowns on the ground and added another one in the air to Anthony Queeley. On the defensive side, Duce Chesnut had an amazing interception to help put Syracuse football in a position to get back in the game. Jonathan Kingsley and Terry Lockett had the only sacks while Marlowe Wax and Mikel Jones led the team with 10 tackles each.

Possible level of difficulty on a scale of 1-10: I’m honestly not sure what to expect out of this game or FSU next season but I’m giving this a 6 for now. FSU struggled to start the season last year but found some success with the SU win and after. If I had to guess, I’d think they’ll be much improved in 2022 so it could be more difficult than I’m leaning right now but I also think SU will be improved and will have home-field advantage for their last home game of the season.

Key person on the opposing team: DE Jared Verse. I hyped up the guy hoping Syracuse football could land him in the portal so it would be a bit hypocritical to not sing his praises now. The former Albany transfer had a great game against Syracuse football last year while with Albany and attracted many suitors during his transfer courting period including SEC teams before deciding to go with FSU. He could play a role in making it tough to have the rushing game Syracuse had last time they played FSU.

How can Syracuse win: Syracuse football was successful on the ground last time so I’d guess even though FSU noticed it too and will likely try to contain it, it would still help if Sean Tucker or someone had a big game again. None of the receivers had more than 60 yards receiving so it would also help if at least one of them had a big game as well. Also if it’s as close as the last game, Andre Szmyt might have his number called a few times to ensure Syracuse football at least puts points on the board or possibly pulls its own last-second field goal this time for the win.

Other news, notes and nuggets:

– This is game 10 on the schedule and Syracuse’s final home game of the season. If they haven’t clinched a bowl game yet, they’ll have to win at Wake Forest and/or Boston College. The Orange played a close game against Wake and beat BC in 2021 but those were both at home and there’s no guarantee those results happen again.
– Syracuse haddock dinners > seafood in Tallahassee
– It wasn’t that long ago that FSU and Clemson dominated the ACC in football. Could we be seeing a new era where either there isn’t one dominant team every season or maybe just a changing of the guard? FSU hasn’t really been a contender lately and we saw Clemson showing cracks in their armor as Pittsburgh, Wake and NC State looked like viable ACC contenders at times with Pitt actually winning the conference in 2021. Maybe it’s the optimistic fan in me but I think with the new staff hires plus the ones retained, Syracuse football could work its way into that echelon of teams as well.
– I really liked the Mike Norvell hiring but do wonder how this program would look had they hired Deion Sanders instead? Mike had the experience and resume for sure but if Deion is successful at Jackson State, what’s next? Could we see former star athletes like him be more acceptable options without forcing them to start with a grad assistant position, work their way up to assistant coaches/coordinators and then maybe success at a small school before getting a job like this? Let’s suppose a Donovan McNabb, Dwight Freeney or maybe even an Eric Dungey walks into an interview with some very successful coordinators to support him and could help boost the profile of the team. Could it be something Syracuse football should consider and wouldn’t that possibly help with recruiting as well? Or what if on the Syracuse basketball side of things, Carmelo Anthony decides he wants to coach after his career is over?
– Did you know that the Hofmann’s Sausage brand (yes that same Hofmann’s made here in Syracuse) is actually also an FSU sponsor/business partner?