Syracuse Football: Dino Babers details why Wagner is ‘tricky game’ for SU

Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers continues to stress to his team, and the larger Orange community, that the ‘Cuse needs to take things one game at a time, and one week at a time.

It’s a philosophy that I respect, even as the Orange fan base is jazzed up over the squad’s first 4-0 start to a season dating back to 2018, when the ‘Cuse went 10-3 overall, won a bowl game, and finished ranked No. 15 in both major polls.

By extension, when the most recent iterations of the two major top-25 polls were disclosed on Sunday, Syracuse football found itself at No. 25 in the Coaches poll. That marked the first time the Orange is nationally ranked since 2019.

With FCS team Wagner (0-3) coming to the Hill this Saturday, for a non-conference clash on SU’s homecoming day that will commence at 5 pm from the JMA Wireless Dome, it’s highly likely that the ‘Cuse will move to 5-0 for the inaugural occasion dating back to 1987, when Syracuse football had a truly magical campaign.

But with all the buzz surrounding Syracuse football at the moment, Dino Babers says hold on just a second.

Over the past two weeks, the Orange has shown grit and toughness in scoring points on its final offensive drives to narrowly escape Big Ten Conference member Purdue and, this past Friday evening, fellow Atlantic Coast Conference group Virginia.

As Dino Babers has noted, the team’s performances haven’t been perfect, and there are things the ‘Cuse needs to clean up in various facets of its overall system, but simultaneously, the Orange’s record on the field, to date, is perfect.

One would assume, logically, that Syracuse football should handle Wagner with relative ease. After this Saturday’s non-conference encounter, the ‘Cuse has a bye week, which is much-needed, given the roster has suffered injuries and is a bit banged up.

What’s more, over the team’s final seven games to close out the 2022 regular stanza, Syracuse football will face five ranked foes, Notre Dame and Boston College on the road.

But first and foremost, Orange players have to remain laser-focused in their game with Wagner, a Football Championship Subdivision team that competes in the Northeast Conference.

Based in the New York City borough of Staten Island, the Seahawks, to put it gently, have struggled in recent seasons.

According to Wagner’s athletics department Web site, the Seahawks are 0-3 in the present term, including a 66-7 pounding on the road at the hands of Rutgers.

In the 2021 season, Wagner was 0-11. The Northeast Conference canceled its 2020 stanza amid the Covid-19 pandemic, although the Seahawks ended up playing two contests in March of 2021, losing them both.

During the 2019 term, Wagner was 1-11. So dating back to the 2019 season, the Seahawks are a combined 1-27.

In a recent press release from SU Athletics, though, Dino Babers made some insightful comments, given that he himself has spent time at the FCS level in the past.

"Per the Syracuse football head coach, the Orange’s battle with Wagner, to him, is “a tricky game for us and our team has to really stay locked in. I know that (Wagner head coach) Tom Masella is going to have his team ready to go. This makes me want to think back to a similar situation when I was at an FCS school, and we went out and played a team in California (San Diego State) and we were 21-point underdogs in 2013 and we beat them. I want to say we beat them handedly. That stuff happens.”"

Dino Babers continued: “If you got a good coach, which Tom is, and you got a team that is motivated, that wants to shock the world and they are willing to do whatever it takes and being completely unselfish and they don’t care who gets the credit. You know miracles do happen, just check the ice.”

Well said, Coach Babers. Hopefully, Syracuse football will not take Wagner lightly, regardless of the Seahawks’ record in recent years. This is a prime opportunity for the Orange to reach 5-0, with the ‘Cuse then needing just one more triumph to become bowl eligible.