The first top-20 battle on the Hill in nearly 25 years will also feature two of the best defenses in the Atlantic Coast Conference and across the country, as No. 18 Syracuse football will host top-15 N.C. State this Saturday afternoon from the JMA Wireless Dome.
The ‘Cuse defense, known as the Mob, is allowing just 14.0 points per game to date in the 2022 season, while the Wolfpack defense is only giving up around 16.0 points per contest.
Additionally, both defenses in this ACC showdown are really, really good against the run, which means that the Orange’s potent rushing attack will have to be on point if the ‘Cuse (5-0) hopes to knock off N.C. State (5-1).
Given that Syracuse football quarterback Garrett Shrader is having a stellar 2022 stanza at this juncture, that will help to take some pressure off of the Orange’s ground attack, but the ‘Cuse will need balance on offense to find success versus the Wolfpack.
Syracuse football and its next foe, N.C. State, both have strong defenses.
Per SU Athletics, the Orange defense is allowing 271.6 yards per affair, which is good for No. 10 nationwide, according to statistics on ncaa.com. The Wolfpack is almost as proficient on defense, giving up 297.8 yards per meeting, which is No. 17 around the country.
But Syracuse football and N.C. State, in particular, shine when it pertains to their rushing defenses. The ‘Cuse is allowing a mere 95.0 yards per contest on the ground, while the Wolfpack is giving up 113.0 rushing yards per game.
If you factor in that, on the other side of the field, both Syracuse football and N.C. State score 30-plus points per bout, then we have some interesting storylines to monitor in this ACC clash. At this point in the present stanza, by the way, Syracuse football is averaging a strong 190.4 yards per meeting on the ground, led by All-American running back Sean Tucker.
“It’s going to be a fantastic test,” Orange head coach Dino Babers said, according to a cuse.com press statement.
One thing that has been a hot-button topic among many Syracuse football fans is the number of penalties that the Orange has been committing so far in the 2022 term.
While these penalties have occurred on both sides of the field, if we’re talking about the ‘Cuse offense and its rushing attack, then the team’s offensive line absolutely has to clean up its pre-snap penalties as much as possible.
"On this topic, per a report from James Finneral of 247Sports, Babers said in part, “We’re always striving for perfection even though we may not catch it. I’m not comfortable saying we’re going to stop doing certain things on offense to make it easier. We need to catch up with the style of offense we’re running and settle those penalties down.”"