Syracuse Football: Up on deck, the Orange is set to face Georgia Tech

This Saturday, the Syracuse football team will face off with Georgia Tech. The game will be televised at 8 pm on the ACC Network.

Both teams are 5-5 overall and the winner is officially bowl eligible while the losing team will only have one more game to attempt to be eligible. Georgia Tech will play Georgia and SU has Wake at home to finish the regular season so both go into this one looking to secure it as early as possible.

It does seem like most gambling experts have Tech favored by around a touchdown, but that shouldn’t be too surprising. They have more in conference wins and played a closer game against North Carolina than Syracuse.

Syracuse football travels to Georgia Tech on Saturday night.

In fact, the Yellow Jackets have had a crazy season. Here is their record so far:

Lost to ranked Louisville 39-34

Beat South Carolina State 48-13

Lost to ranked Mississippi 48-23

Beat Wake Forest 30-16

Lost to Bowling Green 38-27

Beat Miami 23-20 (Miami was ranked at the time)

Beat Boston College 38-23

Lost to North Carolina 46-42

Beat Virginia 45-17

Lost to Clemson 42-21

Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King is a portal transfer from Texas A&M. He’s had a good season so far though against Clemson he struggled throwing 13-31 for 129 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. But that is Clemson and sometimes even the best players have a rough game so I wouldn’t go into this thinking he’s not going to try to bounce back. And also watch out for Georgia Tech running back Jamal Haynes, who did rush for over 100 yards against Clemson.

And one advantage the new-look Syracuse football offense might have is that Georgia Tech is currently ranked 129th in rushing defense in the country. Syracuse is likely still going to have to find a way to pass at least some to keep the defense honest but could this be an opportunity for LeQuint Allen Jr., Dan Villari and Garrett Shrader to do what they did against Pitt (who is ranked 83rd against the rush but also had no film on the new look)? Or will we see another option mixed in like a different quarterback or maybe utilizing a receiver with speed like Donovan Brown?

Don’t forget, Syracuse football basically had one week to make the changes they made on offense so one more week of practicing could make it even better. But now Georgia Tech knows what is coming so they can prepare too…or do they? Will Syracuse add more/change things up to confuse Georgia Tech?

There is a bowl game on the line and I’ve heard Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers say more than once in press conferences how important it is for this team to finish with a bowl game. So I’m fully expecting him and the staff to come out Saturday night on the road hungry and willing to do anything they can to win and fulfill that goal. But I also expect to see a desperate Georgia Tech team as well trying to be the 9th ACC team to become bowl game eligible.

Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech all have 5 wins so at least one team will be eligible this upcoming weekend for sure (VT has NC State and Virginia left on their schedule in that order). Will Syracuse’s new offensive look be enough to make them that team?

My final thought goes out to those counting Syracuse football out because their win was against a struggling Pittsburgh (a program that in the past even when it struggled still gave Syracuse a difficult time). The game isn’t over until it’s over. The season isn’t over until it’s over. I don’t give up until it’s over. Not when it “feels” over…when it’s actually over. Sometimes a struggle is hard but until it’s over, anything is possible and I still believe in Cuse.