2008 Syracuse Orange College Football Predictions
2008 Syracuse Orange College Football Predictions Courtesy of Alex Smart, An Expert College Football Handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are betting on college football games this year, be sure to buy Alex’s Football picks and guarantee a win!!
Syracuse Orange (2-10, 1-6 in 2007, 8th place in Big East)
Alumni like Dwight Freeney, Marvin Harrison, and Donovan McNabb must have sleepless nights wondering about their beloved Orange. Syracuse has only won seven games since 2004, and has basically turned into the Duke of the Big East. HC Greg Robinson hasn’t had much to work with in years past, but he does have some pieces that could help jumpstart the return of the program to respectability this season.
2007 Highlight: After being outscored 118-32 in their first three games of the season, it’s no wonder the Orange were 37.5-point underdogs going into Papa John’s Stadium to take on #18 Louisville. All of a sudden, the offense had an explosion, going off for 38 points on the Cardinals en route to the 38-35 victory, the largest pointspread upset in college football history at the time. QB Andrew Robinson threw for a career-high 423 yards in the stunner, 173 of which went to WR Taj Smith.
2007 Lowlight: Two weeks before putting forth their best effort of the season, the Orange clearly put up their worst. The ‘Cuse offense only put up 103 yards and recorded just five first downs in their 35-0 shellacking at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Offensive Outlook: Robinson is set to begin his third year as the QB for the Orange, and his expectations are going to be higher than ever to try to salvage a program in shambles. The running game was pathetic in 2007, only averaging 2.0 YPC and 753 total yards. That should improve this year with the emergence of true freshman RB Averin Collier. The offensive line rotation will be incredibly young, as three sophomores and two freshman expect to split time with two seniors. Seven starters return, but expect to see plenty of different faces all over the field when the Orange are on offense.
Defensive Outlook: Though seven starters also return on the defensive side of the ball, don’t expect to see much improvement from a stop unit that allowed nine different opponents to score at least 30 points in 2007. LB Jake Flaherty is probably the best of the bunch, and the defensive line shows some promise with three returners. The guys to watch for the future of this defense are sophomore LBs Parker Cantey and Mike Mele.
2008 Outlook: There’s only one word to describe the outlook for the Orange in ’08: Grim. One would like to think that games against Akron and Northeastern are winnable, but nothing is for certain when you’re Syracuse. Inevitably, they’ll win a game or two in the Carrier Dome because of the homefield advantage, but wins will be few and far between at best.
2008 will be a success if… both Robinson and Collier suddenly become superstars. In the likely event that doesn’t happen, it will be another long football season in upstate New York.
About the only promising thing about the upcoming football season in Syracuse is that basketball season isn’t too far behind.
Prediction: 3-9, 8th place in Big East
If you enjoyed this article then you may be interested in:
