College Football Predictions – Syracuse Orange 2017 NCAA Football Preview
2016 Recap
2016 Record – 4-8
2016 ATS – 5-7
Well, it could have been worse.
The Orange struggled as expected last season in year one of the Dino Babers regime. There was a lot of work to be done. New schemes to be learned. The good news ? Syracuse gets full marks for beating two teams that eventually won bowl games (Virginia Tech, Boston College) in back-to-back weeks. From the bizarre file. They managed to somehow hang 61 (!) on Pitt and still lose by more than 2 TDs. Yup. That happened.
There is STILL a lot of work to be done but they appear headed in the right direction.
2017 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Atlantic Division – #7
Atlantic Coast Conference – To be determined
OFFENSE
The sky is the limit for QB Eric Dungey in this offense. Just stay healthy. In 2016, he ended up throwing for almost 2,700 yards and 15 TD while rushing for another 6 TD, despite getting injured about 3/4 of the way through the season. Syracuse plays in a tough division with some really solid defenses so he may not achieve video game stats, but regardless, the Orange can be expected to score a lot of points in 2017.
The Orange bring back the majority of their RB and WR units from last season but a yuuuuuge loss is the #1 WR from 2016 Amba Etta-Tawo (94-1482, 14TD). There are going to be a lot of snaps in this offense and there appears to be a lot of talent. By default, there are going to be some players with really good receiving stats. The rushing yards may be spread out a bit.
The offensive line play is going to have to get better. They return 5/5 starters and the hope is that experience and being in “year 2” of a new offense will help production. They only averaged 3.2 yards per carry last season and yielded 38 sacks.
DEFENSE
There was a definite stench hovering over the defense last year. 39 points per game allowed. 501 total yards. 225 rushing yards at 5.4 a pop. Only 16 sacks. Yikes. The Orange return the highest percentage of tackles from the 2016 season of any team in the FBS. Skeptics may cringe. We feel that having 10 returning starters back in the second year of a new system will help the Orange improve. It’s just hard to say by how much.
The entire starting front seven from last year’s unit is back in 2017. MLB Zaire Franklin had 101 tackles and garnered 2nd team ACC status. Leading tackler LB Parris Bennett is back and the secondary should be better with 3/4 returning starters. Syracuse also adds some new blood with transfers from other schools. We worry a lot about the pass rush as the Orange were DEAD LAST in the ACC in sacks per game and ranked #115 in the FBS.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK Cole Murphy is back and he was an ok 10/18 last year. 9/14 inside of 50 yards. P Sterling Hofrichter had a solid season. The return game talent is unproven, but you have to believe that they have a couple of speedy WR that can cause some trouble. This unit may be better than we expect.
Potential ATS Trouble Spots
September 23 – at LSU. Feels like a WAVE THE WHITE FLAG SPECIAL. Road game at LSU with conference play on deck. Will be catching a ton of points. We love ourselves some stinky underdogs ATS but this one may be too stinky to jump on.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Amaze your local SCUMBAG USED CAR DEALER with this GEM. Syracuse allowed 38.6 points per game last season. On four occasions they got drilled for 62,50,54 and 76. They only gave up 27.6 points per game in the other 8 contests. Potentially meaningless, yet interesting.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 8.0
MEGALOCKS says:
Overall, we give the ORANGE a 8.0 ATS Value Rating (Excellent) this season.
Long-time MEAGLOCKS PLATINUM ELITE members know that we typically avoid teams like this when prognosticating vs the point spread. Video game offense and horrible defense often leads to an unpredictable outcome. However, when thinking about the overall ATS potential of this team, it is hard to ignore the fact that they bring back 19/21 starters and boast one of the best QBs in the conference. If the defense can just be better than trash, the Orange have the ability to lay some beatings on lesser opponents, and hang within big numbers against tougher foes.
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