College Football Predictions – Syracuse Orange 2019 College Football Preview
2018 Recap
Record – 10-3
ATS – 10-3
WHOA NELLIE.
The Orange rattled off a 10-win (!) season after winning a total of 15 games in the previous four campaigns. They finished the year in fine form by SPANKING Boston College on the road (W 42-21) and beating West Virginia in the world-famous Camping World Bowl. HC Dino Babers keeps doing what he does. WIN.
Let’s examine if the Orange have what it takes to keep the momentum going this year.
2019 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Atlantic Division – #2
ACC – #5
Syracuse Orange 2019 Outlook
OFFENSE
The biggest worry we have about the Orange this season, and it’s a big one, is the departure of all-time leading passer QB Eric Dungey. It will be impossible to replace the leadership and dual-threat ability that Dungey brought to the table. Tommy DeVito got some time at QB last year but he completed just 51% of his passes. There is good reason to think that he will improve in his sophomore season BUT keep in mind that he doesn’t possess the running threat of his predecessor. The RB room is in fine shape with the return of leading rusher Moe Neal (869, 5.6, 5 TD LY) and the presence of former Sooner Abdul Adams. The WR group is one of the best in the ACC even with the departure of last year’s leader in receiving yards Jamal Custis (51, 906, 17.8). The outlook for the offensive line keeps us up at night. Syracuse returns just a pair of starters to a front-five that allowed 37 sacks (#13 ACC) a season ago.
It’s not necessarily SPLITTING THE ATOM, but our ACC INSIDERS forecast a sizeable decrease in offensive production (40.2 PPG LY).
DEFENSE
Syracuse has made meaningful strides in each of the past two seasons decreasing their PPG allowed from 38.6 (!) in 2016 to just 27.0 a season ago. The biggest surprise to our ACC PASS RUSH INSIDERS was the increase in sacks from a meager 16 in 2017 to 43 (!) last year (#2 ACC). That is what we call improved PENETRATION. What can we expect in 2019?
The run defense and pass rush should be up to last season’s standards (Run D – 162 YPG, #8 ACC) as they possess a solid defensive line that boasts 2nd Team ACC honoree Alton Robinson who is one of the most disruptive linemen in the conference (10 sacks, 11 QBH LY). It should be noted that the Orange lose their top-two tacklers from last year’s stop unit including LB Ryan Guthrie who amassed 107 tackles and 16.5 (!) TFL. The best news regarding the defense just might be a secondary that returns a ton of experience and features 3rd Team AA FS Andre Sisco who had 11 PBU and 7 INT as a freshman last year.
We expect this defense to finish in the upper-third of the ACC in most of the key defensive metrics.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Yes, guy.
The Orange can lay claim to one of the best P,PK combos in all of college football. PK Andre Szmyt nailed an impossible 30/34 FG attempts last season as a freshman (Lou Groza Award winner) and P Sterling Hofrichter hauled in 1st Team ACC hardware. Want more? Punt returner Sean Riley is a TD waiting to happen (16, 16.4, TD LY).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – It looks really good. They host Clemson and travel to Florida St . Other than that? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Maryland (September 7)
The Terrapins have been known to SHOCK THE WORLD and the biggest game in recent history is on deck (Clemson).
Season Win Total
Over – 7.5 -130
Under – 7.5 +110
MEGALOCKS says:
We have concerns about the QB situation but will wait and see what pops up on our screens in a few weeks.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Syracuse has won 13 of their last 16 (!) bowl games.
The Carrier Dome is sometimes known as “The Loud House”. Infer what you must.
MEGALOCKS ATS Outlook: Neutral
Syracuse has established themselves as one of the best teams in the ACC. The question becomes, can they sustain this level of performance? We think that the Orange have a bright future in the conference given our faith in HC Dino Babers. When it comes to this year’s point spread prognostication, we have to take a neutral stance if for no other reason than the uncertainty at QB.
From a betting perspective, we think it’s prudent to pick your spots with the Orange until we get a better idea of how the offense looks with their new QB.
Want more Syracuse football ?
WEBSITE
http://www.cuse.com/index.aspx?path=football
FORUM
http://syracusefan.com/forums/syracuse-football-board.3/
https://syracuse.forums.rivals.com/forums/cuse-council.12/
NEWS
http://www.nunesmagician.com/syracuse-football
https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/183/syracuse-orange
http://bleacherreport.com/syracuse-football
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/syracuse-orange
TWITTER
Hashtag – #OITNF
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