ETHAN (5-0): Syracuse 20, NC State 17
There are just too many factors working for Syracuse in this one for the Orange to give it away. NC State has QB issues, a potentially sold-out Dome, and an extra week of rest after the bye week all favor SU. Garrett Shrader has had two weeks to learn the NC State defense and maybe implement the new offensive plays and concepts he teased before Wagner. Sean Tucker will have all the momentum in the world after his record-breaking game against the Seahawks, and this is his toughest test yet to prove himself to the NFL. A win and you set up a potential undefeated showdown in Death Valley against Clemson next week, and boy would that be fun. I’m 5-0 on predictions so far this season, and this is the one I’m shakiest about yet. Who would have thought the Orange winning by three against a top-15 team wouldn’t even cover the spread?! SU is getting a lot of respect, and it’s deserved because I think this defense plays up to the task as long as the crowd isn’t taken out of the game early by the Wolfpack. Mikel Jones and crew hype up the crowd to near unprecedented levels and the Orange win a close one to improve to 6-0 and become bowl eligible. In a battle of rest vs rust off the bye, I think it takes the offense a quarter to wake up, but the defense is on all night to half any NC State momentum. SU wins a close one.
CAM (4-0): Syracuse 27, NC State 24
This game is screaming “Andre Szmyt game-winning field goal” from every standpoint.
It’ll be the first sellout in the Dome in three years and will eclipse this season’s attendance record by over 10,000. Add on the prospect of starting 6-0 for just the third time in the last 87 years and the storylines speak for themselves. From an X’s and O’s view, these two squads are the top two scoring defenses in the conference for a reason. The Orange sport an incredible secondary with youthful staples that can lead any top 25 group to the finish line, while the Wolfpack’s linebacking core ranks among the best in the nation. Although the Cuse’s defensive injury bug has rendered many of its starters done for the year, SU’s cornerbacks and safeties are more skilled than NC State’s crew. So, advantage Syracuse.
Now, over to the offenses. Syracuse has so many weapons out wide plus a Maxwell Award watchlister in QB Garrett Shrader and RB Sean Tucker fresh off a revitalized effort. That doesn’t bode well for any defense, but NC State doesn’t slack on offense either. Devin Leary is one of the best quarterbacks in the country in pocket comfortability and evading a collapsing pocket. However, his status is to be definitively determined on the day of the game according to Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren. With this in mind, let’s give the advantage to Syracuse again.
Even with SU winning both ends of the ball, NC State is a top 15 team in the nation and besides a mediocre running attack, the Wolfpack are a surefire lockdown in every other facet of the game. This is going to be a battle to the finish and with the Orange’s affinity with giving up late leads but ultimately finding a way to win, that’s exactly what’s going to happen come Saturday. Etch this one in the history books as a combination of last year’s Rutgers and Liberty game, with Szmyt having the last laugh on a 39-yard dart through the uprights to propel Syracuse to a 6-0 start.
IAN (3-0): NC State 28, Syracuse 27
Devin Leary’s health is the biggest question surrounding this contest. The 2021 Davey O’Brien finalist is currently day-to-day with a shoulder injury. Leary is a rock for the Wolfpack; a fifth-year leader completing over 60% of his passes with an 11:4 TD-INT ratio. Although Dave Doeren was confident in his backup Jack Chambers, the Dome environment is much more rattling than anything Chambers saw in four seasons at Charleston Southern. The Wolfpack use a variety of running backs, but Jordan Houston has begun to emerge as the bell cow, toting the rock 24 times for 90 yards. NC State has the second-best total defense in the ACC, but playing an FCS opponent and UConn helps (just ask Syracuse’s #1 scoring defense). Eventually, The Wolfpack’s experience with tough competition will punch a hole in SU’s perfect record.
LIAM (4-1): NC State 24, Syracuse 21
This game is going to come down to whether or not Robert Anae’s unit can solve the Wolfpack defense. In last season’s contest in Raleigh, the Orange had a mere 236 yards of offense, including just 66 passing yards. Granted, this is not the same offense as last year’s. 30+ points in 4 of 5 games is something I certainly did not see coming before the season began. But even though we should expect better offensive play than what happened in Raleigh last November, there’s one stat that has me leaning NC State. SU is 2-7 after a bye since Dino Babers took over, and who can forget what happened after the bye last year in Louisville? I hate to be a Debbie Downer given how much better the Orange have looked this season. But this Wolfpack D is better than any defense Syracuse has gone up against this season. NC State is 17th in the FBS in yards allowed per game (under 300). In its first five games, Purdue was the best D SU faced, but the Boilermakers give up 30 yards more per game than NC State (it’s also rather difficult to be more undisciplined than Purdue was). It’s going to be a raucous environment and the Orange will fight valiantly, but they can’t quite squeak out a W.
JOHN (3-1): Syracuse 23, NC State 19
This is going to be a defensive battle in my eyes. The Orange and Wolfpack have the top 2 defenses in the ACC win that order. I expect NC State’s front to mitigate the damage Sean Tucker and the ground game can do. So SU will need some scampers from Garrett Shrader to move the chains and extend drives. On the other side, it seems like Devin Leary won’t play so I expect a healthy dose of the run game between the Pack’s two backs. Syracuse will turn and keep NC State one-dimensional and win a tight one in the Dome to move to 6-0, College Gameday will be down in Death Valley next week for a top-15 battle.
CARTER (2-1): Syracuse 26, NC State 24
I was fully ready to give the Wolfpack the nod for this game after their 41-17 destruction of SU last season, but quarterback Devin Leary’s murky status for Saturday changes things. No. 15 NC State is clearly a good team, but the dynamic shifts if Leary – with his 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns – can’t go. That means getting the ball to pesky wideout Thayer Thomas (24 rec, 301 yards, 2 TD) will be that much more difficult for the ‘Pack. Backup quarterback and grad FCS transfer Jack Chambers is experienced, but not against competition like SU’s top-ranked ACC scoring defense. On the ‘Cuse side, Sean Tucker just burst out of a two-week funk to rip off 232 yards against Wagner. His play and the newfound balance of Syracuse’s offense just gives me a gut feeling that this year’s Orange squad is different from the ones who fell to the Wolfpack in 2019, ’20, and ’21. The Orange may not cover the spread, but expect them to use seize the energy of the day to clinch a bowl berth.
FRANCESCO: Syracuse 21, NC State 17
This is a battle of the top two defenses in the ACC, both from a scoring and yardage perspective. They’ll both trot out NFL talent on that side of the ball, against two offenses that have major questions. Syracuse put up 59 points against Wagner, but in the two games before the Orange averaged 23.5 per game on offense. It’s one thing to break out against the Seahawks, but the Wolfpack are one of the biggest tests SU’s offense will face all year. On the flip side, NC State will probably be without QB Devin Leary. Instead, it is likely to be Jack Chambers, a 25-year-old walk-on transfer from Charleston Southern. Chambers didn’t complete a pass in about a quarter and a half against Florida State last week, and only threw the ball once. Now he has to face an SU defense that has been outstanding all year. It’ll be low scoring, and it might be ugly offensively, but Syracuse will have just enough to come out on top.
