LIAM (2-0): Syracuse 31, Army 17
It’s going to be one heck of an environment in the Dome on Saturday. Dino Babers might have exaggerated a little bit when he said that Army fans could outnumber Syracuse fans, but playing against a service academy is always a unique experience, especially when it coincides on your team’s Military Appreciation Game. The Black Knights have the one thing you would expect them to have which the Orange do not- discipline. Army had zero penalties in its victory over UTSA last week, while SU won DESPITE racking up over 100 penalty yards. Make no mistake, Purdue did itself no favors with penalties as well, so Syracuse has to be more disciplined this weekend. But, the Orange have more talent than the Black Knights, and as long as things don’t spiral out of control that should reflect on the scoreboard.
FRANCESCO (2-0): Syracuse 42, Army 13
The last game before Syracuse’s murderer’s row slate begins. Clemson, North Carolina and Florida State await, but first SU has to get past Army. The Orange will do so handily. Syracuse is obviously the more talented team. It needs to work through some issues with its passing game now that Oronde Gadsden is done for the year. The Black Knights have a top 30 pass defense in the country, but they haven’t played an opponent of this caliber yet. Syracuse won’t have much trouble moving the ball and the Orange’s stout defense will be lights out against a Black Knights offense that throws more than it used to.
TYLER (2-0) (EXEMPT FROM PREDICTION):
Syracuse enters its home matchup against Army with quite the opportunity: going undefeated in non-conference play for the first time in program history. To do that, the Orange need to prove they have flexibility on defense. SU has no experience against the modified triple option that Army runs. However, Syracuse defensive coordinator Rocky Long has shown that he’s adaptive. Against Purdue, he even drew up a new play at halftime that reportedly worked like a charm. If SU plays with flexibility on defense like it has so far, then achieving a program shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.
ETHAN (2-1) (EXEMPT FROM PREDICTION):
To win this game and win it comfortably Syracuse needs to control the time of possession and not let Army suck the energy out of what should be a good Dome crowd. The Black Knights controlled the ball for over 45 minutes against UTSA last week and scored first and never trailed. Army had two 100 yard rushers in Bryson Daily and Hayden Reed, so the SU defense will need to bail out to stop the run against an Army team that doesn’t throw the ball much, and try to force a couple of fumbles like they did against Devin Mockobee last week. If the Orange do those things, they should be able to cruise to a double-digit victory, but if not, it could be a stressful afternoon in Central New York.
ADAM (2-1): Syracuse 31, Army 10
Time of possession is going to be the name of the game. If the Black Knights can control the ball and get first downs then this could turn into an interesting game. But the Orange defense has been good enough so far this season where you can believe in the Mob to get enough stops. The offense should have no issue against a smaller Army defense. I’d expect at least 250 yards on the ground for SU.
