The Fran Brown era is officially here. It’s the start of a new dawn in Central New York for Syracuse football. Since the top recruiter in the nation made the trek up the East Coast from the University of Georgia, there’s been a renewed energy among SU fans.
A long offseason that began with Coach Brown on the recruiting trail was deemed successful. This year’s team is bound to be more experienced than last season. After completing training camp over the summer, there were many positive highlights. Now, it’s time to put everything aside and focus on the game itself.
Coach Brown has mentioned in multiple press conferences that he is “just focused on today.” Whether it’s a Monday practice or game day, he wants his squad to concentrate on what they can control on a given day without looking ahead.
That first game day is today. Syracuse welcomes a sneaky Ohio team to kickoff the 2024 season at 3:30 in the Dome. This is a Bobcats team that SU cannot overlook, especially given their defensive prowess and success from last year.
Ohio had a top-five defense in all of college football last year. Of course, the competition in the Mid-American conference may not be as strong as the ACC, but good defense is still good defense. The Bobcats allowed the third fewest yards last year in the entire nation, behind only Penn State and Ohio State.
Combining a solid, established Ohio defense with a new, highly anticipated Syracuse offense, things may not go as smoothly for SU as early on in the game as it would like.
Don’t be surprised if this game remains close at halftime, or even tied. The Orange offense might take a while to get going, but after halftime adjustments, they should be in a better position to pull away in front of their home fans.
