The expectations around Syracuse football are higher than they’ve been in a very long time. With the easy schedule and how bad the ACC has looked there’s a chance for SU to do something special this year. But, for this program to legitimately take the next step and prove that it can be in the upper echelon of ACC teams, then it has to blow out Stanford this weekend and prove that the Orange are as good as people say. This team barely got away from Georiga Tech with a win. Syracuse was obviously the better team, dominating pretty much from start to finish. But late mistakes, including an onside kick, meant that it ended as a three-point win.
Syracuse needs to make a statement to the rest of the ACC and the country that it is not going to play around this year. A 14-point win over GT two weeks ago potentially could have put SU in the rankings already. The voters aren’t watching every game, they look at the final scores and vote based on that. A blowout win on Friday would put the ‘Cuse on the national radar. People pay attention to blowouts in power four games, they don’t bat an eye when a team wins by a touchdown.
Right now, Syracuse is an 8.5 point favorite against Stanford. The Orange need to not just cover the spread, but win by 20+ to prove that it is a contender in the ACC. SU isn’t going to get many opportunities to beat good teams this year so it has to prove that it is at the next level by demolishing worse teams. The last time Syracuse beat a conference opponent by 20+ points was the opener in 2022. Just remember how much that catapulted the ‘Cuse the rest of the way. SU got all the way into the top 15 that season and did it because it proved that it was a step above the rest of the ACC.
