I’ll be the first one to admit it, this slate of college football on Saturday could be the best one we’ll see all year. Just to rifle them off, you have the Red River Showdown (#1 Texas and #18 Oklahoma,) #2 Ohio State and #3 Oregon, #9 Ole Miss and #13 LSU, and so many other matchups. As silly as this may sound, Syracuse and NC State on Saturday night has the potential to steal the show, even if no one except fans of the two teams will be tuning in.
Before you call me crazy, let’s talk about the last time these two teams squared off. An undefeated #18 Syracuse hosted the #15 Wolfpack in a sold-out JMA Wireless Dome in search of its best start in decades. What followed was an absolute thriller, with SU picking up the win 24-9 and the Orange faithful storming the field. Redshirt freshman Oronde Gadsden II (ever heard of him?) had a career day with 141 yards receiving and two touchdowns. But this is pure nostalgia, let’s dive into the now.
Entering this season, both of these programs had a lot of hype around them. Syracuse, coming off the hiring of head coach Fran Brown and landing of Ohio State transfer QB Kyle McCord, was expected to make some noise this season, and they’ve lived up to that so far with a 4-1 start. NC State was slotted into #24 on the AP Top 25 preseason poll and was considered an ACC Championship threat this season with the landing of Coastal Carolina QB Grayson McCall. The Wolfpack have stumbled early at 3-3, but two of those losses came to Tennessee and Clemson, and the third being last week after McCall suffered an injury.
I had this game circled on my calendar back in the summer, and I still think it can be an exciting back-and-forth contest. Despite starting a backup quarterback in CJ Bailey, the Wolfpack has the capabilities to make some noise and keep it interesting, especially in front of a raucous crowd in Raleigh. Syracuse on the other hand has found themselves in two thrillers in their last three, to both Stanford and #25 UNLV. A huge game for Syracuse to possibly find the rankings and a big opportunity for NC State to stay alive in the conference standings.
So you know what, I’m tuning into this game and expecting the best. Vegas only has it as a four-point spread in SU’s favor so who knows, anything can happen on Saturdays.
