When Syracuse takes on Duke this Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome, they’ll do so looking to rewrite history.
The Orange have never beaten the Blue Devils at home, with a poor 1-4 overall record against them. While it’s been a while since the two schools have faced off on the gridiron, with their last matchup coming in 2020 during a 24-38 loss at the Dome, it’s still an interesting wrinkle ahead of Saturday’s game.
Dating back to their first meeting in 1938, a blowout 21-0 loss on Syracuse’s home turf, the matchups against Duke have been ugly. Excluding a 49-6 drubbing of the Blue Devils in 2019, the Orange have been heavily outclassed in each contest.
In SU’s four losses to Duke on the gridiron, Syracuse has lost by a combined 79 points. The Orange will look to Fran Brown to put its former losses behind them and lead it to that first program win, which feels right considering how many records Brown has already broken during his short time with Syracuse.
Just last week, SU beat Clemson on the road for the first time in program history, with the 34-21 final score not telling the full story as the Orange dominated large stretches of the game before Steve Angeli suffered an Achilles injury.
Adding to the allure, there will be the added pressure for SU to try to beat the Blue Devils on Family Weekend, with Duke looking to spoil what should be a special weekend for Syracuse.
In light of Angeli’s injury, the Orange will turn to LSU transfer Rickie Collins to lead them. Against Clemson, Collins threw for an inefficient 34 yards on 37.5% passing accuracy, but the touchdown he threw should give SU fans hope he’ll be up to the task on Saturday.
