After last weeks crushing loss to the Cardinals – the Orange wrap up this seasons slate of home games this Saturday against Rutgers.  A bowl game is out of the question as the Orange can finish no better 5-7 but it’d be great to head into 2010 with a two game winning streak.

When: November 21st, 2009 – 3:30 PM

Where: The Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York

Capacity: 49,262

Television: None

The Spread: Rutgers by 8.5

Rivalry info: This will be the fortieth meeting between these schools.  Syracuse owns a 28-10-1 advantage in the series but Rutgers has won the last four against the Orange.  Syracuse is 677-479-49 all time. Rutgers is 607-591-42 all time.

Coaches: Rutgers – Greg Schiano – 9th season at Rutgers (53-53 overall.) Syracuse- Doug Marrone – 1st season at Syracuse (3-7 overall.)

Syracuse Offense vs Rutgers Defense: These days its pretty easy to predict what to expect from the Orange offense. With so many injuries and the loss of Mike Williams -the offensive production has been placed solely on the shoulders of Carter and he’s answered. In Syracuse’s last four games Carter has rushed for 506 yards on 94 carries – thats nearly 5.4 yards a touch. Whats most impressive is how he’s done so with seemingly no pass game. In those same four games the Orange pass game has only gained a measly 538 total yards. Obviously, without a balanced attack it  probably only takes a few minutes to figure out a gameplan to the defend the Orange. Rutgers should have no problem keeping Carter in check. Rutgers ranks 12th in the nation against the run giving up only 98 yards per game. Thats including match ups against strong rushing attacks in Army (14th rushing offense) UConn (45th rushing offense) and South Florida (50th rushing offense) – all attacks Rutgers had no issue shutting down. In those three contests (their last three) Rutgers has only given up an average of just over 11 points per game. If thats not enough – the Scarlet Knights rank 4th in both Sacks and Tackles for loss. The Orange offensive line has done well protecting Paulus and opening holes for Carter of late – but eventually the Rutgers pressure will have Orange fans groaning. One final tidbit – the turnover prone Orange (2.5 per game) face the nations best turnover producer. On the year Rutgers has forced 16 fumbles and picked off 13 passes. Thats an average of almost three per game. As Marrone has said – the Orange are simply not talented enough to overcome turnovers. Same holds true this weekend against Rutgers. 

Rutgers Offense vs Syracuse Defense: The Syracuse  defense has stood tall all year long.  This weekend we could start to see some major chinks in the armor as the attrition rate is starting to take a major toll.  First Art Jones and Max Suter went down and now add to the list Derrell “D-bone” Smith.  The pressure will be on Doug Hogue and Chandler Jones to make plays and both are pretty much up to the task.  Jones had a huge game last week against Louisville.  This week’s contest against a nice Rutgers Oline led by Anthony Davis should be a good test for the front four.  Anthony Perkins also looked real good plugging the middle.  The Scarlet Knights rely on RB Joe Martinek to pound the football.  While not as physical as our own DC3, he is very effective for the Knights, gaining 729 yards and 8 TDs this season.  That Rutgers can move the football by the ground in the last few weeks, has taken the pressure off of true freshman QB Tom Savage.  Savage has done a nice job of not forcing things as he has a respectable 10 TDs to just 2 INTs on the season.  His top target is Tim Brown, no not the 2nd coming of ND’s former WR and future HOF’er.  However there is a nice emerging relationship with fellow frosh Mohamed Sanu.  That duo should find room in depleted SU secondary, although the play of Philip and Shamarko Thomas has been pretty solid given their youth.

Why Syracuse will win: The Orange play mistake free football and ride Delone Carter to a win. Even out of bowl eligibility Marrone has this young Orange team on track and fighting for W’s. Chandler Jones does what he can to make up for his brothers loss and camps out in Rutgers backfield and throws FR QB Tom Savage out of whack.

Why Rutgers will win: The Scarlet Knights will use their physical defense to shut down the Orange rushing attack.  Rutgers will be able to capitalize on the dearth of players opposite them and control the game with a balance of running and passing.  Tom Savage will have plenty of time to find his receivers.  Syracuse will have another special teams breakdown or two.

Syracuse player to watch: DE Chandler Jones. One of the nations top NT’s in Arthur Jones (Chandlers brother) has said multiple times that his younger sibling was better than him. Chandler has came close (still too early too call) to backing up his brothers words and racked up 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack in last weeks game against Rutgers. As a redshirt freshman Chandler has an impressive 7 tackles for loss on the year.

Rutgers player to watch: QB Tom Savage is the poster boy for what the future could be for Syracuse.  A true frosh who has stepped in and taken the mantle as team leader.  He has a good arm and hasn’t forced things.  He won’t put up monster numbers this week, but he doesn’t make many mistakes.

LVO prediction: Rutgers 27 Syracuse 10

Reyes39 prediction: Rutgers 27 Syracuse 14

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 9:31 am by Sean N. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.