It doesn’t get much better than this – two unranked, undefeated teams butting heads 17 years after the 15-seed Spiders upset the 2-seed Orangemen in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament.

Ok, so maybe I’m stretching things, considering that SU has topped Richmond twice in convincing fashion since that debacle and this season is only one game old. I’ll also concede that I lack a little perspective since, as young lad, I was probably more concerned with finding my Ninja Turtle action figures than fathoming how Curtis Blair and Co. were able to tear up the zone in College Park (don’t worry, Raphael and Michelangelo were under the couch). Still, I have a good feeling that there are some SU fans who still don’t have closure. For all I know, even assistant coach Mike Hopkins, who played in that game, isn’t over it yet. You’ve gotta figure that if there’s one person on the SU bench who doesn’t want to lose to Richmond Tuesday night, it’s Hop.

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The title here says it all, so let’s get going.

SF – Paul Harris:
2007-2008 Key Stats: 36.1 MPG, 14.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.7 SPG

2007-08 Recap:
TFG: Harris started just one game in 2006-07, but his athleticism had fans foaming at the mouth at the idea of him logging big minutes. The Orange faithful got what they wanted in 2007-08, as Harris led the team in minutes per contest with 36.1, good for third in the Big East. Harris also got to the free throw line a lot. A whole lot. In fact, his 237 attempts not only led the league, but no player since Hakim Warrick in 2004-05 made more trips to the line than Harris in one season (Hak had 310 that year). Paul also added an improved shooting touch beyond the arc to his repertoire, going 11-34 last season compared to an ugly 5% (1-20) in his freshman campaign. While I don’t see him being an everyday three point threat like Devendorf, Rautins and Flynn are, Harris now has one more dimension to his game to use in keeping defenders honest.

After the ACL injuries, Harris was forced over from the three to the two spot, though it didn’t change his style of play all that much. Just ask Villanova’s Dante Cunningham. A lockdown defender to boot, Harris tallied 1.7 steals per game, including a six-game span in conference play where he tallied 18 swipes. My biggest knock on Harris is his ball control, which was epitomized by his crushing gaffe against Pittsburgh in March. As good as he is on defense, he displayed an alarming propensity to cough the ball up himself. He turned the ball over more than anyone in the Big East except for Eugene Harvey of Seton Hall, but Harris was just one behind.
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TFG: As you can guess by the title, LVO and I will preview this season’s starting five. At present, there are no position battles or Burger Boy impact freshmen to speak of, making this year’s first team the most fortified and experienced group to take the floor for the Orange since the 2005-06 season. We’ve broken the starters down into two posts – this one is on the guards and we’ll return with the back of the zone in another post.

We’ll rehash last season’s stats and give extensive outlooks and expectations for each of the starters. We’ll even try to grow a pair and predict some stats, which we may revisit throughout the season. As always, feel free to tell us how unbelievably wrong and shrewd we are in the comments section.

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Welcome to The Rind With TFG and lvilleorange! Two avid SU hoops fans with little better to do than spend their days posting on Syracuse message boards have joined forces to create what they hope won’t be the worst Orange basketball blog on the Intertron. Although we’re still a month away from the start of the regular season, it’s not to too early for Steve, better known to some of you as lvilleorange, and myself to attempt to bring you up to speed and ready for a season of Orange basketball filled with promise. We’re going to start off with a very rudimentary 2007-08 recap, mix in some offseason events and give a general outlook towards the 2008-09 campaign before delving into some much more in-depth player previews and projections as the season nears. By that point, we hope that just enough of you aren’t too bored by us to stop reading.

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Big weekend for all Orange fans as the Penn State Nittany Lions return to the Carrier Dome for the first time in almost 20 years.

When: Saturday September 13th, 2008 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Where: Syracuse, New York in the Carrier Dome

Capacity: 50,000

Television: ABC – ESPN360 – ESPN Gameplan

Tailgating information: http://www.texanmarktailgate.blogspot.com/

The Spread: Opened at Syracuse +26.5 – which has already jumped to Syracuse +28.

Rivalry info: Syracuse and Penn State have faced off 68 times since 1922 but havent played each other since 1990. Penn State leads the series 40-23-5.

Fun Fact:

Coaches: Penn State – Joe Paterno – 42nd season at Penn State (374-125-3 overall.) Syracuse- Greg Robinson – 4th season at Syracuse (7-30 overall.)

Last time they played: October 13th, 1990. Penn State beat the Orange 27-21 in College Station.

Syracuse passing game (ranked #99) vs. the Penn State secondary (ranked #80): Last week against Akron – Senior Cameron Dantley was actually able to get a few things going in the air. Dantley completed 13 of 20 passes and threw for three touchdowns. The only problem is – 6 of those completed passes were to Tight Ends Mike Owen and Nick Provo – and two were to FB Tony Fiametta. No, its not a bad thing if your Tight Ends and backs are heavily involved in the passing game, especially with Brownings offense – but it’s a big problem when your Wide Receivers are basically non existent. Outside of Donte Davis (4 receptions a game) all other Orange receivers have only been able to manage a measly 5 total catches in two games against Northwestern and Akron – two teams that aren’t know for their cover corners. Penn State has seemed to of played a bit or a “bend but dont break” pass defense in its first two games giving up 450 yards in the air but for the most part has been able to keep the ball out of the endzone.
Who has the edge? With Dantley at the helm things seemed to flow a little bit more when it came to the passing game. If he can continue to involve TE Mike Owen and if Lobdell or Sales are able to step up – Dantley should be able to keep the Nittany Lions honest giving Carter and Brinkley a bit more room to run. Although Dantley looked promising – we’ll have to give Penn State the nod due to our lack of receivers. You would have to think Lavar Lobdell is at least better than WR Trent Usher out of Coastal Carolina (3 receptions/50 yards/TD against PSU) though…right?
Syracuse rushing attack (ranked #42) vs. the Penn State front six (ranked #29): Ah, one of the lone bright spots to the team this year. Brinkley and Carter have ran the very well thus far – both averaging nearly 6 1/2 yards a carry. Boonah was able to find his way into the endzone for the second straight game last week and racked up a career best 143 yards on 21 carries while Carter chipped in 77 on 13 carries. Although I do want to see one primary back recieve most of the carries – I don’t agree with a guy like Hogue only getting three carries. He’s too good of a player to keep on the sidelines and I would’ve loved to of seen him take that 4th down carry which definitely suits his running style. The more I see from our stable – the more I want to give all three of our backs twenty carries a game. With how we’ve thrown the ball…why bother? Penn State on the other hand has done pretty well against the run thus far – although the two teams they faced do most of their work in the air opposed to on the ground. All-Big 10 DE Maurice Evans and starting DT Abe Koroma have been suspended for this weekends game for a marijuana incident a few weeks ago.
Who has the edge? With the suspension of Evans and Koroma and with how Carter and Boonah have ran the ball so far – I’m going to give us the slight edge. The Offensive Line has done a much better job than last season and hopefully can continue to open a few lanes if we have any chance in competing this weekend.
Syracuse Offense (rated #87) vs. Penn State Defense (rated #50) synopsis: Hopefully Dantley can continue to provide some spark in the offense like he did last week against Akron. I really liked what I saw from the offense last week and if they can mirror what they did last week a few more times we might be able to stay competetive a bit later in this one than a lot of people think. Penn States defense has been relatively untested so far this season and the suspensions really work in our favor. Theres no reason we should be held under 20 points this Saturday.
Penn State passing game (ranked #42) vs. the Syracuse secondary (ranked #84): Penn State QB Darryl Clark has been a decent surprise this season and thus far has done all he has had to do to put a W on the board. Clark has only completed 25 passes out of 37 attempts for 361 yards and 3 TD’s in two games as Penn State has done a majority of their damage on the ground. Darryl is probably feeling better than ever – because after two games his offensive line has yet to let up a sack. Penn State won’t need to air things out this Saturday but if need be it seems Clark can just find WR Jordan Norwood – who has reeled in half of Clarks passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. The Orange will probably have to have all 11 guys in the box if they have any chance at slowing up the Penn State rush offense – but Clark has the arm to burn you if need be. I don’t see Penn State throwing the ball more than 20 times but I’m sure Clark will hook up with Norwood a few times to keep up honest. Bruce Williams returns to Safety this weekend for the injured Mckinnon and is expected to start. Hopefully he didn’t forget to tackle.
Who has the edge? Penn State wont need to throw the ball – but if they do Clark should be able to dispose of Merkserson and Holmes accordingly.

Penn State rushing attack (ranked #7) vs. the Syracuse front seven (ranked #114): Touchdown Evan Royster. Thats something both Coastal Carolina and Oregon State have probably heard enough of – and something we’ll probably witness a handful of times this Saturday. Royster is off to a fast start this year after racking up 205 yards and 6 TD’s in two weeks of action. A touchdown every four carries isnt bad – and the Penn State offense as a whole has already put up 500+ rushing yards and 11 TD’s. The Orange on the other hand havent done much against the run – mostly because of poor tackling. Akron was able to ‘Zip’ through the Orange defense using the draw gaining 218 yards on the ground. Yeah, 218 yards on the ground to Akron. Arthur Jones has a lot of work on his hands.

Who has the edge? After almost three days of thinking this through – I’ll have to go with Penn State. Who am I kidding – Penn State is going to man handle us on the ground. What we’ll see this weekend is probably just a taste of what we’ll get from Devine, McCoy, and the likes later on this season.
Penn State Offense (ranked #12) vs. Syracuse Defense synopsis (#113): Penn State has dished out brilliant offensive performances so far and are averaging 55 points a game. The Orange have surrendered 36 points a game thus far…I don’t expect much to change this weekend.
Why Syracuse will win: The entire Penn State offense gets caught up in Down Under Leather on Marshall Street (pot shop) and get ripped before the game. Royster and Co. get so high they can’t even stand straight and continually fall over and our defense doesnt even need to make a tackle. (OK, maybe they’re not all pot heads…but c’mon, how else are we going to win/make a tackle?)
Why Penn State will win: They continue to run the ball as well as they did in the first two games.
Syracuse player to watch: RB Curtis Brinkley. Brinkley gained 143 yards on 21 carries last week with a score notching his best ever career start. He’s averaging 6.4 yards a carry this season.
Penn State player to watch: Quarterback Evan Royster. Royster has already scored 6 times this season and racked up 205 yards on the ground.
Reyes39 Prediction: Penn State 49 Syracuse 21
Lvilleorange Prediction: Penn State 56 Syracuse 10
CollegeFootballNews Prediction: Penn State 41 Syracuse 14
-Stats thanks to ncaa.org and cfbdatawarehouse.com
-click on photos to see them from host site

After an ugly loss against Northwestern – It’s time to put that behind and look into our next opponent, the Akron Zips (0-1.) Once again, props go out to Reyes39 for the breakdown and pacusefan for giving us research material. Now, read along for all the information you’ll need for the game!

When: Saturday September 6th, 2008 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Where: Syracuse, New York in the Carrier Dome

Capacity: 50,000

Television: TWC 26 and FSN Ohio

Tailgating information: http://www.texanmarktailgate.blogspot.com/

The Spread: Opened at Syracuse -7. Has quickly moved down to Syracuse -4.5

Rivalry info: This will be the first time the two teams have ever played each other.

Fun Fact: Akron Head Coach J.D. Brookhart served under Syracuse Head Coach Greg Robinson as a defensive assistant when Robinson was the Defensive Coordinator of the Defensive Broncos.

Coaches: Akron – J.D. Brookhart – 5th season at Akron (22-27 overall.) Syracuse- Greg Robinson – 4th season at Syracuse (7-29 overall.)

Last time they played: Never

Syracuse passing game (ranked #101) vs. the Akron secondary (ranked #10): After last week…I’m not sure we have anything that resembles a passing game. Robinson looked pretty bad much of the game – only completing 14 of 28 passes for just over 100 yards and an interception. Andrew looked tight the entire game and rarely put the ball where it had to be in Brownings new short swing/slant passing offense. Rumor has it Senior Cameron Dantley has been getting looks with the first team offense this week during practice – but we’ll just count Arob in as the starter until we see otherwise. I’m not sure if it was our recievers, the loss of Williams and Taj – or a combination of both. But Robinson just did not look comfortable in the offense and didn’t seem to groove with anyone last Saturday. No matter who gets the start on Saturday there has to be an improvement – and maybe a passing attempt down field…or two. Akron on the other hand didn’t recieve much of a test against Wisconsin. The Badgers did their work on the ground and only threw the ball a total of ten times but the Zips were able to pick off one of those attempts to keep things tight in the first half.
Who has the edge? It’s hard to really judge the Akron secondary since they were untested most of the game – but with how bad we were in the air in week one we’ll have to go with a push. Neither side showed much of anything in week one to warrant the edge.

Syracuse rushing attack (ranked #70) vs. the Akron front six (ranked #113): Syracuse was able to nearly double their rushing average from 2007 on Saturday rushing for 122 yards overall. The only problem is 60 of those yards came on two bursts by Brinkley and Carter and Grob has yet to chose a back to carry the load. I understand the problem in chosing a back – its gotta be hard not to try and involve the three headed duo of Carter, Hogue, and Brinkley – but by splitting the carries like we did takes the momentum right out of the ground game. No one was able to really get into sync since each drive there was a new back manning the tailback position. The Offensive Line looked improved but still not to the point we would want it – our backs were unable to find much room inside the tackles and usually profited most by bouncing the ball outside or following Fiammetta. The Orange should be able to run the ball down the Zips throat just like the Badgers chose to do. The Zips run a 3-3-5 defense that Wisconsing and P.J. Hill were able to gash open for over 400 yards but to return a decent and experienced Defensive Line. We’re not Wisconsin – but If our O-Line can at least engage all 6 Zips in the box our backs should be able to find a few holes in the Zips easy to run on defensive scheme.
Who has the edge? Although we were pitiful in the air – I think the Orange have an edge over the Akron defense. If we follow the Badgers blueprint and keep the ball on the ground we should be able to put up a few more points this week. Akron was able to keep things closer than expected due to three Wisconsin turnovers – be smart with the ball, run, run, and run – and our offense should be alright this week.
Syracuse Offense (rated #102) vs. Akron Defense (rated #101) synopsis: I wouldn’t mind seeing the Orange try to open things up a bit more with the pass against an opponent we can likely tweak a few things against – but I’d rather go the safe route. Keep the ball on the ground just like Wisconsin did and eat up the clock en-route to a few to a few scores. The Orange actually have more experience on this side of the ball and hopefully flow a bit more like they did last week in the first quarter. I give the Orange the slight edge – no matter who is behind center. We should be able to pick up some good chunks of yardage against the quirky 3-3-5 defense Akron utilizes.
Akron passing game (ranked #43) vs. the Syracuse secondary (ranked #71): Akron Quarterback Chris Jacquemain probably had one of his best performances last week going 22-36 for 227 yards and 2 TD’s against a decent Wisconsin secondary and was able to break his streak of seven consecutive games with an interception thrown. Perhaps some of his success could be attributed to JC transfer Deryn Bowser – Akron’s top catch in the 2007/08 recruiting season. Bowser has great size (6-2 215 lbs) and was able to grab five balls for 76 yards. The Orange defense wasnt spectacular but was able to somewhat slow down one of the nations best and most experienced passing units last week. Like the Wildcats – the Zips run a shotgun spread offense but don’t have the firepower – especially at QB – to run it as fluently as Northwestern. If Brown, Merkerson, and Holmes play a little better than last week then they should be able to force a turnover or two and stall the Zip offense a bit.
Who has the edge? Syracuse. Akron QB Jacquemain had the best game of his career but due to his past turnover issues It’s not enough to believe he has really turned the corner just yet.
Akron rushing attack (ranked #94) vs. the Syracuse front seven (ranked #109): Like Syracuse’s passing game – Akron didn’t show much of anything in their opener on the ground. Akron ran the ball only 22 times for a total of 70 yards – deciding to keep the ball in the air much of the game. The Orange just flat out didn’t do much against the run of Northwestern – missing tackles and assignments – letting the NU ground game eat them up for much of the game. Good thing is – there’s not one back on Akron’s roster that is anything like Sutton and Akron was unable to run the ball well against any formidable defenses last year. Odds are the Zips will try to run the ball a little more than they did against the Badgers since that was our weakness – but as long as we can tackle a little bit better the Akron ground game shouldn’t provide much of a problem.
Who has the edge? Akron does return two 2nd team all MAC offensive lineman – but I think Arthur Jones and Jared Kimmel answer the call and shake things up a bit. LB Mike Mele has to step things up if he wants to see much more of the field. Overall the Orange run Defense has a lot to prove after such a sad performance against Northwestern – but Akron didn’t seem to try to do many things on the ground. I give the Orange the edge for just that reason.
Akron Offense vs. Syracuse Defense synopsis: If the Orange can tackle…they shouldn’t have a problem creating some problems for Akron. Sounds easy – but if you watched last weeks game you know we’re far from fundamental.
Why Syracuse will win: The Orange take a page out of the Badger playbook and run wild on the Akron defense. Brinkley and Carter both rack up nearly 100 yards a piece while Hogue chips in with 50. Jones reverts to 2007 form and makes life for Jacquemain hell as he’s on his back all day. The Orange actually make a few tackles.
Why Akron will win: History repeats itself.  The Cuse blows some assignments on D, there are missed tackles and Akron is allowed to get comfortable while the boo birds come out in full force.  On offense, the play calling stays conservative.  There are lots of 3rd and long situations and down the field passing is non-existent.
Syracuse player to watch: Safety A.J. Brown. Brown made 11 tackles and intercepted a pass against Northwestern in week one.
Akron player to watch: Quarterback Chris Jacquemain. Jacquemain had a career game against Wisconsin throwing for 227 yards and two scores.
5 Things I don’t want to see:
1) The offense pinned inside its 20 all game. If we have 3 or more possessions inside our 20, that means that both the offense and defense are not winning the battle up front and we are losing the field possession game. A recipe for disaster.
2) “The rotation” – I want to see us find the hot hand at tailback and go to him. Someone needs 20 touches. I would think it should be Carter, with Brinkley the 3rd down guy and Hogue as short yardage.
3) “The dropsies” – must be cut down. Lobdell and Davis have to come up with balls to keep the chains moving. Otherwise, I expect that the field will get alot shorter as the defense crowds the box.
4) Maybe this should be heard vs. seen, but here goes: No “I’ll have to look at the tape” quotes from Grob. Give us your take as you saw/remembered. I expect that you were watching this game as keenly as I was.
5) Aluminum. I want to see fans in the seats for 4 quarters. These are our kids. Let’s get behind them. All the way. Period.
Reyes39 Prediction: Syracuse 27 Akron 21
Lvilleorange Prediction: Syracuse 31 Akron 16
-Northwestern helmet thanks to Nationalchamps.net
-Stats thanks to ncaa.org and cfbdatawarehouse.com
-click on photos to see them from host site

Well its finally time to put summer camp aside and focus on our Week One opponent, the Northwestern Wildcats. Read along for everything you’ll need to know about this game! A huge thank you to reyes39 for providing the majority of this preview.

When: Saturday August 30th, 2008 – 12:00PM Eastern/ 11:00AM Central (local kickoff time)

Where: Evanston, Illinois at Northwestern’s Ryan Field

Capacity: 47,130

Television: ESPN2 HD

The Spread: Opened at Syracuse +12. Currently floating around Syracuse +11 and +11.5

Rivalry info: The two teams have faced each other seven times. The last being in 1984. Syracuse owns a 4-3 record in the all-time series winning the last four meetings.

Fun Fact: The upcoming movie showcasing Ernie Davis and the Syracuse Orangemen, “The Express” – was shot mostly in Evantson, Illinois. Producers felt Ryan field closely resembled Archbold Stadium – home of the Orangemen until 1980.

Coaches: Northwestern- Pat Fitzgerald – 2 seasons at Northwestern (10-14 overall.) Syracuse- Greg Robinson – 3 seasons at Syracuse (7-28 overall.)

Last time they played: Syracuse pulled out a nail-biter over Northwestern on September 15th, 1984 – beating the Wildcats 13-12.

Syracuse passing game vs. the Northwestern secondary: Heading into 2008 the Orange expected to have one of the top passing units in all of the Big East. Then – top Wide Receiver Mike Williams was kicked off the team for academic reasons, Taj Smith bolted early for the NFL (Green Bay Packers), and Dan Sheeran broke his leg in summer camp. Now the Orange are left with a group of unproven and inexperienced talent at the position. Lavar Lobdell is the most talented and top receiver from 2007 returning but has shown little in his few opportunities in orange and blue. Freshman Marcus Sales is expected to contribute immediatly and Donte Davis returns after missing all of 2007 with a hand injury. Rounding out the group is Bruce Williams who transitioned back over from safety and will take time to get comfortable in the offense again – and theres a small chance freshman Van Chew will be worked into the mix after joining the Orange in early January.
Northwestern lost two starting DB’s in FS Reggie McPherson and CB Deante Battle but do return SS Brendan Smith who missed most of ’07 due to injury. Last years staff did yield 243.3 ypg but is expected to be improved with 3 of 4 starting backs returning with strong game time experience. The only real question mark heading into 2008 is with CB Justan Vaugh who is expected to share time with Jordan Mabin opposite Sherrick McManis.
Who has the edge? Although unproven, Lobdell and Robinson should be able to find some holes in the Northwestern secondary. Initially I would think it would be a push…but due to our overall uncertainty at the WR position – Northwestern gets the nod.
Syracuse rushing attack vs. the Northwestern front seven: After ranking dead last in almost all major rushing categories in 2007 – the Orange look to be in much better shape heading into the 2008 season. Delone Carter and Curtis Brinkley are both back and healthy – and Doug Hogue rounds out what should be one of the most well rounded RB units the Orange have had in years. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter who’s in the backfield if the Offensive Line is anything like it was last year. New Offensive Coordinator Mitch Browning has a great track record or piecing together great Offensive Lines – but will he have enough time in Syracuse to really make a change?
Northwestern returns a rather experienced and strong front seven that was able to mingle in the mid 60′s-70′s nationally against the run in 2007. Fortunately, big run stuffing DT John Gill, Northwestern’s best defensive player, has been suspended from the season opener against the Orange. Losing Gill is something the Orange will try to take advantage of – but giant DE Wootton (6’7”) will provide enough problems in the trenches alone. Northwestern also lost leading tackler Kadela to graduation who racked up 125 tackles last year.
Who has the edge? Due to the Orange’s problems with the Offensive Line in 2007 – we’ll have to give Northwestern the edge for now until we see Brownings product on the field this Saturday. The Orange are in much better shape at Running Back than last season though. A true starter is yet to be named – but its probable Coach Robinson will use a committee anyways.
Syracuse Offense vs. Northwestern Defense synopsis: Everything falls on the offensive line. If they are indeed improved from 2007 the Orange have the play makers to put up some points. Expect things to look sloppy at times as the Orange transition into Brownings offense regardless of the offensive lines performance.
Northwestern passing game vs. the Syracuse secondary: Northwestern probably brings one of the most well rounded and underrated WR crops in the Big Ten to the table this Saturday. Peterman, the best overall receiver in the bunch, returns after a 66 catch 744 yard performance in 2007. He’ll be joined by Rasheed Ward (brings speed/elusiveness) and Ross Lane (Big target/red zone threat.) Converted quarterback Andrew Brewer figures to be worked back into the mix in the Wildcats four wide sets as well. The success of the Wildcats falls into the hands of their best players – QB C.J. Bacher. Bacher led the Big Ten in passing yards per game averaging just over 300 yards last year but did have problems controlling the ball – throwing 11 interceptions in the Wildcats final four games last season.
The Orange are expected to only have two starters in the secondary with starting experience in SS A.J. Brown (pressured strongly by Kevyn Scott) and sophomore CB Mike Holmes. Da’Mon Merkerson has made the transition from WR back into his natural CB position and officially won the starting spot over Nico Scott just days ago. Scott is expected to see the field quite a bit especially against Northwestern’s spread 3-4 receiver sets along with senior Ryan Howard. Mike Holmes will be starting opposite Merkerson and was rather impressive in action last year notching starts at both CB and Safety.
Who has the edge? Once again – the Orange are beat out by a much more experienced WR core. Bacher is slated to have a monster season with all of his major targets from 07 returning. Syracuse’s secondary will be much improved from last season and has a bright future but might not show for a few weeks.
Northwestern rushing attack vs. the Syracuse front seven: Like the Orange – Northwestern also has offensive line problems of their own. The Wildcats do return one of the Big Ten’s top RB’s in Tyrell Sutton. Sutton has close to 3,000 total yards in his career although he was banged up and unavailable much of the 2007 season. Omar Conteh is a serviceable compliment to Sutton and last year was able to rack up nearly 5 yards per carry. The offensive line is the Wildcats biggest question mark especially after losing three starters from last year – although thats not necessarily a bad thing. Last years line had trouble protecting much of anything and gave up 32 sacks on the year.
With DT Arthurt Jones – the Orange should be able to flourish against a weak and diminished offensive line. Kimmel has to take advantage of the extra attention Jones will receive – and Santiago (lost 40lbs in offseason) and Girruzi (transitioned from LB) only have one more year to showcase their talents. The only glaring issue heading into 2008 is with the Linebacking core. The Orange seem to be all set at MLB with Flaherty – but outside of him the unit is young and rather raw. Conley has voiced his satisfaction with his entire core but Orange fans don’t really know what to expect from Mele and Smith until we see them in action on Saturday. Overall the group is in better shape due to youngsters getting PT last year – but until Saturday its another coin flip.
Who has the edge? When it comes down to the trenches – I think Syracuse has the definite edge. But our questions at Linebacker still loom large and the two headed Wildcat running attack give them the slight edge overall. If Kimmel and Giruzzi can keep Sutton contained we have a shot at really slowing down Northwestern ground game.

Northwestern Offense vs. Syracuse Defense synopsis: If the Orange can contain Sutton and Bacher – the Orange should completely dismantle the Wildcat offense. The thing is – thats not easy – especially with the question marks we have on defense.
Why Syracuse will win: Arthur Jones and the Defensive Line expose Northwestern’s weak Offensive Line and shake up Bacher and Sutton. The Orange Offensive Line makes a 180 degree turn and Carter and Co. run wild on the Gill-a-monster-less Northwestern D-Line making it easy for Robinson to hook up with Lobdell for a few red-zone scores.
Why Northwestern will win: Bacher and Sutton are just way too much for the Orange to handle and shred a young Orange defense. The Orange O-Line isnt much improved from 2007 and Carter and Co. aren’t able to get things rolling. Robinson has the usual 3 seconds of time to pass and cant establish a passing game without Taj or Mike.
Syracuse player to watch: Defensive Tackle Arthur Jones. Jones is the staple of the Orange Defense and was able to rack up 17.5 TFL in 2007.

Northwestern player to watch: Quarterback C.J. Bacher. Bacher lead the Big Ten with 305 passing yards per game and totaled for 23 scores in 2007.

Five things I don’t want to see on game day:
5) A punt/quick kick on third down.
4) The corner backs playing 15 yards off the ball.
3) 3 or more sacks allowed.
2) CJ Bacher having all day to throw.
1) The Orange walk out of the tunnel. I want to see fire and emotion not that parade march we endured last season.

Reyes39 Prediction: Northwestern 35 – Syracuse 27
Lvilleorange Prediction: Northwestern 38 – Syracuse 23
Collegefootballnews Prediction: Northwestern 37 – Syracuse 20
Phil Steeles Prediction: Northwestern 31 – Syracuse 21
-Northwestern helmet thanks to Nationalchamps.net
-Stats thanks to ncaa.org and cfbdatawarehouse.com
-click on photos to see them from host site