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Thirty-four wins, six losses. That’s the combined 2013 record for Florida State, Clemson and Notre Dame, teams Syracuse football matches up with this coming college football season.
The Associated Press released its Top 25 Preseason Poll Sunday afternoon, and Syracuse will face those three ranked teams.
The Orange first takes on #17 Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on September 27th. SU then welcomes the defending national champion, preseason #1 FSU, at the Carrier Dome on October 11th. Two weeks later Syracuse travels down to Clemson to try and keep pace with the #16 Tigers.
Realistically, how much of a shot does Syracuse have to win against this trio? Can SU even stay in these ball games? It’s still very early to predict specific matchups, but it doesn’t hurt to wonder. Let’s take a look. 
Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish easily stands out as the most beatable ranked opponent for the Orange. Multiple reports of academic fraud have distracted the team in the offseason. Former Syracuse recruit Ishaq Williams and three other players have already been benched for the coming season, including WR DaVarius Daniels and DB KeiVarae Russell, both of whom played huge roles in the program’s run to the 2012 BCS National Championship. Four players are not going to completely change their on-field product but the distraction may carry on Brian Kelly’s shoulders during the first handful of games. Even so, the Irish a year ago lost to Pittsburgh, a squad SU battled closely with at the close of 2013. Syracuse’s defense does have an advantage with Daniels, the team’s top pass-catcher, out. The neutral site and good timing of the game also allows lots of Syracuse fans and potential recruits to come and support the Orange, which could also factor into better odds. 
Florida State 
Behind Heisman winner Jameis Winston, the Seminoles destroyed Syracuse down in Tallahassee 59 – 3 last year. This year, Florida State received 57 of 60 first-place votes. If the Seminoles hold onto the ranking, SU would host its first top-ranked team at the Dome since November 30, 2002, when Miami (Fla.) defeated the Orange 49-7. Winston returning obviously blows the Orange out of the water immediately. Remember Syracuse sort of caught FSU at the right time last year when Jameis was in the midst of a sexual assault scandal. Trust Scott Shafer to fire up his troops before this one if the Seminoles are still indeed no. 1 when this matchup comes around. Expect a lot of hype and excitement from the fan base, too.
Clemson
If this game was at the Carrier Dome again, I would be feeling a lot better about SU’s chances. Clemson pounded Syracuse  49– 14 at the Dome last year. No Tajh Boyd to Sammy Watkins connections this season for the No. 16 Tigers., though. That certainly downgrades their chances against anyone. Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris is on record that his team will not take any steps backward despite losing the Boyd-Watkins pair. That offense averaged more than 40 points and 500 yards a game the past two seasons. Yikes. And the game is at Clemson. The fact no one is giving Clemson a lot of respect this year should motivate that program a lot. Given this game is on the road and later in the season (the Tigers’ offense can pick up its speed), this probably marks another loss for Syracuse, even if Clemson has yet to solidify its offensive identity. 
Depending on how you look at the bye week, Syracuse does not come off a bye week any time it plays these ranked teams. Syracuse has a realistic shot to win one of these three games. There’s even some potential to win at Clemson. What do you guys think? How does the Orange fare in these ball games?
Posted by: Brendon Glasheen
12 responses to “Does Syracuse Stand a Chance Against Its Trio of AP Top-25 Opponents?”
Brendon;great post’here are my thoughts
a) my “HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN”,Notre Dame played for the national championship in 2012 and in 2014 are ranked 17th in the national polls even before the academic fraud scandal broke. syracuse should be 3-0 going into the ND game. If they win Syracuse jumps into the polls at #20 with a 4-0 record and knocks ND out of the top 25. Syracuse 35-30
b)FSU ranked #1 coming into the dome. Game goes as it did last year. Syracuse plays the Seminoles tough in first half of game. Second half FSU pulls away from the Orange sending a message to the nation that they’re the team to b eat. FSU 72-13
c) I believe this game is going to be a lot tougher than what people seem to think. Clemson is ranked #16 nationally,I see Syracuse playing them tough and either they go ahead late in the 4th quarter or tie the game and send it into overtime where Syracuse pulls out the win and probably breaks the top 20 in the nation.
Syracuse 21-20 in a nail biter.
All of the above is based SOLELY on the OUTCOME of the Notre Dame game. If it works out like i’ve predicted,Syracuse could end with a 9-3 overall record for 2014.
I know Terry my optimisim is running wild.
I’m going to go get a glass of iced tea to see if it calms me down a little.
boy ron i hope your correct on the prediction. i’ll be happy with another 7 win season..
I……….
I BELIEVE…………
I BELIEVE WE…………….
I BELIEVE WE WIN ALL THREE!!!!
I BELIEVE WE WIN ALL THREE!!!!
OK back to reality. IF we play like we know we’re good enough to beat ND- we’ll beat ND. Against PSU in last year’s opener, we didn’t believe we could beat PSU as there was considerable inexperience at QB and throughout the coaching staff.
NOT so this year. CUSE announces it’s legitimacy with a 24-17 win over the EYE-RASH.
Games with Fla St and Clemson were a collective pant soiling as CUSE had little idea of what it was up against. NOW WE DO but still don’t have the talent to do much about it. Both games will be closer. And if CUSE plays a near perfect game, the Clemson game could have both teams in the 30s.Not so with Fla St unless Jameis decides to “go shopping” sometime in the near future.
Ron..Ron..
I doesn’t take Terry to tell you your on overload! Wish it could be true…
I still think it’s a 6-6 season.
We need a couple of years with the kind of recruiting Shafer is delivering. More depth, more size and more speed….then you can talk 9-3 and a “real” bowl game instead of Yankee Stadium and the like.
I for one continue to believe we need better leadership on the O- coaching staff!
If only you are right…but not to be!
Cuse17
You’ll have to excuse me if I use Terry”s name a little here. I haven’t seen very many post from him lately and am a little concerned that you guy’s have scared him away from this site. I’ve come to understand him,it’s taken me 4-5 years to do so and I kind of agree with him a lot of the times. I mention his name jokingly to see if he is still reading our post or has passed out from drinking to much rum that he likes.
I am going to tell you all,that glass of iced tea didn’t work. I’ve gone to the store and bought a gallon of it,maybe it’ll help then.
I know at times I wish for the moon by telling you all what I think will happen during the season,I continue to believe that anythings possible and that’s why they play the game. But ask yourself,what’s going to happen if Ron’s right?
ron if your right i’ll jump for joy and give you a big hug the next time i see you.
thesackster;
a big hardy hand shake would be just fine sackster. hahahahahahahaha!!!
thesackster;
If they do as I predicted we won’t see each other until next spring at the scrimmage game when we get another chance to talk football and the 2015 recruits.
I doubt Terry would be run away from here. He seems pretty strong willed and has the courage of his convictions a la Skip Bayless. Maybe he’s just taking a break. I often disagree with some of the rationale behind his positions on certain topics, but I know the man wishes the best for the program.
BK SU FB Fan
Both Terry and I are “OLD SCHOOL” and your right again. I don’t think there is anyone out there that can scare him off.
When Terry and I first came onto this site we were at each others throats,going after each other as we know how to do because I didn’t like or understand his comments. If an issue comes up and I see something that I don’t like,i will say something. More importantly over these last 4-5 years I’ve taken the time to understand where he’s coming from.
I like this site because we the members are civil to one another. Our debates/dialogue are most ofter friendly,to the point with no foul language. For me that’s refreshing.
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