Welcome to prime time.
It took a couple overtimes, but Syracuse beat North Carolina in the Dome last week, with the help of Touchdown Tommy. Syracuse now has to decide who takes the helm for the Syracuse Offense against a very good NC State team in Syracuse's first prime time Saturday game since 2010.
NC State is a pretty good football team, squeaking into the Top 25, despite not getting the job done against Clemson (we know the feeling). The potential of these two offenses is pretty similar. Eric Dungey is a true dual threat QB, but Tommy DeVito can really through he ball. I think Dungey will start, but both will see time. Because why not? Frankly, you can just rotate 2 QBs with little to no downside. The big issue is can the Syracuse defense again step up to the plate, limit the big plays, and stop the NC State attack? The front four of Syracuse have generally been up to the task. But really it was a combination of bad scheme and fatigue that doomed Syracuse at Pittsburgh. And it was allowing some big plays that almost made last Saturday tragic. As long as Syracuse keeps NC State in front of them, it should help. However, the most interesting factor is Special Teams. Syracuse has the 4th best Special Teams unit in the country. NC State has one of the worst. Syracuse could set themselves up for success by playing the field position game. Because Syracuse very well may have the best punter in the league. Either way, this game is truly a coin flip. Syracuse is at home, but I just have a bad feeling about this one. While Syracuse should be able to handle a team like UNC or Louisville, and Syracuse has a history of taking down ranked teams in prime time in the Dome, I just keep having a feeling of dread about this game. Knowing that Syracuse needs one more game to go Bowling, and knowing what is remaining on the schedule, I'm confident Syracuse will get there, but I am not confident it's happening this weekend. I'm taking NC State in a tight one, 38 to 31.
This game is available nationally on a Saturday night. Kick is at 7:00pm on ESPN 2 or WatchESPN. You know John will be in the Dome, in his seat ready to go. After a quick trough nap. I'll be braving the cold with a Massachusetts playoff game. But I'll at least be able to catch the second half. Here's hoping I'm wrong and Syracuse goes Bowling. GO ORANGE!
0 Responses to “North Carolina State Quick Predictions”
Post a Comment