Previewing the Syracuse Offense

Wake Forest takes on Syracuse for its Homecoming on Saturday at BB&T Field. This game should feature a lot of points, as both offenses are coming off of weeks in which they scored over 50 points. So if you bet on this game, take the over.

Syracuse comes into this game with a record of 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, meaning they are already bowl eligible.

The Orange have experimented with a two quarterback system, but have mainly been led by senior Eric Dungey. Dungey is 141-256 (a 60.6% completion percentage) for 1844 passing yards and 13 passing touchdowns on the year. He has thrown 4 interceptions and averages 7.65 yards per attempt. He has a QB rating of 139.6 (Sam Hartman’s is 124.3).

Freshman Tommy DeVito is 30-56 (a 53.6% completion percentage) for 420 yards passing and 4 passing touchdowns on the year. He has thrown 1 interception and averages 7.5 yards per attempt. He has a QB rating of 136.6.

Dungey is a dual-threat quarterback, as he is also the leading rusher for the Orange, with 107 carries for 509 yards and 9 rushing touchdowns. He averages 4.8 yards per carry.

Junior running back Moe Neal has 100 carries for 490 yards and 2 touchdowns. He averages 4.9 yards per carry. Senior Dontae Strickland has 64 carries for 290 yards and 6 touchdowns. He averages 4.5 yards per carry. Freshman Jarveon Howard has 38 carries for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns. He averages 5.7 yards per carry. DeVito and sophomore defensive lineman Chris Elmore also have a rushing touchdown apiece on the year.

The receiving corp is led by senior Jamal Custis, junior Sean Riley, sophomore Nykeim Johnson, freshman Taj Harris, and senior tight end Ravian Pierce lead the team in receiving. Custis has 35 receptions for 672 yards and 5 touchdowns, and averages 19.2 yards per reception. Riley has 43 catches for 488 yards and 2 touchdowns, and averages 11.3 yards per catch. Johnson has 29 receptions for 456 yards and 3 touchdowns, and averages 15.7 yards per reception. Harris has 21 catches for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns, and averages 15.5 yards per catch. Pierce has been injured for a good portion of the season, but has 9 catches for 68 yards and 3 touchdowns, and averages 7.6 yards per catch. Freshman tight end Gabe Horan and sophomore tight end Aaron Hackett each have one reception on the year, and both went for touchdowns.

Freshman kicker Andre Szmyt is 40-40 on extra points and 21-23 on field goals, including 3-3 from 50+ yards. His season and career long is from 54 yards.

Syracuse won 55-42 over Western Michigan, 62-10 over Wagner, 30-7 over Florida State, 51-21 over UConn, 40-37 in overtime over UNC, and 51-41 over NC State. They lost 27-23 at Clemson and 44-37 in overtime to Pittsburgh.

Through 8 games the Orange average 44 points per game, 486.9 total offensive yards per game, 289 passing yards per game, 197.9 rushing yards per game, 4.9 touchdowns per game, 2.1 passing touchdowns per game, 2.8 rushing touchdowns per game, 37.6 pass attempts per game, 22 pass completions per game, 43 rush attempts per game, 80.6 offensive plays per game, 4.6 yards per rush, 7.4 yards per pass, 6 yards per play, 23.8 first downs per game, 6.8 penalties per game, 50.1 penalty yards per game, 0.5 fumbles per game, 0.6 interceptions per game, and 1.1 turnovers per game.