Maybe players won’t fully trust an opponent is being as careful following protocol before a game and decide not to play. The official 2020 Football schedule for the Syracuse University Orange The schedule says the 2020 college football season officially kicked off three weeks ago, but Saturday felt like the real start to the year. Williams is set to become the next name in the “Punter U” lineage at Syracuse. With pass protection likely to be an issue, Jordan’s speed may be the best asset that new OC Sterlin Gilbert has to keep defenses from pinning their ears back and attacking DeVito. Contact tracing and rapid testing are bound to trip somebody up this season and cause a postponement or cancellation. Andre Cisco is the easy choice here, and he will certainly continue to show why he will be a 2021 NFL Draft pick. Of course, this all hinges on the season being completed (and I’d bet against that happening). It will be the depth up front and the development at linebacker that will tell the story of the SU defense in 2020. That variable is what makes this season especially hard to predict. It is imperative that the Orange takes care of business at home and tries to find an upset somewhere on that brutal road slate (fans in the building or not). That said, I think Williams is going to benefit from the attention opposing teams will have to put on avoiding Cisco. Dino Babers is entering his fifth season as head coach, making him the longest-tenured SU football coach since Paul Pasqualoni. Visit ESPN to view the Syracuse Orange team stats for the 2020 season. Syracuse football’s retooled offense faces same problem: Can the line hold up? The Orange have hands-down the hardest away schedule in the ACC , but play a cupcake out of conference game against Liberty and have a semi-easy home slate. The gloom-and-doom forecasts about college football’s inevitable shutdown aren’t hard to find. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft at quarterback, a preseason All-American at running back and a cadre of four- and five-star players ready to replace the previous wave of talent, it takes an abundance of misfortune or self-destruction to mess up what Dabo Swinney has built. His ability, or inability, to give the Orange an edge in the field-position game will be pivotal to the team’s chances of winning close contests. Make no mistake: The Orange offense is going to be ugly, especially early in the year at North Carolina and Pitt. I’m still buying Tommy DeVito stock. That alone makes him deserving of the five preseason All-America nods, but his leadership and communication skills – especially with a green group of linebackers – will also be crucial toward the defense’s performance in 2020. Subscribe to syracuse.com. Need exclusive stories only we can tell? 49,250) Location: Syracuse, New York Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. SU should be fine on the back end. If there’s a lesson to be learned from last year, the functionality of the front five is vital for this offense to be successful. Just over a year later, Freeze and the Flames have put the 2020 Syracuse football … © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. SU, with a deeper tight end group this fall, should be in better position to practice against run-heavy personnel groupings that licked the defense a year ago. The tight end room SU is building for the future, which includes Luke Benson, Mahar and 2021 recruit Landon Morris, has a chance to be very good, very versatile and very problematic for opposing defenses. Syracuse is still developing its linebackers, putting nose tackle McKinley Williams in position to occupy multiple blockers and allow SU’s run defense to stay clean. SU record Brent Axe: 6-5 I think new OC Sterlin Gilbert will streamline DeVito’s strengths and put him in a position to succeed. I think the sport will find a way to plow through and get the games played. Cisco has given the Orange 12 extra possessions over two seasons and returns as the nation’s active leader in interceptions. So before the season gets underway, we at Orange Fizz want to predict what SU’s final record will be. Syracuse, N.Y. —Hugh Freeze coached a 24-0 Liberty loss to Syracuse last season from a hospital bed. Predictions are always tough, but this year feels like a complete roll of the dice. Stephen Bailey: Tommy DeVito and Airon Servais. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. The 2020 Syracuse Orange football team will represent Syracuse University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The unit flashed a running game late last fall once Servais slid from center to left tackle. Axe: Syracuse football’s expectations for 2020 have nowhere to go but up. But without big No. Due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Syracuse’s 2020 football schedule was altered. Syracuse kicks off its 2020 campaign this Saturday against North Carolina. Expect to see a lot of the redshirt freshman running back this year. The Orange will be led by fifth-year head coach Dino Babers and play their home games at the Carrier Dome, competing as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Not saying it’s not possible in 2020. Again. There are two irreplaceable parts in the car that Dino Babers likes to call his offense. Williams, the freshman punter, will undoubtedly be on the field frequently this fall. It now gets thrust into a 10-game conference season because of the pandemic, with added games against North Carolina and Notre Dame. If Florida transfer Chris Bleich can get on the field, it will give a beleaguered Orange offensive line a serious boost. He needs improved offensive line play for it to happen. Babers’ program is in a reset mode of sorts after bringing in two new coordinators and replacing nearly half of the coaching staff from last year’s 5-7 group. Andre Cisco, Trill Williams and Ifeatu Melifonwu are three of the best defensive backs in the conference, but there’s a way to combat their game-changing abilities by simply keeping the ball out of harm’s way. A new defense and reconfigured 11-game schedule featuring 10 ACC games, including Notre Dame, is only part of the intrigue in a season unlike any other in a generation. But how many of SU’s opponents will face significant personnel deficiencies due to opt outs, injuries and contact tracing? It is going to take time for Tony White’s 3-3-5 defense to settle in, but watch how Williams becomes one of the early players to benefit from it. In a non-pandemic situation, Syracuse’s offensive line injuries would be considered crippling. Make up your own metaphor, but this offense simply won’t produce without QB1 and OL1. All rights reserved (About Us). Our team of writers is ready to make predictions for the 2020 Syracuse football season ahead of SU’s opener Sept. 12 at North Carolina. I will safely assume nobody else is picking a tight end for this. Seasons: 119 (1899 to 2020) Record (W-L-T): 679-498-41 Adjusted Record (W-L-T): 668-498-41 Conferences: ACC, Big East, Ind Conf. This feels an awful lot like 2017, when SU played much better than its final record might have otherwise indicated. Our team of writers is ready to make predictions for the 2020 Syracuse football season ahead of SU’s opener Sept. 12 at North Carolina. 7 Syracuse football players to watch going into 2020 season, Syracuse football’s new defense: A 3-3-5 with 2 ‘Wonder Twins’. Dino Babers leads the Orange out to take on the Blue Devils on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. Syracuse, N.Y. — A long, strange offseason is coming to a close, and football will soon be played (we think). Carter has the physical tools to make the most out of the versatility that Tony White’s 3-3-5 scheme provides. Grabbing an early win over North Carolina or Pitt would be a big help to the cause. 0 in the middle of the line, that’s a lot of snaps that must be accounted for. 18d Syracuse breaks out of rut, defeats Georgia Tech 37-20 While he can’t completely pass the buck, the way DeVito operated under constant duress last season (43 sacks) was a learning experience I think he’ll bounce back from. Make the most of that education and he could be one of the next stars in the secondary. He’s got a chance now to learn from three polished DBs in Cisco, Trill Williams and Ifeatu Melifonwu. He’s also known as an excellent communicator with in-game savvy. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (each updated 1/1/20). As we’ve seen in Major League Baseball, teams are going to drop out throughout the fall. SU has pieces at quarterback, tight end, running back, receiver and, yes, along the offensive line, but the depth and development of the full unit will unlock or undo the potential of it all. Wins: Duke, Liberty, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Losses: North Carolina, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame. But if the defense can carry the team early and the offense catches up during the Georgia Tech-Duke-Liberty stretch, this team has a chance at finishing above .500. Last season’s closing touchdown against Wake Forest certainly showed his playmaking ability. Despite the constant pressure, he finished last season with 170 attempts without an interception. One of these years Clemson will not win the ACC (we think). It’s weird to say that Syracuse playing 11 football games this fall is a “surprise,” but welcome to 2020. Phil Connors wakes up, smashes the alarm that is playing “I Got You Babe,” runs into Ned Ryerson and lives in a world where Clemson is ACC champion. When you have the presumed No. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. But who could predict that? Syracuse Orange School History. Chris Bleich is a candidate here, but the Florida offensive line transfer is still waiting to hear from the NCAA on immediate eligibility and is rehabbing an injury. If he can’t, keep an eye on the impact Steve Linton has at linebacker, a position that is seemingly always in flux at Syracuse.