The Syracuse Orange and college football teams across the nation will get two byes this season (as they always should). After a breather following their ACC opener against Georgia Tech, SU will host an opponent inside the Dome for the first time. And it's not just any opponent. It's one of the newer additions, definitely not just from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It's a matchup that spans more than 1,800 miles and features a battle of the world's greatest and creepiest mascots…oh, and programs with suspiciously similar logos.
Stanford Cardinal
school: Stanford University
nickname: Cardinal
mascot: Stanford Tree (Unofficial/Band)
#BRAND Slogan: #GoStanford, “Home of Champions”
Alternative #BRAND slogan suggestions: #PlantOurRoots, “A pioneer since Pop Warner” or “They really did have Super Bowls everywhere back in the day, didn't they?”
meeting: PAC-12 -> Central Bank of Australia
History vs. Syracuse: This will be the first “Battle for Block 'S'” as neither team has traveled to the opposite coast very often.
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Bob Drebin/ISI Photos/Getty Images
coach: Troy Taylor, second year. A former quarterback at the University of California and with the New York Jets, Taylor got his first chance to lead an FBS program last fall. He previously led Sacramento State to three straight Big Sky championships and a 23-1 overall record. His first time as an assistant was at Berkeley in the late '90s, and he also coached high school football in Sacramento for eight years.
2023 Record: 3-9 (2-7)
Looking back at last season:
Any year when a team doesn't win in front of its own fans is a tough one. A loss to Taylor's former team, Sacramento, in the home opener was a sign of things to come. The Cardinals' rise to national prominence with a double-overtime win over Colorado, a primetime coach, was overshadowed by a miserable Saturday on the Stanford campus. But they did win both of their Friday night games, including the season-opener against Hawaii.
Stanford's offense was… mediocre. It's not that they didn't try to run the ball, they just weren't successful. By the end of the season, the team as a whole had more of a passing attack than a rushing attack. Former Orange quarterback Justin Lamson was the gadget man, actually rushing for a team-leading 334 yards and gaining another 504 through the air. Main QB Ashton Daniels totaled over 2,500 yards with 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but both players were pummeled a combined 41 times out of the backfield. The only standout was freshman Eric Ayomanor, who missed all of 2022 with an injury but had a 1,000-yard receiving season with six six-pointers.
Their reliance on the pass has been compounded by their extremely poor defense, with the Cardinal 2-4-5 allowing the most total yards (461.7), passing yards (298.0) and points per game (37.7). all Power football. [They were the second-worst offender in each category among FBS teams.] LB David Bailey was sacked five times, CB Zahran Manley stopped five passes and intercepted two more. Just about everyone else was out of the question. Kicker Joshua Carty completed 23 of 27 attempts and only missed one pass from inside 50 yards. His accuracy led to Carty being drafted in the sixth round by the Los Angeles Rams.
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Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Outlook for the 2024 season:
Stanford opens the season with visits to TCU and Cal Poly, followed by non-conference trips to Notre Dame and San Jose State. The opening ACC schedule includes home games against Virginia Tech, SMU, Wake Forest and Louisville, plus trips east to SU, Clemson and NC State. The rivalry with UC will remain intact in the conference swap, continuing at Berkeley on Nov. 23.
Taylor hasn't been as stingy as Dabo Swinney in the transfer portal, but he's clearly more interested in recruiting players the traditional way. This year's 19-strong freshman roster includes four-stars Elijah Brown (the nation's No. 11 quarterback), Chris Davis and Cole Tabb (top-50 running backs) and Emmett Mosley (top-80 wide receiver). The offensive line should improve from a mixed bag last fall, when only center Levi Rogers started all 12 games. This young core should focus on forging their own identity for now.
The defense has the biggest recruits in DL Benedict Umeh, the No. 1 rookie prospect out of Canada at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, and top-40 edge Dylan Stephenson, who also holds offers from FSU and Georgia. Graduate transfer Clay Patterson adds depth to the defense, recording 10 sacks over his final two years at Yale. The secondary is loaded with experienced, if not overworked, players, so there shouldn't be too many open spots on that side.
Syracuse game schedule: September 20th (Friday)
position: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, NY
Odds of winning for Orange: 85%
Early preview of the Syracuse game:
Think back to when Dino Babers first took over as head coach at Syracuse. Year 2 had some great moments that showed the original vision was starting to take shape, but Year 3 still had some stumbles before getting even better. That's pretty much where Taylor is right now. He inherited a roster in disarray that could use some big improvement this fall, but not enough to come out on top in this early battle of attrition.
Stanford played a clean game, but it wasn't enough to beat a more talented SU team under the lights and in front of a rabid crowd at the Dome that sees and believes in the franchise.
