Pittsburgh-Syracuse Series:
- Game will be held at Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York
- Game will start at 7:00 PM ET
- Series is led by Pittsburgh 39-31-3
- Pittsburgh holds current win streak of 1
Offensive Players to Watch:
Pittsburgh: WR Taysir Mack will need to step up on the road against this Syracuse defense. He has been very efficient on the road this year with a stat line of 23 receptions, 210 receiving yards, averaging 10.0 yards a catch, and 1 receiving touchdown for that category. Mack is not a flashy wide receiver at all, but he can position himself to do great things down field. Kenny Pickett needs to make sure to put some long to medium balls in the hands of Mack to be efficient.
Syracuse: It is clear that when QB Tommy Devito does well in the pocket that the Orange do great. Devito has topped up 1,534 passing yards this season and has shown to be a consistent passer for this offense. Also, at home, Tommy Devito has been the most efficient in his passer rating in any other area at a 155.4 RTG. Not to mention that he has been known to make defenses pay with his scrambling skills.
Defensive Players to Watch:
Pittsburgh: The Panthers will rely on DT Jaylen Twyman to get to Tommy Devito and wreak havoc on this Syracuse team. Twyman throughout this season has gotten to the quarterback for a total of 6.0 sacks. Sitting at such a perfect stature for a defensive linemen, 6″2 and 290 pounds, Twyman is a perfect build to take on the interior linemen. Hopefully he can have another great game at the dome.
Syracuse: Trust in OLB Andrew Armstrong from the Orange to do this defense’s bidding. Getting some outside tackles and being a presence off the edge blitz is a major factor in Armstrong’s play. We see this is an importance for this Syracuse defense, as Armstrong has collected 7.0 tackles-for-loss. And to add on top of that, Armstrong has an interception on the season. Could we possibly see another interception from Armstrong this weekend to charge up this defense.
The Basics
The Carrier Dome is one of the most underrated home field advantages in all of college football. In fact, the Orange are 8-2 in their last 10 affairs at home, with the only losses coming to #1 Clemson and #3 Notre Dame. Pittsburgh will need to get things rolling early to get a shot at beating this Syracuse team. However, I just don’t see it happening on the road in the Carrier Dome. The most probable thing to happen is that Syracuse gets a nice lead to start the game and then battles the rest of the game to get a big win at home.
Prediction
29-20 Syracuse
Cover Image Credits: https://www.nunesmagician.com/2019/10/17/20916460/syracuse-football-consensus-vs-pitt-yeah-its-a-rivalry-orange-panthers-acc-game-preview
