Syracuse’s 2016 season will get underway on Friday at 7 p.m. against Colgate in the Carrier Dome. Here’s what to know about the Raiders.

All-time Series: Colgate is Syracuse’s third-most played opponent with the 67th installment of the series coming on Friday. Even though the Raiders haven’t beaten the Orange in the 15 games since 1950, Colgate has just barely gotten the best of the series with a record of 31-30-5. The series was much more of a rivalry in the past that included a war of pranks between the two schools.

Last Time They Played: Syracuse running back Delone Carter scored four touchdowns and led the Orange to a 42-7 dismantling of Colgate on Sept. 25, 2010. The win put SU at 3-1 and marked the first time since 2003 the Orange had won three of its first four games. Syracuse piled up 437 yards (260 on the ground). Carter finished with 14 carries and 172 yards.

The Colgate Report: The Raiders will be Syracuse’s first ranked opponent, albeit ranked in the Football Championship Subdivision. They’re coming off a 9-5 season that ended in the FCS football quarterfinals — one of its best runs in program history. Colgate returns nine offensive starters and eight on the defensive end.

“This is probably one of the most experienced football teams that we’re going to play all year,” SU head coach Dino Babers said.

Colgate is a running team that relies on several ball carriers out of its shotgun read-option offense. Four players ran the ball at least 120 times last season with the leader, Jake Melville (the quarterback), averaging 76.6 yards per game. The team averaged 206.4 yards on the ground per game. The Raiders threw only two interceptions all season, best in the FCS.

How Colgate beats Syracuse: Colgate will have to control possession, the clock and run the ball to win the game. The Raiders will have to bully the Orange’s defensive line and keep the ball out of SU’s offense’s hands. Even if all that goes well, Colgate will still have to hope for a catastrophic breakdown of the offense that Babers has been installing for the past nine months.

Stat to know: 67.4 percent

Colgate had a 67.4 percent success rate on fourth down attempts in 2015, going 31 for 46. The Raiders averaged more than three fourth down attempts per game and ranked eighth in the FCS in conversion percentage.

Player to watch: Jake Melville

Melville accumulated 3,625 yards last season, including 2,552 passing and 1,073 rushing yards. With that total, he accounted for 66.6 percent of Colgate’s offensive yards. He’s the gatekeeper of the offense, deciding whether to hand the ball off or not.

Published on August 31, 2016 at 9:56 am

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus