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Syracuse heads to Winston Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday to face Wake Forest in the first of a two-game road trip to close out the regular season. The Orange have lost four straight games since going 6-0 in mid-October, earning themselves bowl game eligibility and were ranked as high as No. 14.

But the Demon Deacons have experienced a similar downfall, falling from as high No. 10 to outside the top 25. While Wake Forest has lost three straight — two of them coming against Louisville and NC State who Syracuse beat — it has still managed to put up over 20 points in each game, including 34 against then-No. 13 North Carolina. The Orange, on the other hand, haven’t scored a touchdown in two straight losses.

Here is how our beat writers think Syracuse will do on Saturday.

Alex Cirino (6-4)
On the brink
Wake Forest 27, Syracuse 12

Syracuse fans got their wish last week with Garrett Shrader back under center. The end result: Season lows in both receiving and passing yards and its second lowest yardage total of the season (160). The passing game is nowhere near where it was during the first half of the season, and Sean Tucker’s touches have severely decreased, having not rushed for over 100 yards since the Wagner game.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest, despite being in the midst of an end of the season slump, have continued to prove that its offense is high powered. It pushed Clemson into two overtime periods, and nearly snuck away with a win against a ranked UNC side last week. Quarterback Sam Hartman has not passed for under 230 yards this season, and at home, I think he’ll easily continue that trend which will be the difference-maker on Saturday. The Demon Deacon offense is going to be too much for Syracuse to handle as it will be one loss away from losing its winning record.

Connor Smith (7-3)
Make it five straight
Wake Forest 42, Syracuse 14

It feels like every week there’s a new, daunting task facing the Orange. First there was Clemson and Notre Dame, two teams with a massive size and speed advantage over SU. Then it was Pitt, which possessed a great ground game at a time when Syracuse couldn’t stop the run. Last week it was Florida State, which was playing its best football of the season when it came to the Dome. All four of those games ended in losses for SU.

Now, it’s Wake Forest, which has the second-best offense in the Atlantic Coast Conference and dropped 40 points in Syracuse last year. The Orange’s defense has struggled in two of their last three games, and could barely slow down Florida State last week. Jordan Travis completed over 90% of his passes, and Trey Benson averaged nine yards a carry. This sets up Sam Hartman, who threw for four touchdowns and over 300 yards last Saturday, for a huge game Saturday night. And given the fact that Syracuse hasn’t produced any offense — regardless of its quarterback — in the last two games, makes this an easy pick.

Anthony Alandt (7-3)
Oh, what could have been
Wake Forest 30, Syracuse 17

A primetime game between two once-ranked teams skidding toward the end of their seasons. What a time. This game was circled as Syracuse’s last leg of a gauntlet ACC schedule that has now led to it losing four straight games. It’s still a hurdle the Orange are likely to stumble on, but the shine of the game is gone. Wake Forest is a difficult team to figure out, but one thing’s for sure — the Demon Deacons can score. Even in their losses, they’ve scored at least 21 points, led by Hartman.

They hung 45 points on Clemson, and most recently 34 points on North Carolina. Wake Forest isn’t a bad team, nor should it be looked at as a team that the Orange can catch in the midst of a late-season slide. If Syracuse was, I don’t know, healthy, or competent offensively, or called plays like it did through the first six games, I’d be confident in a seventh win. Instead, none of those things are happening, and the record is suffering. It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is. This team is lost. At least it’ll find the end zone this time.

Published on November 17, 2022 at 12:37 am