Dino Babers’ first meeting with a ranked opponent as Syracuse head coach comes this Friday when the Orange (1-0) takes on No. 19 Louisville (1-0) in each teams’ conference opener. Babers held his weekly press conference on Monday morning in the Iocolano-Petty Football Wing auditorium. Here are three things he said leading up to Friday’s date with the Cardinals.

Kind of loud

Even with free tickets for students, only 31,336 fans witnessed Syracuse trounce Colgate in last Friday’s season opener. Granted, the New York State Fair and a Florida Georgia Line concert were both taking place and it’s a season opener against an FCS team, but the crowd was hardly one that electrified Babers’ SU coaching debut.

Last season, Syracuse experienced the steepest decline in attendance among any Power 5 school. Babers is hoping to see a change in fortune when Louisville visits on Friday night.

“I thought it was kind of loud, kind of loud,” Babers said of Friday’s crowd. “And if we’ve got room for another 18, 19,000 people to get in there, I think it can get really loud.”

Lethal Lamar

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson was named the Walter Camp national offensive player of the week after accounting for eight touchdowns and slapping 70 points on Charlotte Thursday night.

The dual-threat sophomore signal-caller threw for 286 yards and six touchdowns while running for 119 yards and two more scores. Syracuse’s front seven will have its hands full with Jackson, who Babers singled out multiple times in his press conference and said he’s like a dangerous running back or wide receiver in space.

“It’s going to be a challenging task to say the least,” Babers said.

Up close and personal

Three of Louisville’s front seven were named to the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team. Senior defensive tackle DeAngelo Brown and linebackers Keith Kelsey and Devonte Fields all received first-team honors.

Syracuse struggled to crack Colgate’s stout front line, which boasts several all-Patriot League players itself. But the Cardinals first two lines of defense are a whole other animal and one that the Orange has its work cut out against.

“Their front seven is definitely the strength of that defense,” Babers said.

Published on September 5, 2016 at 1:20 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman