No. 13 Syracuse (7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) hosts Louisville (2-7, 0-6) on Friday night in the Carrier Dome. The Orange enter after a 41-24 win against Wake Forest, which marked their first November victory since 2015. Louisville has lost six-straight games, most recently falling 77-16 to No. 2 Clemson.

Below, The Daily Orange beat writers weigh in on Syracuse’s final home game of the season.

Andrew Graham (7-2)

No more Lamar, no more problem

Syracuse 55, Louisville 21

Louisville’s 2018 football team is really a shrine to the excellence of Lamar Jackson’s college career. In the past two seasons with the 2016 Heisman winner, the Cardinals averaged 538.8 yards a game. Through nine games post-Jackson? The Cardinals average 344.7 yards. That figure isn’t exactly bad, but it’s a massive regression. Toss in the fact that Louisville is allowing more yards (462.8) than it gains in any given game and you have a very bad football team. Syracuse, on the other hand, isn’t a very bad football team. Syracuse is, in fact, quite good this season. Perhaps better than anybody thought it could be. With a No. 13 ranking in the College Football Playoff top-25 and a potential marquee matchup with No. 3 Notre Dame in Yankee Stadium next weekend, don’t expect SU to mess this one up like it might in years past.

Matt Liberman (7-2)

Birds fly south in the cold

Syracuse 63, Louisville 28

I think it’s time we hand Lamar Jackson the 2018 Heisman Trophy because this Louisville offense is terrible. The Cardinals average just over 20 points per game, one of the worst marks in the nation, while the Orange enter this contest the ninth-best scoring offense in the country, netting 41 points per game. But the numbers I’m looking at come on third down, where SU boasts the fourth-best defense, stopping its opponents nearly three quarters of the time. Meanwhile, Louisville allows its opponents to move the chains more than 50 percent of the time. Syracuse has had one of the hottest offenses in the country this year. Even against Wake Forest, when the passing game struggled, SU still put up 41 points. Syracuse should win this game easily and use it as a tune up for No. 3 Notre Dame.

Josh Schafer (8-1)

“Righting wrongs”

Syracuse 62, Louisville 28

Two years ago, Syracuse was embarrassed 62-28 in the Carrier Dome on a Friday night ESPN-televised game. Four-year starting quarterback Eric Dungey has never beaten Louisville. He said head coach Dino Babers talked to the team about “righting wrongs.” On Sunday, Babers put up several stats from Syracuse’s last two matchups with Louisville. In Baber’s two games against Louisville as the SU head coach, the Orange lost both by a combined score of 118-38, allowing 1,572 yards in the two losses. In 2018, things are flipped. Syracuse is 7-2 while Louisville sits at 2-7. The Cardinals allow 462.8 yards per game, which ranks 115th in the country. UofL has allowed 56 or more points in three of its last four games. Syracuse gains the 15th most yards per game in the country, while ranking eighth in scoring. The math isn’t hard. If Syracuse’s offense plays up to its standards, the Orange will be on the right side of a blowout.

Published on November 9, 2018 at 3:47 pm