Phil D’Abbraccio: Pittsburgh 21, Syracuse 13
The Pitt gets deeper
On the bright side, Syracuse’s young quarterbacks face a good test in Pittsburgh’s pass defense, ranked fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as they develop. That experience will serve them well in the future, but not on Saturday afternoon. And Pitt’s James Conner, with bowl eligibility on the line, steamrolls the Orange defense like no running back has this season.

Jesse Dougherty: Pittsburgh 28, Syracuse 14
The Pitts
Syracuse is playing with nothing to lose but there’s also a reason for that. From what players and coaches said during the week, the Orange will use the game to get a good look at its three young quarterbacks. In turn, AJ Long, Austin Wilson and Mitch Kimble will most likely have a hard time finding a rhythm and that’s bad news for an offense that struggles to score as is.

Jacob Klinger: Pittsburgh 25, Syracuse 14
Pittch imperfect
The Orange is a rejuvenated team coming off a bye week. But re-energizing a team that too closely resembled The Walking Dead just gives you a squad of more flexible, excited zombies that can and will put a scare into Pittsburgh — but ultimately can’t contain running back James Conner for four quarters.