It’s official: Syracuse Football is prone to dramatic endings. The Orange (4-0, 2-0 ACC) held off a last minute comeback by their opponent for the second straight week to remain undefeated on the season.
ACC rival Virginia (2-2) was shutout through the first half of Friday night’s contest inside the JMA Wireless Dome, but fought back to take a 20-19 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Thanks to S.U. kicker Andre Szymt’s five field goals, most notably a 31-yard game winner with just over a minute left to play, S.U. escaped with the win.
It’s a season of firsts: the Orange have won their first four for the first time since 2018, leading to their first national ranking since 2019 (try to say that five times fast).
They enter this week sitting at No. 25 in the Coaches Poll, though Head Coach Dino Babers has higher aspirations.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the Top 25,” Babers said in his press conference Monday. “But, the Top 20that’s what gets me excited.”
The Orange look to continue their win streak against FCS Wagner College (0-3) this Saturday. The Seahawks have lost 23 in a row dating back to 2019; still, Babers refuses to let Syracuse look ahead to their bye week and turn it into a three-week vacation.
“We need to focus on ourselves,” Babers said. “We’ve got to make sure that we use every amount of time to the best of our ability[focus on] what we’re weak at, what we’re strong at.”
The underdog can’t be overlooked, and Babers knows that firsthand from his time in the FCS. Back in 2013 when he was the head coach at Eastern Illinois, Babers led his team to beat heavily favored San Diego State 40-19. It was an upset that he referenced as a cautionary tale on Monday.
“You have to stay locked in and understand that stuff does happen,” he said. “If you’ve got a good coach, which Tom [Masella] is, and you’ve got a team that’s motivated that wants to shock the worldmiracles do happen, just check the ice.”
As for his own football team? They’re two wins away from qualifying for a Bowl game, a feat the team achieved the last time they began a season 4-0 back in 2018. The Orange went on to finish 9-3 that year, beating West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl 34-18.
Babers saw flashes of that team in this year’s squad before the season even began.
“There are things that they did in the summertime where I was looking at them and going ‘the last time I saw that was that year [2018],’” he said. “They were just doing things that reminded me of really, really good teams. After they did it a couple of times, I alerted them to it. I said, ‘this is what really good teams doyou guys need to keep this up.’”
The Orange will certainly try to keep it up this weekend and head into their bye week 5-0.
Unfortunately, they’ll be doing it without some key starters.
The team announced today that defensive lineman Terry Lockett is out for the season due to an injury he suffered in the game against Virginia. This is the fourth starter they have lost to injury in as many games.
“Mr. Lockett is one of the best guys on the D-line,” Babers said. “You’re talking about a legitimate starter along with Stefon Thompsonyou’re talking about two real cats. And we’re looking forward to them coming back and wearing our colors again next year, but there’s no doubt that [losing] both of those guys hurts us.”
The Orange look to remain undefeated this Saturday against Wagner as they continue their four game homestand—kickoff is set for 5 p.m inside the JMA Wireless Dome.