Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse football coach Dino Babers knows what it’s like for an FCS team to upset an FBS one.
It’s why he’s doing “everything in (his) power” to make sure his team stays focused ahead of hosting Wagner (0-3) on Saturday evening in the JMA Wireless Dome.
Babers was the head coach at Eastern Illinois when it opened its 2013 season with a road trip to San Diego State. His team upset the Aztecs, 40-19 on their home turf. It was one of just five games San Diego State lost that season.
“We need to stay locked in and understand that that stuff does happen,” Babers said Monday. “It’s already happened a bunch of times around the country, and we really don’t want it to happen here in Syracuse, New York.”
Granted, Babers’ EIU team had more success ahead of its upset win than Wagner will have entering its game at Syracuse (4-0, 2-0 ACC). But Babers is right — upsets by unranked teams have been rampant so far this college football season.
Here’s what to know for Saturday’s matchup between No. 25 SU and its in-state opponent that has lost 23 games in a row dating back to the 2019 season.
Wagner hasn’t won under Masella
The Seahawks have not earned a win under head coach Tom Masella, whose longest head-coaching stint was six seasons at Fordham from 2006-11.
Wagner played just two games in his first season at the helm in 2020 due to Covid and then lost all 11 last season. Masella’s overall head-coaching record through four different stops is 44-80. The only time he’s had a winning record was during his two-year stint at Central Connecticut from 2004-05.
The last time the Seahawks won a game was in 2019 under then-coach Jason Houghtaling. Wagner beat Long Island University, 24-14 in its fifth game of the season, the only win it would record that season.
Wagner has never beaten an FBS team, though it dropped a close game to Connecticut, 24-21, in 2019.
QB Nick Kargman has played against SU before
Well, kind of.
His former team, Western Michigan, played against Syracuse in 2019, when the Orange won 52-33.
Now Wagner’s starting quarterback, Kargman announced he was entering the transfer portal in November. He made one appearance for the Broncos during the abbreviated 2020 season, completing 1-of-3 passes, and did not appear at all in 2021 prior to departing the program.
Kargman has thrown for 457 yards and four touchdowns this season. He’s also been picked off four times and has a completion percentage of just 45.5%.
That said, Kargman has managed to connect with a receiver for at least one chunk play of 25-plus yards in each of Wagner’s three games this season.
Unlike most of the QBs Syracuse has faced this season, Kargman is not a dual-threat. He has not finished a game this season with positive rushing yards, instead averaging a rushing loss of 15 yards per game. He’s only had nine carries all season.
Defense is allowing an average of 500+ yards of offense
Saturday’s game will likely be a stat padder for Syracuse’s offensive stars, particularly running back Sean Tucker.
Wagner’s defense has allowed an average of 226 rushing yards per game and another 274.7 passing yards per game.
SU should have no problem putting up those types of numbers against the Seahawks. The Orange has already averaged 141 rushing yards and 253.25 passing yards against better opponents this season.
The one highlight the Wagner defense has had this season is forcing three turnovers, including one against Rutgers, the only FBS program it’s faced so far. Rutgers turned the ball over to the Seahawks when its second-string QB was intercepted in the second quarter with his team leading, 28-7.
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