Syracuse football finished the 2022 season with a 7-6 record. The team started the season 6-0 before losing six of their last seven games. Their top wins came against Louisville, Purdue and North Carolina State. Seven of their games came down to 10 points or less, with Syracuse only winning three of those affairs.
DraftKings Sportsbook puts the Syracuse win total at 6.5 with the under juiced to -145. Syracuse also sits at +8000 to win the ACC, which ranks ahead of Virginia Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech and Virginia. With that said, let’s dive into our 2023 Syracuse football season preview.
2023 Syracuse Football Predictions & Season Preview
2023 Syracuse Football Season Preview: Coaching Staff
Syracuse retained head coach Dino Babers, who has coached the team since 2016. He has a 36-49 record with the program. Reaching a bowl last year may have saved his job after he missed the post-season in each of the three prior seasons. He promoted quarterback’s coach Jason Beck to offensive coordinator following the departure of Robert Anae. He also hired Rocky Long as defensive coordinator after Long previously functioned in the same role with New Mexico last year. The staff does have a few questions, but this group looks solid enough ahead of 2023.
2023 Syracuse Football Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
Syracuse returns starting quarterback Garrett Shrader for his second season as the full-time starter. Originally a Mississippi State transfer, Shrader completed 205 of his 317 es (64.7%) for 2,640 yards (8.3 yards per attempt), 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions last year. Very mobile, Shrader also ran for 444 yards and nine touchdowns on 150 attempts. He now has 1,812 career rushing yards on 436 attempts (4.2 yards per attempt). Shrader did take 26 sacks last year, which negatively influenced these rushing numbers. Syracuse will attempt to erase some of these negative plays from his game. He was the ACC’s fourth-highest-graded er and third-highest-graded quarterback, per PFF. Behind Shrader, Syracuse retains backup Carlos Del Rio-Wilson. Injury to Shrader pressured Wilson into action briefly last year. He completed 22 of 51 es for 342 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Wilson also rushed for 43 yards on 25 attempts. While less efficient than Shrader, having an experienced backup should only aid the Orange here. Quarterback is one of the stronger positions on the offense.
Running Back
Syracuse lost stud Sean Tucker this offseason. He ed for 1,060 rushing yards and another 254 receiving yards last year. This leaves LeQuint Allen in place as the presumed starter. Allen had been dealing with a looming suspension, but a settlement will allow him to re the team on August 15. Last year, Allen rushed 41 times for 274 yards, while catching 17 es for another 117 yards. Allen is 6-foot-0, 195 pounds, ing for 6.81 yards after per attempt and forcing a missed tackle on 27% of his attempts. Behind him, Syracuse will rely on New Mexico State transfer Juwaun Price. Price is 5-foot-10, 202 pounds, and rushed just five times last year in two games. However, he carried 138 times for 699 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2021 with New Mexico State. He also caught 25 es that year, giving him some quality experience. No other running back carried the ball last year, but Ike Daniels tentatively projects to run as the third string. Seeing this position live up to Tucker would be a surprise, but the roster has talent.
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