Louisville football: Ranking the last four opponents
#4 Syracuse Orange
Record: 1-7
Date of game: 11/20/20
Syracuse has had a season to forget. They have lost starting quarterback Eric Dungey for the year to injury in addition to a multitude of opt outs. If the Cardinals want to win this one, they may simply need to show up.
Syracuse is coached by Dino Babers who has been with the team for five seasons now. Babers is the mind behind the offense.
The Orange’s top two running backs in Jarveon Howard and Abdul Adams opted out prior to the season while star defensive backs Andre Cisco and Trill WIlliams decided to do so midway through the 2020 campaign. Those are four gigantic losses for the Orange as Cisco and Williams were two of the better defensive backs in the ACC. Now, they decide to opt out to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
If the Cards are hoping to win this game, they may just need to show up being healthy. The Orange are depleted in their secondary and are missing their starting quarterback Eric Dungey now for the rest of the year.
The Orange do have Ifeatu Melifonwu remaining in the secondary (who is very good in his own right) but it should not be enough to stop the Cards and their high level passing attack when they play against average defensive lines.
The Cardinals should be able to put together a good combo of run and pass to attack Syracuse in this matchup.
Meanwhile, Syracuse’s offense has only put together 24 points in one of their seven games all season. That was a victory against Georgia Tech back in late September.
This game should be a win for Louisville. Syracuse put up a fight against Boston College (more on them later), but the reality is that they have lost five in a row and are reeling at this point.