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RB A.J. Dillon was one of the breakout stars in the ACC last season, earning first-team All-ACC honors after rushing for 1,432 yards and 14 touchdowns. Syracuse has not played North Carolina since moving to the ACC. Florida State's 2017 season was sunk when quarterback Deondre Francois was injured in the opening game against Alabama. Quarterback Brandon Wimbush, who accounted for 30 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions, and a majority of the Irish's starters will return in 2018. Syracuse is scheduled to play Connecticut on Sept. 29, 2018 at the Carrier Dome. The Huskies' pass defense was the worst in FBS football, allowing 346.2 yards per game and the 455 points allowed were a school record.
Dino Babers and his team have pulled off stunning victories in each of his first two seasons. Nobody forgot what happened the last time an ACC opponent came to the Carrier Dome on a Friday night, when Syracuse handed Clemson a stunning, loss. Depth is always a concern for Syracuse, so the health of its roster will be vitally important heading into October, which looks like the month where progress will or will not reveal itself. Syracuse goes on the road in Week 1 at a healthy Mid-American conference opponent that has staff familiar with some of SU's veteran personnel. And, while the ACC has improved its overall health in recent years, making no game any small task, there is reason to believe this season's slate of games won't be as challenging as last year's.
at Wake Forest
-- Syracuse football'scomplete 2018 schedule was released Wednesday with announcement of the ACC slate. This will be Syracuse football's first game at Yankee Stadium since the 2012 Pinstripe Bowl. Jackson torched the SU defense for the last two seasons, but Bobby Petrino has a former four-star recruit in Jawon Pass waiting in the wings. Syracuse caught a tough break running into Miami (Fla.) last season as its rotating crossover opponent from the Coastal Division.
The Broncos lose leading rusher Jarvion Franklin to graduation. Starting quarterback Jon Wassink was knocked out for the season on Oct. 25 with a broken collarbone but will return for the 2018 season. One is against a Northeast rival, and the other two are home games against good but not overwhelming rosters.
Game summaries
Freshman RB Travis Etienne broke out as the team's leading rusher and could have a big breakout season in 2018. The Orange last faced North Carolina on the football field in 2003, opening the season with a win in overtime. The Wolfpack were in the mix for the ACC's Atlantic Division title but lost key games to Clemson and Wake Forest late in the season. The official 2018 football schedule will be announced in January or February of 2018. Syracuse will play three opponents in October that will go a long way toward deciding whether the program is able to take a step forward. Syracuse for the past four seasons has opened against an FCS opponent that was mostly overmatched from the opening kick.
See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. Syracuse will open the season in an opponent's home stadium for the first time since 2010, when the Orange played at Akron. Dabo Swinney has built a true "plug and play" program at Clemson that is among the elite in college football. Syracuse and the rest of the ACC breathed a sigh of relief with the news that Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson would forego his senior season and enter the 2018 NFL Draft.
Syracuse University
The Clemson defense could lose superstar DL Christian Wilkins to the NFL Draft but returns Dexter Lawrence and has been one of the best defenses in recent years no matter who is in the lineup. Quarterback Ryan Finley and DE Bradley Chubb will move on from the Wolfpack. Running back Nyheim Hines, who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2017, will be a key returning player for the Wolfpack in 2018. Syracuse will host Florida State at the Carrier Dome in 2018. Florida State has one game remaining in the 2017 schedule and it's a big one to save a little face. Syracuse and Wagner have met once before.Syracuse defeated the Seahawks, 54-0 at the Carrier Dome in 2013.
Lester's team played in some wild games in 2017, including a71-68 win over Buffalo in overtime and a shootout with USC (49-31 loss) to begin the season. Here's a look at who is on the 2018 Syracuse football schedule and how those opponents fared in the 2017 season. Some school's results have been altered by retroactive NCAA penalties. As a matter of policy, Sports Reference only reports the results of games as played on the field.
Quarterback Terrel Hunt threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. Former Syracuse University offensive coordinator Tim Lester took over for P.J. The Orange football program has gone under Scott Shafer and Dino Babers since a win in the Texas Bowl in 2013. Clemson will be carrying a loaded roster and will be seeking revenge for last season's loss at the Carrier Dome.
Getting Florida State and Clemson in September should give SU a chance at the conference heavyweights with its roster intact. The Orange finished the 2017 season 4–8, 2–6 in ACC play to finish in last place in the Atlantic Division. The Tigers are going to be runaway favorites to win the ACC and return to the College Football Playoff, and I bet they remember the L they took at Syracuse last fall when the Orange visits Death Valley. The biggest offseason story in the ACC was Jimbo Fisher's resignation at Florida State to accept a massive contract at Texas A&M.
North Carolina State returns one of the steadiest quarterbacks in the conference in Ryan Finley. The exceptional pieces around Finley that helped lift it into the Top 25 this season mostly need to be replaced, including Jaylen Samuels and Nyheim Hines. The home opener will be against Wagner, which last visited the Carrier Dome in 2013 and left with a 54-0 loss in a game in which Terrel Hunt seized the starting quarterback job. Syracuse lost to Boston College 42-14to finish the 2017 season. The Orange will visit Chestnut Hill to take on the Eagles in 2018. Once on the hot seat, Steve Addazio led the Eagles to their fourth bowl game bid in the last five years.
Syracuse traveled to UConn in Dino Babers' first season and walked away with a victory. Syracuse has continued to follow its scheduling philosophy of playing an FCS game. And defensive lineman Steven Clark is a senior at WMU after transferring there in the wake of a medical DQ decision at SU. Pittsburgh got stuffed at the goal line against Virginia Techin the second-to-last game of the season that sealed their postseason fate. Syracuse lost to Wake Forest 64-43at the Carrier Dome in 2017.
Syracuse football's 2018 schedule was released Wednesday afternoon, finalizing the 12-game slate with dates for the team's eight ACC games. Dave Doeren, who will enter his sixth season as head coach at NC State in 2018, was in the mix for the Tennessee job but stayed in Raleigh. He was also in the running for the Ole Miss head job, but the Rebels promoted interim coach Matt Luke to be full-time head coach. If the Seminoles lose to the University of Louisiana-Monroe, they will not play in a bowl game for the first time in 36 years. Syracuse alum Randy Edsall fielded one of the youngest teams in the FBS in 2017. Only Illinois, Baylor, Ball State, Texas A&M and LSU had more true freshmen starters than the six Connecticut true freshmen with starts.
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