The mounting losses for FSU are definitely not easy to watch.
We’re not going to hash the fact that FSU hasn’t started the season 0-4 since the 1974 season. They went 1-10 that year with their only win coming in Week 9 against Miami.
Outside of the loss to Wake Forest the 2021-edition of Florida State has been a tale-of-two-halves in their losses to Notre Dame and Louisville. In both games they dug themselves incredibly deep holes yet found their way to rise to the challenge and mount a comeback.
Imagine what this team could do if it could put together that same second-half effort for the full sixty minutes of play?
Syracuse will be the perfect option to showcase what kind of improvement the team has made since Mike Norvell got emotional during his presser earlier this week.
The Orange travel to Doak Campbell with a 3-1 record after escaping their game against Liberty last week with a game winning field goal as time expired.
Let’s dive into what the writers at College Football News predict for this match-up.
Syracuse (3-1) vs Florida State (0-4) Game Preview
Why Syracuse Will Win
Is Syracuse good at football now?
The Orange are hardly perfect, but the offensive line has started to play well for the first time in a very, very long time. It starts with the running game that got stuffed by Rutgers, but rumbled for well over 200 yards against everyone else.
Sean Tucker took over in the win over Liberty with 169 yards and a score, and now the Orange are 3-0 when he runs for over 100 yards.
Florida State’s run defense hasn’t been awful, but that’s not the problem.
The Seminoles aren’t moving the chains even a little bit – there’s nothing happening on third downs – the O isn’t putting the biscuit in the basket in the basket in the red zone, and there’s just no consistent control.
All of a sudden, Syracuse is playing some D – it’s tenth in the nation allowing 261 yards per game.
Why Florida State Will Win
The team just needs something positive to happen.
This might be a momentum thing with the Noles. They got their hearts ripped out in the tough loss to Notre Dame and the brutal gaffe against Jacksonville State. They were never in it against Wake Forest and they couldn’t push past Louisville.
For all of the problems, they weren’t that terribly far away from being 3-1. That’s far easier said than done, obviously.
Syracuse might be playing well, but beating Ohio and Albany isn’t any big deal, the O didn’t work against Rutgers, and Liberty was a close fight win.
There’s talent here. If FSU can just get a few early scores and come up with a few good defensive stops, that might mean everything. However …
What’s Going To Happen
The Florida State lines aren’t playing well enough.
The problem with hoping to turn the momentum around is that it all can get sucked dry fast against a team that pounds away. FSU has allowed 242 rushing yards or more against everyone so far, and Syracuse will take advantage of that by pounding and pounding some more.
Syracuse vs Florida State Broadcast Info
Date: Saturday, October 2
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL
How To Watch: ACC Network
They weren’t wrong that FSU is close to being a 3-1 team and making its way back to the top. But it will take extreme discipline to make that happen against the Orange.
We’re hoping to see the Noles finally secure their first win of the season on Saturday.
Here’s our picks for Week 5 in the ACC.
Thursday, September 30th
| Match-Up | Our Prediction |
|---|---|
| Miami vs Virginia | MIA 38, UVA 34 |
Saturday, October 2nd
| Match-Up | Our Prediction |
|---|---|
| Georgia Tech vs Pittsburgh | PITT 34, GT 31 |
| North Carolina vs Duke | UNC 48, DUKE 28 |
| #24 Wake Forest vs Louisville | WAKE 37, LOU 31 |
| Florida State vs Syracuse | FSU 29, SYR 27 |
| #23 NC State vs Louisiana Tech | NCST 38, LATECH 17 |
| #25 Clemson vs Boston College | CLEM 31, BC 21 |
Last Week’s Picks: 4-6
Year-to-Date Record: 30-18 (62.50%)
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a great slate of games and we’ll check back in next week and hopefully not cringe at the results like we did last week.
And if you missed it, check out our latest episode of the “Laces Out” series here.
If you’ve signed up for our weekly ESPN College Pick ‘Em challenge then don’t forget to get your picks locked in. Top entry at the end of the season will get a nominal cash prize!
Information for this post was obtained from College Football News.
