Syracuse coach Dino Babers says his team is improving

Same record, very different team. A third of the way through his second season at Syracuse, that's what coach Dino Babers sees.

Last season the Orange started 2-2 and finished 4-8 in a campaign fraught with injuries. Fast forward one year and they again sit at 2-2 after losing 35-26 at No. 25 LSU on Saturday night.

The Orange squandered a chance to pull off a signature victory on the road in Death Valley, where the Tigers (3-1) have now won 49 straight against non-Southeastern Conference foes. Even though the Tigers had an interception on the first play from scrimmage and quickly scored to put the Orange in an early hole, the game was there for the taking in the fourth quarter against a perennial SEC power that's struggling.

"I think that we're playing well," Babers said Monday. "I know that we're getting better, but I can't prove it in the box score. I can't prove it with the win-and-loss record, but we're a better football team.

"This team would really get after the 2016 Syracuse team. But the schedule may be so difficult ... you may not be able to see that in the W's and L's."

Syracuse opens Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday at North Carolina State (3-1, 1-0 ACC), which barely missed being ranked this week after Saturday's 27-21 upset win at No. 12 Florida State. The Wolfpack fell six votes shy of replacing LSU at No. 25 and sent the Seminoles plummeting out of the poll for the first time since 2011.

Syracuse is at the point where Babers figures the system he's installed will begin to purr on both sides of the ball, and there were signs against the Tigers that the Orange are getting closer to that goal.

"With five minutes left, we were within three points of winning that game," Babers said. "It's a tribute from where we came from. Leadership has really taken over. You can see it, even the conversations that you're having with the young men at halftime and before the game. I'm excited where we're at."

The defense, which allowed 501 yards a game last year, is giving up 331.5 so far this year and ranks seventh nationally in third-down defense, holding opponents to a 25 percent conversion rate. Against LSU, the Orange - led by linebacker Parris Bennett's 12 tackles - had six stops behind the line of scrimmage, including two sacks, and intercepted a pass for the third week in a row.

"I'm really impressed by what they've done the first four games," Babers said of his defenders. "Hopefully, if they keep playing at the level they're playing at we're going to be in some games."

Quarterback Eric Dungey continued his solid play after that opening gaffe, accounting for 289 total yards and two TDs. He could have had another score, but a wide-open Sean Riley dropped a perfectly thrown ball on a third-and-17 play that hit him in stride at the LSU goal line early in the second quarter and the Orange had to punt.

"We didn't score enough points," Babers said. "If you're going to come out and beat a team like this on the road, you better score in the 40s. We had plays out there to get us to those numbers."

Syracuse's special teams also played an integral role. Sterling Hofrichter, ranked ninth nationally in punting (46.3 yards per kick), matched his career high by placing five of his seven punts inside the 20-yard line. Four were downed inside the 10, including two at the 1.

The Orange's schedule for the rest of the regular season includes second-ranked Clemson at home, and No. 14 Miami, Florida State and No. 17 Louisville.

"We'll see. It's still a young season," Babers said. "We've got eight games left with an opportunity to play nine."

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