Syracuse hosts winless Duke but remains an underdog again
The Syracuse Orange have one streak going for them - they're picked as the underdog for the fourth straight time, even at home against a winless team and after a bye week to heal.
Syracuse (1-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) hosts Duke on Saturday in the second game inside the refurbished Carrier Dome. Duke (0-4, 0-4) has committed 15 turnovers, the most in the nation. Syracuse is coming off a 37-20 home victory over Georgia Tech and is second nationally in turnovers gained with 10.
The Blue Devils are slight favorites.
Go figure.
'œWe haven't been favored (in any game) and you know, that's OK," Syracuse coach Dino Babers said. "We need to get better.'ť
'œWe try not to focus on that,'ť Orange redshirt freshman cornerback Garrett Williams added.
Syracuse intercepted four passes in its victory over Georgia Tech, the highest single-game total in Babers' five years as coach and the most interceptions by the Orange in 14 years. And four players accounted for those picks: freshmen defensive backs Ja'Had Carter and Rob Hanna had their first in college, as did redshirt senior defensive tackle Josh Black, while defensive back Trill Williams added his fourth.
Duke is trying to get control of a season that is slipping away after less than a month. The Blue Devils are off to their worst start under 13th-year coach David Cutcliffe. Though they lead the Bowl Subdivision ranks in turnovers, the Blue Devils had just one last weekend - and not coincidentally had their best scoring output of the season - in a 38-31 loss to Virginia Tech.
The issues against Virginia Tech were penalties (eight for 76 yards) and inconsistency that led drives to stall, including a quick three-and-out in the fourth quarter after a turnover that gave Duke a chance for a go-ahead score.
There was also a defense that couldn't hold up against the Hokies' running game, which produced 324 yards and four touchdowns on 50 carries.
'œJust do your job,'ť Cutcliffe said. 'œNobody has to be Superman. You don't have to do more than what's required. You just have to do what's required. And if we take that approach and all of our phases, we'll be just fine. We've got enough good football players to play and win when we play well together, and that's got to be the thing.'ť
The Blue Devils posted season highs of 139 yards rushing and 410 total yards against the Hokies, including Mataeo Durant running for 86 yards and Deon Jackson running for 68 more with two touchdowns. That ground game could certainly help ease the pressure on Clemson graduate transfer Chase Brice, who has three touchdown passes with seven interceptions.
'œThey're going to come in here ready to go,'ť Babers said. 'œWe're going to have an advantage that we're going to have some guys healthy, supposedly, and hopefully catch up to game speed fast enough.'ť
Other things to know:
NEW SCHEME WORKS
New defensive coordinator Tony White's 3-3-5 scheme has performed well so far for the Orange. Syracuse's seven interceptions are tied for the national lead and its 155 return yards on those picks is the best mark in the nation. The big question mark is Andre Cisco, the rover in the new alignment. A preseason, first-team All-American, Cisco hurt his lower body during pregame warmups against Georgia Tech and sat out. Babers hinted that Cisco could play but wouldn't say for sure.
REVERSING COURSE
Duke hasn't been 0-4 since going 0-12 in 2006 under former coach Ted Roof. The Blue Devils are 0-4 in the ACC for the first time since going 0-5 in 2016. They finished 1-7 in the league that year.
RUN SEAN RUN
Syracuse's run game sputtered in the first two games of the season, road losses against North Carolina and Pitt, averaging under 2 yards a carry. Sean Tucker gave the Orange a jolt against the Yellow Jackets, rushing 24 times for 112 yards - and two touchdowns in the first quarter - to become just the 11th freshman in school history with a 100-yard game.
'œWe think we've got a lot of good backs,'ť Babers said.
A YEAR EARLIER
Duke and Syracuse are meeting for the second straight year, with the Orange looking to repeat last year's lopsided result. The Orange visited the Blue Devils last November with an 0-5 ACC record, only to roll to a 49-6 victory. Syracuse led that game just 14-6 at halftime but blew it open when Duke had three straight drives end in turnovers, including an interception that Cisco returned for a 48-yard touchdown.
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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
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