Syracuse Football & The Quest For Beef: Week 3 Quest-O-Meter

In theory, the Syracuse Orange moved a step closer to completing The Quest for Beef this week thanks to a 28-17 win over Stony Brook. However, the win was probably the least impressive performance by the team all season. Still, when it comes to the cold, hard facts of bowl eligibility, a win is most certainly a win.

Coupled with the reality that South Florida is meh, Pitt is weird and everyone else in the Big East could go 9-3, 6-6 or 3-9, this Quest could take a long time to sort out.

QOM via Corey Paige.

We're back at the halfway point. We need to go 5-4 from here on out to complete The Quest. Seems do-able but it also seems tough. Such is Syracuse Football.

Now, let's take a look ahead to see how our upcoming opponents did and how likely we are to raise the QOM in the coming weeks...

Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-0): You know how we were doing the whole "Best 0-2 Team in the Nation" thing? Well some are making the case that Minny is the "Worst 3-0 Team In the Nation." They had to hold off Western Michigan for a 28-23 win last weekend.

Pittsburgh Panthers (1-2): Are you kidding me, Pitt? We had you figured out. You were terrible. Then you had to go out and beat Virginia Tech (thoroughly) and now you're a complete mystery and we're scared of you again. God dammit..

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0): The Knights are off to a solid-if-unremarkable start and that continued with a 23-13 win over South Florida. Jawan Jamison ran for 151 yards and a touchdown in the Thursday Night win.

Connecticut Huskies (2-1): The Huskies had a rough week with Calhoun retiring and Notre Dame killing their ACC buzz. The only thing that could have made it worse was to lose to Randy Esdall. They avoided the trifecta by holding off the Maryland comeback.

South Florida Bulls (2-1): The Bulls were my trendy pick to win the Big East this year. I was wrong. So, so wrong.

Cincinnati Bearcats (2-0): The Bearcats committed six turnovers, which is kinda impressive, and still won the game. Of course, they were playing Delaware State. Do that again and you're losing.

Louisville Cardinals (3-0): The Cardinals led the Tar Heels 36-7 at the half. They barely survived a huge UNC comeback to get a 39-34 win. L'ville has a tendency to let opponents come back in the second half, which plays right into Syracuse's wheelhouse.

Missouri Tigers (2-1): Mizzou held on for a 24-20 win over Arizona State, led by redshirt freshman QB Corbin Berkstresser in place of James Franklin. The Tigers also seem to have trouble maintaining leads in the second half.

Temple Owls (1-1): The Owls did not play football this weekend, which means everyone else won.

Total Remaining Opponent Record: 19-6