Syracuse vs. Wagner Official TNIAAM predictions & poll

It’s week two! The Syracuse Orange (1-0, 0-0) return to the Carrier Dome for the 2018 home opener against the FCS Wagner Seahawks (1-0). Things got stressful for Syracuse last week. We’re hoping for a lot less of that on Saturday.

Wagner last visited the Orange in 2013, a 54-0 win for SU that introduced us to Terrel Hunt as the team’s primary signal-caller for a nearly two-year. Staten Island’s College Team (TM) are coming off a 40-23 win against DII Bowie State last Thursday.

If you’re not at the Dome, you can catch all of the action starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN.

So what does the TNIAAM staff predict is going to happen in this one?

Steve Haller

Syracuse 54, Wagner 17

Syracuse looks to work on a few things which came up as questions last week. I’m assuming that Eric Dungey starts finding a receiver not named Jamal Custis, since their defense, and especially the backfield, won’t be nearly as good as what we saw last week (or will see moving forward). There’s now some film at game speed to start to straighten the Orange defense out, but if they start to get opened up by this Wagner team, we have a ton more issues than we thought we did.

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Ross

Syracuse 69, Wagner 14

There’s just no way that the Seahawk defense can handle the SU offense. The Orange will run up the score and Tommy DeVito will almost certainly get a chance to play a full half of football. I’m interested to see how the Syracuse defense does this week though. I think if Wagner scores more than the two touchdowns I predict, then SU has a big problem defensively.

Kevin Wall

Syracuse 65, Wagner 10

Get ready for the complaints when DeVito comes out in the 2nd quarter as fans scream that Dino Babers is screwing Eric Dungey’s Heisman plans. However, what you should be noting is how Syracuse utilizes the new redshirt rules to get Chance Amie and others some possessions in the second half. The Orange should set participation records on Saturday afternoon as they try to head into Week 3 rested and healthy.

Dan Lyons

Syracuse 51, Wagner 7

Wagner put together quite the rushing performance last week. Fortunately, I think even Syracuse’s unproven defense is better than the Fightin’ Spiders From Mars of Bowie State. I think this game will look a lot like the first half of last week’s, hopefully without the insane house of mirrors third quarter, and some DeVito time in which he gets some help from literally anyone else on the roster. Also, I was hoping for it last week when Syracuse was up 34-7, but let’s get Rex some time.

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

John Cassillo

Syracuse 52, Wagner 10

Syracuse starts hot and spends the first half getting Dungey some numbers while involving the team’s long list of receivers as well. For as much as Dino Babers talks tempo, his SU teams do have a tendency to take their foot off the gas once a decent-sized lead is established (see: last week). DeVito comes in and gets some quality reps in the second half, but the fireworks are minimal as Syracuse cruises toward an easy victory.

Now it’s your turn...