Syracuse football opponents recap: Week Seven

The Syracuse Orange suffered a frustrating loss (to say the least) this past Thursday, on the road against North Carolina State. Sitting at .500 and winless in ACC play, the Orange will next look to a home battle against Pitt to get back in the win column before this season becomes even more of a wash. While we await for better days for Syracuse football, let’s see how their past and future opponents fared in Week 7.

Liberty Flames (4-2, N/A)

Result: Bye

The Flames took their four-game winning streak into their bye. Next up is a home contest versus Maine out of the FCS.

Maryland Terrapins (3-3, 1-2)

Result: 40-14 loss to Purdue

Maryland also fell to .500 this weekend, but its 26-point blowout loss to Purdue was way more brutal than Cuse’s single-digit loss. All of Maryland’s points came in the second quarter off a 21-yard rush from junior running back Javon Leake and a 61-yard run from junior quarterback Tyrell Pigrome, but 547 total yards of offense from Purdue soundly quieted the hopes of a close game.

Clemson Tigers (6-0, 4-0)

Result: 45-14 win over Florida State

After a narrow victory and a bye week, Clemson football got back to its dominant ways with an easy win over Florida State. Sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence had four total touchdowns on the day, the same number of takeaways by the Tigers defense. A huge first half, in which Clemson out-gained the Seminoles 367-63 total yards, made way for an easy victory for one of the better teams in the nation.

Western Michigan Broncos (4-3, 2-1)

Result: 38-16 win vs. Miami (OH)

Western Michigan scored all its points in the closing periods of each half, as the Broncos moved above .500 for their fourth time this season. A pick-six by senior linebacker Drake Spears in the second quarter turned things around for the Broncos, who rattled off 21 points in the second quarter after finding itself down 6-0 at the end of one. They’ll look for their first multi-game winning streak of the season next Saturday at Eastern Michigan.

Holy Cross Crusaders (3-3, 1-0)

Result: 47-31 win at Brown

Make that two wins in a row for the Crusaders, who scored at least once in every quarter this weekend to secure the win on the road. Junior thrower Connor Degenhardt completed 20-of-33 passes for 315 yards and four scores, while the Brown offense coughed up the ball three times in the loss.

Pittsburgh Panthers (4-2, 1-1)

Result: Bye

The Panthers defense must’ve enjoyed watching Syracuse’s loss to NC State, as they’ll be well-rested heading into their matchup inside the Dome this Friday.

Florida State Seminoles (3-2, 2-2)

Result: 45-14 loss at Clemson

Things were not pretty on Saturday for a Seminole team that gave up four turnovers and and went 2-of-13 on third down attempts. Florida State had nothing working through the air, and had no answer for the high-octane Clemson offense. They’ll travel again this next week, playing in Winston-Salem, N.C. against Wake Forest.

Boston College Eagles (3-3, 1-2)

Result: Bye

Boston College was awarded with a bye after its two-game losing streak, and will next play NC State at home as a part of their homecoming weekend.

Duke Blue Devils (4-2, 2-1)

Result: 41-23 win over Georgia Tech

Don’t look now, but the Blue Devils are looking pretty strong through the midway point of their season. Averaging 40.4 points per game since Week 2, Duke has turned in its fourth 40-point game of the year. We’ll get a stronger sense of how good this Duke team is next week when they play a talented Virginia roster.

Louisville Cardinals (4-2, 2-1)

Result: 62-59 win at Wake Forest

Talk about a back-and-forth affair, as no defense was shown on Saturday by either Louisville or Wake Forest. The Cardinals, in their first road win over a ranked opponent since 2016, tallied 520 yards of offense — led by strong performances under center by both redshirt sophomore quarterback Micale Cunningham and freshman quarterback Evan Conley.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-1, 1-0)

Result: 62-59 loss against Louisville

Wake Forest dropped its first game of the season, despite 59 points and 668 total yards on offense. The Deacons came roaring back after being down 55-38 with 5:35 left to play, but four Wake Forest touchdowns in a span of just over five minutes was negated after a failed last-minute onside kick. The Demon Deacons will look to get things going in their favor next weekend when they host Florida State.

Week 4 opponent W-L: 5-3

2019 total W-L: 45-24