Syracuse vs. Duke: TNIAAM predictions & poll

Somehow, the Syracuse Orange are still viewed as underdogs against the Duke Blue Devils for Saturday’s game. Sure the 1-2 Orange haven’t been insanely impressive in 2020, but the 0-4 Blue Devils haven’t inspired much confidence either.

Nonetheless, Syracuse looks to repeat what it did last season: blow Duke out of the water. The score might not be the same as the 49-6 score line from 2019, but what do we think the final result will be at TNIAAM? Take a look at our predictions here:

Christian

Syracuse 31, Duke 10

Even if the Syracuse offense hasn’t performed up to some fans expectations, opponents had a decent offense at their disposal to make up the difference against the strong 3-3-5 Orange defense. At this point, Duke’s offense is considerably worse than every other unit that Syracuse has faced this year. Probably the biggest concern for the Orange is to just keep Tommy DeVito clean with Victor Dimukeje and Chris Rumph II coming on every play. Other than that, we’ll continue wondering why Vegas still has Duke listed as favorites.

Kevin

Syracuse 27, Duke 23

The Blue Devils have not been good to start the season but I’m still waiting for the Syracuse offense to show more consistency before I pick any kind of convincing win. Expect the Orange to force turnovers but getting touchdowns in red zone opportunities could make the difference between 2-2 and 1-3.

Steve

Syracuse 34, Duke 20

I don’t know why, but I think the Orange have a chance to open this one up against the Blue Devils. The secondary should be able to keep the offense and Chase Brice in check, and I think there’s a good chance that the defense can stop the run as well. If the Orange can keep Tommy DeVito vertical, and not running from Dimukeje and Rumph, they’ll be in good shape.

Andy

Syracuse 31, Duke 28

It’s a clean sweep here, as while I’m worried about what the Duke defensive ends can do against less than stellar tackles, I think the emergence of Sean Tucker will allow ‘Cuse to run up the middle more consistently and alleviate that pressure. That said, I feel like Chase Brice is some kind of ‘Cuse killer, and while he’s not lighting it up to date, an Andre Cisco-less secondary struggles a bit more this week and Duke keeps it close. However, the defense holds strong a few more times, forcing enough turnovers to give DeVito and the Orange enough chances to pull out the win.