TNIAAM reacts: Syracuse football fans have spoken

Syracuse Orange football fans are feeling good about the team’s chances this weekend. Let’s see what you told us in this week’s DraftKings react survey.

The Syracuse faithful almost unanimously agrees that the Orange will begin their 2023 campaign victorious. And rightfully so... it should be a warmup game for SU against its FCS foe. Alas, there always has to be one fan to pick the other side. Maybe it was a Colgate diehard or your high school’s class clown, we’ll never know.

Over half of Syracuse fans believe Garrett Shrader will be out on the gridiron to start the third quarter. Knowing he’s returning from an injury on his throwing hand, I find this result surprising. If the majority is correct, I hope Shrader is taking practice snaps and not caught up in a one-possession game. But maybe breaking him in is the right move after all. It all lies in the hands of Dino Babers.

I love the optimism here, and if last year’s FCS game was any indication, the majority are looking pretty good. Colgate committed 12 turnovers in 11 games last season, including one in its only game against an FBS team (Stanford). On the flip side, Syracuse recorded three defensive scores in 2022, with one against Wagner. Let’s see if the good guys take another one back to the house against the Raiders.

Looks like our audience agrees with our staff’s predictions. DraftKings has the over/under win total at 6.5, so most of us are optimistic about SU’s chances this year. In the past 10 seasons, the Orange have finished with 7-8 wins just twice, 9-12 once, and the rest below that. If Syracuse can take care of each of its first four non-conference matchups, which is definitely doable, a 3-5 ACC record would put them right in the majority threshold.

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