The Syracuse Orange (3-1, 1-0) look to send a sell-out crowd home happy when they face the Duke Blue Devils (2-2, 1-0) on Saturday. Kickoff is Noon on ACC Network and here’s what we are watching for:
Kevin:
Letting Collins Cook
In his first collegiate start with a sell-out crowd, I’m curious to see what Jeff Nixon dials up for the Orange offense. I don’t think it’s going to be a bunch of runs, but I do think Nixon will give Collins some throws where he’s at his best….and right now I’m not sure what those will be and that’s interesting. Is Collins comfortable hitting the slants and crosses to Cook and Villari? Does he feel better about deep throws against single coverage? Nixon’s offense has impressed me and I’m very eager to see what he cooks up.
Augie: The Secondary
Coming off their best game of the season, I am interested to see how the secondary performs. I don’t think there are many people who could have foreseen Syracuse coming out of Death Valley with a wall-to-wall victory over the Tigers and only holding them to 21 points over 60 minutes of football. The oddsmakers have predicted the game this weekend against Duke to be a high scoring one, but I really think that if Devin Grant, Demetres Samuel Jr., Braheem Long Jr. and the rest of the secondary can continue to build on the momentum that they have been gaining, they can make Duke’s offense uncomfortable and give Syracuse a good chance to win.
Dom: Winning the turnover battle
I said this for the Clemson game and it proved to be partly why the Orange won. Syracuse’s defense recovered a fumble, picked off Klubnik once and forced multiple fourth down stops when it mattered. For the Blue Devils, Darian Mensah has only thrown two picks, but the team is -2 in turnover margin heading into this week and has had three INTs and two recovered fumbles in four games. It could really help set up Collins with better field position, but Syracuse’s own mistakes could also gift wrap this game for Duke. Can the Orange build off its defensive performance from last week is the biggest x-factor heading into this game.
Max: Points, points and more points
Even with Syracuse’s quarterback change, there are still tons of scores expected on both sides with a FanDuel projected over/under of 60.5 points. Duke’s offense put up 45 last week in a win over then-undefeated NC State, mainly due to its air attack, which ranks 10th in the nation with just over 330 passing yards per game. We’ll see how fast Rickie Collins operates in his first start, but I’m expecting a slower tempo at times to recharge SU’s defense on the sidelines.
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What will you be watching for on Saturday?
