Syracuse wins this game. Despite their 0-2 record, they have been surprisingly competitive against 2 Big 10 teams. They fought tooth and nail with the same Penn St team that blew them out of the Dome last season. Even Joe Pa and several PSU players acknowledged the drastic improvement from last years team. The changes Marrone has made since the G-Rob era are evident. This is now, a disciplined, hard working team, that despite their 0-2 start still believe in themselves. Their defense has been the biggest surprised. All Big East DT Arthur Jones anchors the defense, doing an excellent job of clogging up the line. That should help the Orange shut down Northwesterns ground game, and force QB Mike Kafka to throw the ball, where he has struggled so far this year where he hasn't even thrown a TD.
On offense I expect a big week from the WR core. Marrone called out the wide outs this week for numerous dropped passes, including a couple importat would have been TD passes. WR was to be the strength of this team, led by Mike Williams, who is still having a solid year, so I expect a bounce back week from this group. That will take some of the pressure of Greg Paulus, who hasn't played that bad, and with a couple of those dropped passes, he would have decent statistics.
Sure Syracuse is 0-2, and NW 2-0, but a hard fought loss at Penn St, and a close win at home against Eastern Michigan, aren't shown in those records.
Syracuse 24
Northwestern 17
On offense I expect a big week from the WR core. Marrone called out the wide outs this week for numerous dropped passes, including a couple importat would have been TD passes. WR was to be the strength of this team, led by Mike Williams, who is still having a solid year, so I expect a bounce back week from this group. That will take some of the pressure of Greg Paulus, who hasn't played that bad, and with a couple of those dropped passes, he would have decent statistics.
Sure Syracuse is 0-2, and NW 2-0, but a hard fought loss at Penn St, and a close win at home against Eastern Michigan, aren't shown in those records.
Syracuse 24
Northwestern 17
