Syracuse football opens their season on the road once again this year. In 2018, it was a 55-42 opening win in Western Michigan that kickstarted the Orange’s 10-3 campaign. This time around, Syracuse travels down to Lynchburg, Virginia, to take on the Liberty Flames. This will be the first season Liberty will be competing fully at the FBS level as an independent. This means the Flames will now be bowl eligible as opposed to last season.
But just because the Flames are new to the FBS level does not mean they don’t have the talent to compete. Liberty went 6-6 last season, including wins over Old Dominion, New Mexico, Troy, and New Mexico State. These may not be powerhouse FBS schools, but Liberty won’t be a cakewalk for the Orange. Liberty is now led by head coach Hugh Freeze, who was most recently at Ole Miss.
The Offense
The Flames are led by veteran QB Stephen Calvert, who threw for 3,068 yards and 21 touchdowns last season. However, he struggled against Power Five opponents. In two games against Auburn and Virginia, Calvert went a combined 24-55 passing with 228 yards, zero touchdowns, and five interceptions. Syracuse’s pass rush and elite secondary should have no issues solving Calvert, who doesn’t leave the pocket much. The weapons for Calvert at receiver include Antonio Gandy-Golden (1,037 yards, 10 touchdowns) and DJ Stubbs (631 yards), along with returning eight of their nine top pass catchers from 2018. This return of experience should help the Flames this season, but if the Orange can solve Gandy-Golden, the receiving core gets weaker from there.
In terms of rushing, Liberty has a trio that gets it done. Frankie Hickson went for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, while Peytton Pickett added 457 yards and 9 touchdowns of his own. The trio is rounded out by Maine transfer Josh Mack, the FCS’ leading rusher in 2017. If the Orange secondary is lockdown early, expect Liberty to pound the ball and test that front seven.
The Defense
Everyone is anxious to see what the Orange offense can do now under the command of Tommy DeVito, myself included. But it might be the Orange run game that shows up in Week 1. Liberty allowed 2,662 yards rushing in 2018 and over 5 yards per carry. The Orange attack led by Moe Neal and Abdul Adams could have a huge night.
The pass defense wasn’t much better for Liberty last season, but they were able to generate a decent amount of turnovers. However, the defense allowed 40 or more points in seven games last season. Syracuse’s offense scored 40 or more points eight times last season. You do the math. It should be close to automatic for the Orange to score this Saturday.
Prediction
Syracuse should not have much trouble on Saturday night. There will be some growing pains, but overall the Orange are a much better team than Liberty. The Flames may try some trick plays or something of that nature early, especially with a veteran head coach. But even with a slow start, Syracuse will win this game going away. I may even be going too low with the point total, but I’ll take the Orange to win Week 1 by a score of 62-17.