College Football 2017: Ranking the 3 worst losses from Week 2

Syracuse still harbors high hopes that 2017 will be the year where the Orange return to a bowl game for the first time in five seasons. But losses to Group of Five teams are always going to make it tougher for a Power Five team to get back to the college football postseason. Middle Tennessee has been a bowl team each of the past two seasons, so it wasn’t the worst loss in the world.

But the Blue Raiders had already stumbled 28-6 at home to Vanderbilt. They were nowhere near their best iterations from recent years. And it seemed after last year’s fleeting moments of promise that the Orange were a team on the upswing in 2017.

That all changed with an anemic performance at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Syracuse managed just 2.6 yards per carry, Eric Dungey threw an interception, and the Orange were forced to take a safety early in the first quarter after getting nowhere out of the shadow of their goal line. The defense gave up 269 yards and three touchdowns in the air to Brent Stockstill.

Central Michigan visits Syracuse in Week 3, and after the way both teams played on Saturday it could be another long day for Dino Babers’ team. The Chippewas pulled off one Power Five upset already this year, knocking off Kansas 45-27 in Lawrence over the past weekend.