Syracuse football struggled in 2019 and were unable to finish with a winning season. Will the infusion of youth lead to a bowl game for the Orange in 2020?
In 2018, head coach Dino Babers led the Orange to their first 10 win season since 2001. Syracuse walked into last season with relatively high hopes being ranked No. 22 in the nation entering 2019. They were brought down to earth quickly, with two blowout losses against Maryland and Clemson by a combined score of 104-26.
An up-and-down season that included a four-game losing streak led to Syracuse being on the outside looking in on bowl season.
Babers now walks into 2020 with three losing seasons at Syracuse, it begs to wonder if his time in central New York is running low. And 247Sports pegged Syracuse with the 59th best recruiting class for 2020, coming off a 2019 season in which they ranked 57th.
The Orange ranked in the back of the pack in many offensive and defensive stats in the ACC last season. They will have to be more than just a middling unit on both sides of the ball, if they want to hang with the big dogs in the conference.
The talent is just not there when compared to Clemson which ranks at the top and North Carolina which continues to rise. They will have to prove that they can stand out in the upper echelon of the Atlantic division. Winning against teams such as Louisville, Wake Forest and Florida State will be the key to doing so.
Which units stand out when looking at this Syracuse team for the 2020 season?