Preview: No. 19 Pitt Welcome Longtime Rivals Syracuse

The No. 19 Pitt Panthers football team hosts longtime rival in Syracuse

Nov 26, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers running back James Conner (24) rushes the ball against the Syracuse Orange during the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. PITT won 76-61. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The No. 19 Pitt Panthers hosts longtime rival in Syracuse at Acrisure Stadium under the lights for the 80th matchup of the series on Thursday. 

Pitt is off to its best start since 1982 and Syracuse is off to its best start since 2022 when it started the season 6-0. But Syracuse faltered halfway through the 2022 season, losing six of its last seven games, including a 19-9 loss to Pitt in Acrisure — the last time Syracuse was in Acrisure Stadium. 

This season, a 19-9 final score feels highly unlikely, the two teams bode far more talented offenses. Two years ago, the Panthers averaged 31.3 points per game and this season they average 40.8 points per game. The Orange averaged 27.7 points per game in 2022 and this season they average 33.8 points per game.

The team's offenses are a combined 15.6 points better because of the improvements the teams have added under center. Pitt redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein has won ACC Freshman of the Week five times already and is doing things that only the likes of Dan Marino has accomplished. 

Syracuse senior quarterback Kyle McCord, who transferred from Ohio State this past offseason, is on pace to smash two Syracuse passing records. Through six games of a 12 regular season, McCord has thrown for 2,160 yards and tossed 19 touchdown passes. In a 12-game season, he is on track for 4.320 passing yards and 38 passing touchdowns. 

The Orange’s single-season record for most touchdown passes in Syracuse history is 26 by Ryan Nassib in 2012. Nassib’s 2012 season also holds the Syracuse record for passing yards with 3,749. If McCord keeps on this pace, he will shatter both records.

“He's just a really good football player,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said about McCord (took from ur tweet). “...We got to play good coverage. That's what scares me...third down, money down, the guy doesn't miss..."

McCord spreads the ball around, he doesn’t lock in on one target. Syracuse has six players who have garnered over 150 receiving yards on the year and has three more with over 400 receiving yards. Syracuse’s top three options are redshirt junior tight end Oronde Gadsden II, redshirt junior wide receiver Trebor Pena and senior wide receiver Jackson Meeks. 

Gadsden has collected 433 yards on 32 receptions and three touchdowns. Pena has nabbed 458 yards on 42 catches and five touchdowns. Meeks, a Georgia transfer, is the Orange’s leading receiver by a yard, he has tallied 459 yards on 38 catches and four touchdowns. The standout senior wide receiver has also won ACC Receiver of the Week twice this season — in week five and week seven.

Syracuse isn’t as impressive on the ground with its spread offense. It has the second-worst rushing offense in the ACC, only ahead of FSU, with only 104.3 rushing yards per game. Junior running back LeQuint Allen has earned the bulk of Syracuse’s carries with 69 more than the second-leading rusher — freshman runningback Yasin Willis, a former Pitt commit.

Allen has four touchdowns on the ground and totaled 458 rush yards on 94 carries, good for 4.8 yards per carry. In Syracuse’s spread offense, Allen also has three receiving touchdowns, 31 receptions and 254 receiving yards. 

The Orange’s spread offense methodically moves the ball down the field. The Panthers' offense scores as fast as they can. The Orange is second in the ACC in time of possession, holding the ball for 33:52 and the Panthers are last in the ACC in time of possession having the ball in their hands for 24:42.

Senior linebacker Justin Barron who converted from defensive back to linebacker in the second week of the season is one of the leaders of the Syracuse defense. This is the second time in Barron’s Syracuse career that he moved from one position to another as he started his collegiate career as a wide receiver.

Switching to linebacker has benefited Barron, in week seven he won ACC Linebacker of the Week as he finished his night with eight total tackles, two tackles for a loss, including a sack and a fumble recovery. On the year, Barron has the second most total tackles on the Orange with 41, only one tackle behind redshirt junior linebacker Derek McDonald. 

Syracuse only has 13 sacks on the year this season and leading the orange in that category is senior defensive lineman Fadil Diggs. The Texas A&M transfer has four sacks on the year and earned ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week in week six with his two sack and six total tackle performance against No. 25 UNLV.

The Orange’s defnse allows 24.7 points per game, 356.7 yards per game —only 3.5 worse than Pitt – and excel in third down situations. They rank No. 3 in the ACC in third down conversions only allowing a conversion 30.3%.

In the redzone, Syracuse bends but doesn’t break over 50% of the time. Syracuse has only forced two turnovers in the redzone, but in the 20 attempts opponents have scored a touchdown only nine times and forced a field goal nine times. The Syracuse defense is tied for second in the ACC for least redzone touchdowns allowed, the only conference opponent with less redzone touchdowns allowed is Pitt — who has only permitted eight. 

The biggest difference between the two teams is the kicking game. Pitt redshirt senior kicker Ben Sauls has made every single kick he has attempted this season. He is 10 for 10 in field goals, including a tie for the program record with a 58-yard kick against Cal, and had made all 28 of his extra point attempts. 

Syracuse, however, is 5 of 10 on field goals. It has two kickers they use with junior Brady Denaburg who is 3 of 6 on the year and redshirt freshman Jaydyn Oh who is 2 of 4 this season. The longest kick Syracuse has made in 2024 is a 33-yarder by Denaburg, kicking is a liability for it and fans should expect Syracuse’s first-year head coach Fran Brown to go for it a ton. But on the positive side of things for Syracuse, it is 26 for 26 on extra points.

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