What to Know About Stanford Football's Week Four Opponent, Syracuse

Dylan Grausz | Sep 20, 2024

Sep 7, 2024; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange quarterback Kyle McCord (6) looks to throw a pass in the third quarter against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

After a long bye week, the Stanford Cardinal (1-1) return to action this week, where they travel to upstate New York to take on the Syracuse Orange (2-0), in a matchup that will not only be the first time ever that the two schools will face off, but it is the first ever conference game for Stanford in the ACC. For the Cardinal, a win would mean everything as they could get off to a hot start in conference play, and begin their new era with an upset. With that being said, here is what to know about the Orange ahead of this week’s clash.

Syracuse Orange history

Led by first year head coach Fran Brown, the Orange enter another season in the ACC with a lot to prove, coming off a 2023 season where they finished 6-7, falling 45-0 to South Florida in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Orange possess a 743-577-49 all-time record, with a 16-11-1 Bowl Game record, including a national title in 1959. Joining the ACC in 2013, the Orange previously spent time in the Big East, which they were a part of from 1991-2012. Prior to that, they were an independent school for over 100 years.

Winning five conference championships in their history, Syracuse was most successful in the 1990s, winning the Big East in 1996, 1997 and 1998 under head coach Paul Pasqualoni. It then proceeded to win the Big East two more times before moving conferences, taking home the title in 2004 once again under Pasqualoni while head coach Doug Marrone led it to their most recent conference title in 2012.

Syracuse’s biggest rivals include Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Penn State, with an FCS rivalry with Colgate. In terms of alumni, Syracuse has produced a long line of legends including Marvin Harrison, Jim Brown, Chandler Jones, Gary Anderson, Donovan McNabb, Larry Csonka, Dwight Freeney among others. In 1961, the Orange had their first and only player as of the 2024 season win a Heisman, with running back Ernie Davis taking home the award. 

How Syracuse fared in 2023

After four big wins, the Orange found themselves sitting at 4-0 at the quarter point in the season, picking up big wins over Purdue and Western Michigan. However, then proceeded to lose five straight games, falling to Clemson (31-14), North Carolina (40-7), Florida State (41-3), Virginia Tech (38-10) and Boston College (17-10) to drop to 4-5 on the season. Beating Pittsburgh 28-13 on November 11 to get back to 5-5, the Orange then proceeded to lose the following week to Georgia Tech on the road, prompting the program to fire head coach Dino Babers, leaving tight end coach Nunzio Campanile to take over as the interim coach for the rest of the season.

Campanile led the team to a win over Wake Forest in the final regular season game before coaching the team in the Boca Raton Bowl loss to South Florida. The season saw the emergence of running back LeQuint Allen, who played in all 13 games and carried the ball 245 times for 1,118 yards and nine touchdowns, earning Second Team All-ACC honors. 

Syracuse in first two weeks of 2024

It is a new-look Orange team that has taken the field this year, with a new quarterback in Kyle McCord taking the reins. And through two games, the Orange have looked extremely dangerous, starting the season off 2-0 with big wins over Ohio and an upset win over No. 23 Georgia Tech in its last game. Winning 38-22 in their game against Ohio, the Orange got a big game out of McCord, whose debut for the Orange consisted of him going 27-for-39 for 354 yards and four touchdowns, throwing two to Trebor Pena, one to Oronde Gadsden II and one to Allen.

On the ground, Allen carried the ball 15 times for 98 yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Fadil Diggs and Marlowe Wax each had a sack on the defensive side, while James Heard picked off a pass. In week two, the Orange once again scored over 30 points on offense, this time beating Georgia Tech 31-28 in an upset, with McCord once again putting on a show, going 32-for-46 for 481 yards and four touchdowns, with Pena and Gadsden each catching two. The win over the Yellow Jackets included a third quarter in which Syracuse’s defense held the GT offense scoreless.