Syracuse Not Taking Colgate Lightly in Week One

The Orange faces the FCS in-state foe on Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse, N.Y.-- Time is ticking down for the Syracuse Football program as they suit up for their first game of the 2023 season in less than four days. The Orange open up the campaign against New York foe Colgate for the 68th all-time meeting against the Raiders.

Over the last decade, Syracuse has won nine season openers, which includes a 33-7 victory over Colgate in 2016. That was Dino Babers’ first game as head coach of ‘Cuse, a matchup that he surprisingly didn’t have much recollection of when asked about his memories of that experience.

Coach Babers told the media at his press conference Monday that early non-conference games like this “keep him up at night” and produce anxiety instead of excitement. You wouldn’t expect to hear that from a coach who has a 25-5 lifetime record against FCS opponents. None of those five losses have occurred during his time at the helm of the Orange as he’s a perfect 6-0.

That feeling of worry for Coach Babers stems from not wanting his players to underestimate Colgate. He doesn’t want his guys to think they can take a snap off or not take their preparation as seriously as they would during an ACC game week.

Matchups like this early in the season are designed to be a golden opportunity to work out the kinks and create chemistry. If Syracuse comes into Saturday lackadaisical, it could limit their growth, and prevent them from becoming the best team that can possibly be.

Captains Garrett Shrader and Marlowe Wax have ensured that Coach Babers’ nightmare scenario won’t happen against Colgate. With both programs being from Central New York, Wax mentioned how Colgate will probably know much more about the Orange schematically than they anticipate. The Dick Butkus Watch List member stressed that the defense isn’t going to make it too hard on themselves by acting like business as usual throughout the week.

“For me, I just treat [Colgate] like any other team. I’m watching the same amount of film and getting my body right each and every day for practice," Wax said. "I know a lot of people are sleeping on Colgate, but right now, as a team, we can’t do that.”

Shrader doesn’t envision Colgate to be a team that will be a pushover at the JMA Dome on Saturday. The third-year QB has been impressed with what he’s seen scouting the Raiders and knows that they are ready to compete.

“It starts with having a healthy respect for them," Shrader said. "They return a lot of guys, and what we see on tape is I don't think they're a bad team, especially from what they're bringing back from last year. So the big thing more is just hitting plays when we're there. It's the routine things, and not to shoot yourself in the foot is the biggest thing." 

Oronde Gadsden II acknowledged that he’s not much of a vocal leader like Wax or Shrader, but instead lets his work on the field do the talking. The ESPN Top 100 player selection said that regardless of what opponent is on the schedule for Syracuse this year, he’s envisioning it as the biggest game of his life.

“We want to treat every game like we play the Georgia Bulldogs, 2019 LSU Tigers, 2001 Miami Hurricanes… like we’re playing the best team ever," Gadsden said. "We want to approach every game like that."

Be on the lookout for a scouting report on the Colgate Raiders in preparation for Saturday’s battle. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. and is available on ACC Network Extra or locally on WAER 88.3 FM.

SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE

SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT

FREE ALL SYRACUSE NEWSLETTER TO GET THE LATEST ORANGE UPDATES SENT TO YOUR INBOX

JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF