2008 Syracuse Football Preview

1-10, 4-8, 2-10 are the records of the last three years of the Syracuse Football team under Coach Greg Robinson. His 7-28 record hasn't been enough to get rid of him to athletic director Darryl Gross. Gross still his faith Robinson can get the job done in 2008. Robinson ended 2007 on the right foot by pulling in some highly touted recruits. This class should go down as the top class of Robinson's short tenure.

Among some of the players Robinson received commitments from

• Four star running back Averin Collier. He's ranked 10th in the country at his position by Scout.com. He's also described as a very strong open field tackler, which means a switch to defense is always possible if he doesn't pan out as a running back.
• Four star wide receiver Marcus Sales who's ranked 27th at his position. He's a decently sized guy and could prove as another down field threat. Apparently he's a pretty good basketball player.
• Four star defensive end Romale Tucker is ranked 36th at his position by rivals. He's big at 6'4'' 230 pounds. He chose Syracuse over Virginia despite Virginia's strong season. Rival's lists him as an outside linebacker which puts him in the same boat as senior Jameel McClain.
• Three star DE Mikhail Marinovich is unranked in his class but has great size at 6'6'' and 210 pounds. With good old Mikhail, you'll be getting his family too.
• Three star WR DeAndre Preaster is 123rd in his class. Preaster is another tall wide receiver with good speed. The Orange beat out Ohio State and Pitt for this fairly local product.
• S.U. also picked up several strong two star recruits in the secondary and the offensive line.
• They also picked up two star recruit Ryan Nassib, a quarterback, out of Malvern, PA. Nassib was described by some as the best quarterback recruit this team has had since Donovan McNabb. The scouting agencies didn't agree, rating him just a star quarterback. From what I've read, he comes off as a pretty polished pro-style quarterback.
• Here's Scout's list of Syracuse recruits for 2008.

2008 Forecast:

This team can only get better from 2007. They will lose six impact seniors, two from the secondary, two from the defensive line, and two from the offensive line. They also lose Taj Smith who's declared himself eligible for the NFL draft. Even with that said, this team retains the rest of its skilled players and most of a young offensive line. The offensive won't be great, but it will be much better. Delone Carter will return from his hip injury for the 2008 season. He'll be one of the biggest question marks on this team. If he can return to form and pickup where he left off, he could become a dominant force for this offense. An established run game that only existed in a few games last year, will open up the passing game for Andrew Robinson and Mike Williams. The offense didn't even average 20 points a game in 2007, but with most of its parts still in place, could average between 21 and 25 points per game. Also with new offensive coordinator Mitch Browning, this team could have a new dimension to its running game. Browning worked wonders at Minnesota with running backs Marian Barber and Lawrence Maroney.

The defense in 2007 horrendous. They were at the bottom of the barrel in the FBS in most defensive categories. They couldn't stop the run, they couldn't stop the pass when they had to, they didn't cause turnovers, and they couldn't stop teams on the third down. With four of their best defenders gone, this team shouldn't improve much on defense. With a better offense, this unit shouldn't have to be on the field as long, and their performance should improve.

2008 Schedule:

The Orange opens the schedule with four non conference games home against Penn State and Akron, a road game at Northwestern and a game to be announced. There's a strong possibility that last game could be filled with Division I-AA Villanova. This schedule allows Syracuse to enter Big East play with two or three potential wins. Akron is a winnable game as is Northwestern, but the Wildcats are a decent program so it is still very likely this team will lose that game. Also Penn State loses some key players which makes this team somewhat beatable in the Dome. That game won't be much a home a game though, as Penn State faithful will probably make the short trip from PA and make this a border war and fill the Dome. Villanova should be a win, but anything is possible with a Greg Robinson coached team.

They also play Notre Dame towards the end of the season in South Bend. Notre Dame is also rebuilding which means a win for the Orange is a possibility.

The Big East looks to be pretty strong again. S.U. will have home games against Louisville, Pitt, and UCONN. They should be able to come away with a win against one of those three schools. They'll go on the road against South Florida, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Rutgers. Rutgers will prove to be the most winnable game of the three without Ray Rice. This team at most can probably win three games in the Big East, but will probably win just two games.

In total this team could win as many as five games, three coming from the non-conference schedule and two from the Big East slate. I think they'll probably win only three or four games, but again five games is definitely possibly.

A few not so bold predictions in bold print:

1. Syracuse finds a role for Max Suter other than in kick returns. He'll make an impact at that position and will be named to the Big East second team.

2. The offense is explosive at times, scoring at least 30 points four times. The defense will stand be bad causing S.U. to lose two of those games.

3. Mike Williams will go pro after the 2008 season after he sets almost every single season Syracuse record for a wide receiver.

4. Arthur Jones will have another stellar season and will have his name thrown in the hat for Big East defensive player of the year.

5. Syracuse wins four games, Greg Robinson gets another year, and pulls in four more four star recruits.