First Look: Syracuse

The last meeting: Purdue 51, Syracuse 0 on September 5, 2004 in West Lafayette

Here's an early look at Purdue's third opponent in 2022, the Syracuse Orange.

Time: Saturday, Sept. 17, 12:00 PM EDT

Location: JMA Wireless Dome

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 49,057 (tickets)

2022 schedules/records: Syracuse 2-0 (1-0 ACC); Purdue 1-1 (0-1 Big Ten)

Series notes: Purdue and Syracuse will be meeting for just the second time in football on Saturday. The Boilermakers opened the 2004 season with a dominant 51-0 victory on a rare Sunday game at Ross-Ade Stadium. With four touchdown passes, Kyle Orton helped the offense rack up 571 total yards while the defense dominated, holding the Orange below 200 yards. During the Jeff Brohm era, Purdue is 1-1 vs. ACC opponents, defeating Boston College in 2018 and falling to Louisville in the 2017 season opener. From 1991-1993, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers served as an assistant at Purdue under Jim Colletto.

It is Purdue's first trip to the state of New York for a football game since Nov. 1, 1941 when it lost to Fordham in New York City's famed Polo Grounds. All-time, Purdue is 3-4-1 in games played in New York, with all games in played in Gotham.

TV: ESPN 2

Early line: Purdue -1

Many prognosticators weren't sure what to make of the Orange coming into this season. Babers led them to a 10-win season in 2018, but they have failed to reach a bowl game in the three seasons since. The season opened with a definitive 31-7 win over Louisville at the JMA Wireless Dome, as Syracuse passed and ran for over 200 yards each while forcing three Louisville turnovers.

Against an outmatched UConn team, Syracuse did what they needed to do and dominated in a 48-14 win. They had more than double the number of total yards (470 to 202) and cruised to victory.

Junior quarterback Garrett Shrader and sophomore running back Sean Tucker form a dynamic duo in the backfield. They utilize Shrader quite a bit in the run game, and Tucker takes the vast majority of their snaps at running back. Purdue will see a lot of zone read plays as the Orange seek to utilize their dynamic ground game.

Through two games, Shrader has completed 79 percent of his passes for 528 yards and five touchdowns, while adding 118 yards on the ground with three more touchdowns. Forty-eight carries into his season, Tucker sits at 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Though only two games into the season, Purdue will monitor injuries ahead of Saturday's game. LB/S Jalen Graham will not play due to a tibia injury sustained vs. Penn State, a very significant absence for Purdue's defense. Wide receivers Broc Thompson and Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen could be decisions made closer to game day. While Thompson suited up in Saturday's win over Indiana State, he recorded no stats in the six snaps he saw. Yaseen's season debut still awaits following an injury in preseason camp.

Circa Sports released the point spread for Saturday's matchup with Purdue as a three-point favorite. As of publication, the line appears to have Purdue as somewhere between a one and three-point favorite. Early indications are that Saturday's game will likely be decided late in the fourth quarter.

"They are playing very good complementary football with their offense and defense. Their running back (Tucker) has played a lot of football and it shows. He knows how and when to cut and is extremely effective. Their quarterback (Shrader) fits in well with what they are doing. It can beat you with his arm and his feet."

(on the Orange's 3-3-5 defense) "It provides problems because it is unique. If you look at the history of the defense and where it comes from, it has been a consistent challenge."

(on the noise) "I've coached and played in a dome and we need to be able to communicate well. We will work on that a lot this week."

(on Dino Babers and the 2014 matchup between Western Kentucky and Bowling Green in both Brohm's and Babers’s debuts as FBS head coaches) "He has coached a lot of football and while that game didn't go their way, he has learned a lot from that experience and games since. They have always been an attacking defense."

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