10% UNLIMITED Bonus from Bodog!
Get a 10% deposit bonus when you open a new sportsbook account with Bodog!

BetUS $500 Match Bonus
Sign up for a new account with BetUS and deposit $500 or more to get a $500 match bonus.

2008 Syracuse Orange

Written July 15, 2008 by Jason Lowry

To get you going on the upcoming football season, Jason Lowry is ready to make his 2008 Syracuse Orange football predictions. The Orange come off another bad season going just 2-10 overall, and only winning 1 game in conference play. The Orange haven’t been to a bowl game since 2004, and it will be up to Greg Robinson to get this team back there. This season the Orange return 14 starters and could improve a little off of last season. To get a good idea at just how good this team can be, lets take a look at what they will be sending to both sides of the ball in 2008.

Offense:
The Orange bring back 7 starters on offense this season, and they will need to have a lot of improvement at almost every position if they want to really turn things around this season. They do have a plus in bringing back junior quarterback Andrew Robinson after he threw for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. The Orange are really high on freshman running back Averin Collier to come in and improve the running game, while junior Mike Williams will again be the go to target at the receiver spot after a 837 yard and 10 touchdown performance last season. Junior Lavar Lobdell will likely be the other starting receiver, while fellow junior Mike Owen takes over at the tight end spot. The team does bring back 3 starters on the offensive line in seniors RG Ryan Durand and RT Corey Chavers, and sophomore center Jim McKenzie. It looks like sophomores Ryan Bartholomew and Tucker Baumbach will be the new duo on the left side of the line.

Defense:
The Orange also bring back 7 starters on defense this season, and it gets started with 3 guys coming back on the line, led by star senior defensive tackle Arthur Jones. The team looks like it will add senior Nick Santiago to mix at the other starting tackle spot. The team brings back 2 starters at linebacker in senior Jake Flaherty and sophomore Mike Mele. Flaherty is solid at the middle linebacker spot, and should be up for another big season. Joining the group will likely be sophomore Parker Cantey, who did see some action as a freshman last season. The secondary brings back both starting corners in senior Nick Chestnut and sophomore Mike Holmes, and will add new faces in seniors AJ Brown and Bruce Williams at the safety spots.

Prediction: 8th in the Big East
The Orange will be at the bottom of the Big East yet again, as they just don’t have the talent to compete with the other teams in this conference. We do think that they might be able to win 2 games in conference, but we don’t see them topping more than 4 wins this season at best.

So maybe the Orange won’t be so hot this season, but be sure to check out our preview of every other Big East team, and if you are looking for a great place to start your football betting this season, get over to Sportsbook.com and get an account started today.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

No comments yet, but your thoughts are welcome!

Comments

Got something to say?