syracuse football

Syracuse will look to win its third consecutive game to begin the 2015 season when it welcomes Central Michigan to the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Here are five keys to the game, which you can listen to live on 88.3 FM WAER. 

1. Stopping Cooper Rush

When Syracuse topped Central Michigan 40-3 last September, the Orange held Chippewas quarterback Cooper Rush to 183 passing yards and zero touchdowns. Limiting like that again could prove to be a tall task come Saturday.

Eric Dungey was alone in a collapsing pocket. For a moment, it looked as if a Wake Forest player would sack the freshman quarterback inside Syracuse's own five-yard line. But Dungey avoided the rush, stepped up and found Brisly Estime on a post route 30 yards downfield. Estime then broke free and took it the rest of the way for the touchdown, putting Syracuse ahead with two minutes left in the third quarter.

A crowd that was previously silent erupted into a raucous cheer, and Dungey pumped his fist as he ran down the field.

Syracuse will play its Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday against Wake Forest at the Carrier Dome. Tune into WAER 88.3 FM for Countdown to Kickoff at 12 Noon and live game action at 12:30 p.m.

When Eric Dungey entered the huddle for the first time in Syracuse's season-opening win over Rhode Island, he immediately took command and began yelling to his teammates.

Syracuse will play its Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday against Wake Forest at the Carrier Dome. Tune into WAER 88.3 FM for Countdown to Kickoff at 12 Noon and live game action at 12:30 p.m.

When Eric Dungey entered the huddle for the first time in Syracuse's season-opening win over Rhode Island, he immediately took command and began yelling to his teammates.

Not in any Syracuse football fan's worst nightmare would this happen.

Terrel Hunt lay on the Carrier Dome turf after a two-yard scramble midway through the first quarter and was being attended to by trainers. He grabbed his helmet with hands. The trainers then had to help him to the sideline as Hunt didn't put pressure on his right leg. 

•   SEASON OPENER, SU v. RHODE ISLAND: COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF @ 6:06; LIVE GAME ACTION @ 7:00 on WAER 88.3 FM

  Zaire Franklin fielded the same questions and gave similar responses at both the Atlantic Coast Conference Media Day and Syracuse's opening press conferences.

"I can't believe that I'm here," he told a room full of reporters at ACC Media Day in July. "It's almost surreal that I'm sitting in front of you guys."

The Syracuse offense could only score one touchdown during the team's annual Spring Game on Saturday against a defense that lost seven starters to graduation. 

The day began with a 6-on-7 skeleton drill and some special teams work, but most of the time was spent on live scrimmaging.

Here are a few takeaways from that scrimmage:

Terrel Hunt Struggles

The fourth quarter hasn’t been kind at all to Syracuse this season.

It’s turned back-and-forth games into blowouts, with three quarters of competitive play somehow leading to crooked scores.

Most times, it's taken a few minutes for the fourth quarter damage to kick in.  Against Pittsburgh, it only took eight seconds.  Tyler Boyd took a quick screen 49 yards, untouched, into the end zone on the first play of the quarter. It gave the Panthers a commanding 27-7 lead, one last backbreaker in a season that’s been full of them for Syracuse.