In week two, Northwestern takes on the Syracuse Orange, who dropped their first game to Penn State, 23-17. Like NU’s week one opponent, Syracuse has a new head coach in Scott Shafer, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach after Doug Marrone took the head coaching position with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
The two teams also matched up last year, with Northwestern engineering a second-half comeback to eek out a thriller, 42-41. With the rematch just two days away, read up on the Wildcats’ week two opponent, Syracuse:
USA Today’s Paul Myerberg placed Syracuse at No. 81 on his countdown of all the FBS teams, slightly better than Northwestern’s week one opponent, Cal, who was at No. 95. Northwestern came in at No. 22. In his Syracuse profile, he breaks down the Orange's new head coach and players to watch.
Sean Keeley of the SB Nation Syracuse blog explains why Northwestern-Syracuse should be considered a rivalry game.
Starting quarterback Drew Allen is a fifth-year senior but it’s his first year at Syracuse after he transferred from Oklahoma State. Michael Cohen of The Syracuse Post-Standard explains how the transfer went down.
Chip Patterson of CBS Sports profiles new head coach Scott Shafer and includes a quote in which Shafer compares recruiting to a girl in a bar…
Instead of predicting who will win, the Post-Standard’s Patrick Stevens predicts some of the finals stats from the game.
Check out our own profile of the Orange in the “Know Your Opponent” series and see who has the edge at each position.