ESPN College Gameday compares Syracuse-Clemson to Alabama-Tennessee
Gameday #Gameday
ESPN’s marquee college football show opened its broadcast by talking about Syracuse football in its opening segment, providing the national framework for a game that means so much to Central New York.
The show’s hosts positioned the Orange’s visit to No. 5 Clemson as a prove-it game for the Orange, with Desmond Howard comparing it to Tennessee’s game against Alabama last week, one that made the Volunteers a national story and catapulted them into the College Football Playoff picture.
“This matchup is tantamount to Alabama-Tennessee,” Howard said. “You looked at that Tennessee team and said, ‘How real is this team?’ They went out and beat Alabama. Looking at Syracuse, undefeated, but how real is this Syracuse team? How good are they? … If they can knock off the Clemson Tigers, everyone is going to start to look at Syracuse a little differently.”
The Volunteers were ranked No. 6 heading into their game against the Crimson Tide last week, moving to No. 3 after a 52-49 win in Neyland Stadium.
ESPN’s Rece Davis noted that Syracuse is unbeaten but that ESPN’s Football Power Index measures the Orange’s strength of schedule at just 113th in the country as it heads to Death Valley, adding fuel to the idea that the Orange must perform well to shift its perception on a national level.
That’s the lowest strength-of-schedule for any Power-Five program at this point.
“We’ll find out if they’re real against Clemson,” Davis said.
Pat McAfee continued to play up his skepticism of the Orange, complimenting offensive coordinator Robert Anae, but insinuating that Dabo Swinney might have something special waiting for Syracuse in Death Valley.
The previous week, McAfee had predicted that Clemson would win the game by 50 points. He also predicted the Orange would lose to North Carolina State.
“I think Bob Anae coming up to Virginia with Garrett Shrader and that offense has been special for Dino Babers,” McAfee said. “I know all the suits that graduated from Syracuse are excited about it. But this feels like it could be a Dabo Swinney….”
McAfee trailed off, leaving Syracuse fans to guess where his skepticism would have taken him.
Contact Chris Carlson anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-382-7932
MORE SYRACUSE FOOTBALL
College GameDay on the line at Clemson? ESPN puts Syracuse on alert show could come for Notre Dame game
Blackout? 5 ways to watch Syracuse-Clemson football game if you have Verizon FiOS
Clemson’s D-line will ‘put a muzzle’ on Garrett Shrader (what the experts are saying)
©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit syracuse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.