Syracuse Orange 2009 Football Betting Preview

With the College Football 2009 Season just around the corner, we are providing season previews for all 120 Division I-A college football teams to give you the betting edge. Follow the best College Football Handicappers as they analyze their teams in this 2009 season preview. Be sure to bookmark SportsbookBuzz.com your source for Sportsbook Reviews. Use our comprehensive and insider info to bet successfully on the College Football in our recommend sportsbooks.View the rest of our 2009 NCAA Football Season Previews here.

Syracuse 2008 Record: (3-9, 1-6)
Syracuse 2008 Bowl: none
Syracuse Coach: Doug Marrone (First year at Syracuse, 0-0 overall)
Syracuse Offensive Coordinator: Rob Spence
Syracuse Defensive Coordinator: Scott Shafer
Syracuse Returning Stats Leaders:

• Rushing: Doug Hogue, RB, 232 yards
• Passing: Cameron Dantley, QB, 1,298 yards
• Receiving: Donte Davis, WR, 312 yards
• Tackles: Derrell Smith, LB, 73
• Sacks: Arthur Jones, DT, 3.5
• Interceptions: Mike Holmes, S, 2

Notable Syracuse Returning Players: OT Tucker Baumbach, DE Jared Kimmel, WR Lavar Lobdell, C Jim McKenzie, LB Mike Mele, TE Mike Owen, CB Kevyn Scott, S Max Suter, WR Mike Williams

Syracuse Key Losses: RB Curtis Brinkley, S A.J. Brown, OT Corey Chavers, G Ryan Durand, LB Jake Flaherty, DE Vincenzo Giruzzi, DT Nick Santiago, K Patrick Shadle, S Bruce Williams

It has been a difficult past seven seasons in upstate New York. When a school with as proud of a history as Syracuse’s falls to twenty six wins in the last seven years, there is a lot of work to do and a lot of angry people to mollify. After four seasons at the helm, Greg Robinson was fired after a 3-9 campaign and former Orangeman Doug Marrone was hired to turn around a program which has won four Big East titles in the conference’s fifteen year history. Shockingly, ‘Cuse actually had two players drafted, which symbolizes how much the Orange underachieved during the previous staff’s tenure. It also shows how desperate Rich Rodriguez is in his 2nd season at Michigan that he actually hired Robinson to fix his defense! With a new system and a new attitude, I think Marrone’s team will be much more competitive than the teams which had a combined three conference wins in the last four years.

On offense, Marrone quickly began changing things as incumbent starter Cameron Dantley was deposed in the spring in favor of redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib. Perhaps Marrone wanted to go with a player he could develop (Dantley is a senior) but that alone signaled that no job was safe. At tailback, Syracuse has to replace 1,100 yard rusher Curtis Brinkley, who also scored seven times last year. The run game will also miss fullback Tony Fiammetta, who was a 4 th round pick in the NFL draft. Returning production at both tailback and receiver are minimal as no player scored more than two touchdowns or accounted for more than 312 yards. The most intriguing player at any of the skill positions is junior receiver Mike Williams, who was suspended the entire season in 2008 but was a star in 2007 as he earned 2nd team All-Big East honors. If he be similarly productive, the Orange become much more dangerous. The offensive line brings back three starters but will be learning a new system so everyone should be starting from scratch. Marrone’s new offensive coordinator is Rob Spence, who guided successful offenses in the last decade at Clemson and Toledo. With a new starter under center and a new system in hand, I think that the Orange will turn a new page and actually produce on offense this fall, even though last year’s 18 points per game was actually the high water mark of Robinson’s tenure. Syracuse’s offense has nowhere to go but up.

Defensively, the Orange got pummeled last year to the tune of 33 points per game. However, there are some pieces back this season which could help stem the bleeding from last year’s beating. Up front, senior tackle Arthur Jones was a 1 st team All-Big East selection and a likely NFL draft choice before deciding to return this fall. However, he and starting end Jared Kimmel were injured in the spring and could miss the start of the season. This is unfortunate because the pair should be the centerpiece of a solid defensive line. At linebacker, juniors Derrell Smith and Mike Mele combined for 145 stops last fall and should be very solid once more, especially if the line gets healthy quick. The secondary was terrible last season, allowing opponents to complete 63% of passes. However, junior safety Mike Holmes did make 68 tackles and grab two picks last fall, so there is some talent on hand. Frankly, they can’t get any worse and should be improved under new defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, whose defense at Western Michigan led the NCAA in interceptions in 2006. Expect Syracuse to improve this fall on defense but they’re still not one of the conference’s better groups.

The schedule is interesting, to say the least. The Orange have four home conference games and eight home games overall! Even better, two of their road trips are to Louisville and Connecticut, both of which are very winnable games. However, their non-conference schedule is Big Ten-centric as their first three games of the year are against Big Ten foes, including home games against Minnesota and Northwestern sandwiching a trip to rival Penn State. Overall, it a good schedule for Marrone’s first season; a lot of home games and a few winnable ones on the road. Despite the optimism around the program, people need to remember two things. 1) This program has been absolutely terrible for the past four years and 2) Coaches don’t turn around most schools in just one year. I expect Marrone to field a competitive team which won’t be a walkover anymore for conference opposition but a bowl game is not in the cards this fall. I think three or four wins is a much more realistic outcome.

Syracuse Big Games: Sept. 12th @ Penn State, Oct. 3rd vs. South Florida, Oct. 10th vs. WVU, Nov. 14th @ Louisville, Nov. 28th @ UConn

Syracuse’s Strength:

The offense almost has potential, especially if receiver Mike Williams returns from academic limbo. He is easily the best playmaker the Orange have available. Receivers Donte Davis and Lavar Lobdell have potential and tight end Mike Owen is a decent safety valve for quarterback Cameron Dantley. Dantley may not have put up great numbers last year, but at least he threw 11 touchdowns and just five interceptions. It could have been a lot worse than that. His 48.2 percent completion percentage needs to get better, much better, but he is an experienced senior now and it cannot get much worse anyway. The problem on offense is the departure of running back Curtis Brinkley. While Dantley was throwing incomplete passes, Brinkley was occasionally moving the chains on the ground. Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey will have to pick up the load. Both have potential, but one of them better step up in a hurry.

Syracuse’s Weakness:

Like the offense, the defense ranked near the bottom of every major category in the Big East. The front four rarely got into the backfield and tackle Arthur Jones and end Jared Kimmel need to do a better job getting into the backfield. Linebacker Derrell Smith and Mike Mele are a couple of quality linebackers. The team will miss Jake Flaherty, but the linebackers could turn into something to be proud of. It is the secondary that had the most problems during the 2008 campaign and that will probably not change this time around. Junior Mike Holmes will be starting for his third consecutive season and he keeps getting better and better, but the Orange need to find some other players who can stop the rest of the Big East from passing all over them.

Our Prediction for the 2009 Orange:

Coach Marrone was a risky hire for Syracuse. Most big name coaches with more college coaching experience wanted nothing to do with the program. However, Coach Marrone could be the guy who can turn around this once proud program. It will not happen over night and it will not happen this year. It was not long ago when the Orange were going to bowl games and they could just as quickly turn things around in a positive direction. It might just be another few years. For now, showing signs of life and winning two conference games would be a step in the right direction.

Syracuse Betting Odds

Will Syracuse go to a Bowl Game this year? Or, will their season be lackluster? Either way, you can still enjoy Syracuse Football Betting at our feature sportsbooks. Syracuse & College Football Betting is serious business; where you can make a ton of loot placing informed, smart Syracuse bets. Check out these highly reliable, trustworthy, online sportsbooks.

Join BetUs.com Today and Bet on Syracuse and receive a 50% Sportsbook Bonus!

NCAA Football Handicapping Picks

Check out our weekly Sports Handicapping Picks from the world’s best handicappers. Trust our handicapping experts offering premium and free NCAA Football Picks and packages daily. Also stay up to date with weekly College Football Matchups, and buy some picks to win some BIG cash this football season at our recommended sportsbooks.