Recent News | Popular News | Subscribe

FACTS & STATS: Site: Carrier Dome (49,262) -- Syracuse, New York. Television: None. Home Record: Northwestern 2-0, Syracuse 0-1. Away Record: Northwestern 0-0, Syracuse 0-1. Neutral Record: Northwestern 0-0, Syracuse 0-0. Conference Record: Northwestern 0-0, Syracuse 0-0. Series Record: Series tied, 4-4.

GAME NOTES: Still searching for their first win, the Syracuse Orange will host the Northwestern Wildcats this Saturday evening in a non-conference battle at the Carrier Dome.

The Wildcats clawed their way through a surprisingly tough matchup on Saturday, defeating Eastern Michigan, 27-24, with a last second field goal. It was the second victory for Northwestern, which opened the year with an easy, 47-14 decision over Towson. The Wildcats will open Big Ten competition next week when they host the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

As for the Orange, they are still trying to crack the win column. Syracuse opened the 2009 campaign with a tough, 23-20 setback to Minnesota and followed that loss with a 28-7 loss to Penn State. Syracuse has done very little at home over the past two seasons, posting a meager 3-10 ledger.

Last season the Wildcats pounded Syracuse 30-10, evening the all-time series with the Orange at four games apiece.

The Wildcats had a tougher time than expect against Eastern Michigan, needing a field goal in the final seconds to get past the Eagles, 27-24. Northwestern dominated with its rushing attack, rumbling for 185 yards and two scores. It is still early in the season, but the Wildcats have shown they are going to rely on the ground game, which is producing 203.0 yards per matchup. Stephen Simmons, who is currently pacing the team with 150 yards on the year, rumbled for 73 yards and two touchdowns in the win over EMU. Jacob Schmidt added 61 yards in the contest, while quarterback Mike Kafka chipped in with 21 yards. Kafka however, struggled with his arm, completing just 14-of-24 passes for 158 yards and also tossed an interception. Kafka has completed 65.9 percent of his throws thus far, but has yet to toss a touchdown pass on the year. The lone touchdown pass for Northwestern this year came from backup Dan Persa, who connected with Andrew Brewer for the score. Brewer has clearly been the top target on the field after two games, grabbing eight catches for 163 yards.

On top of the strong offensive play the Wildcats have also performed well defensively, especially against the pass, where the team is allowing just 144.0 yards per game, with four interceptions. Two of those interceptions came in the win over EMU, as the Wildcats limited the Eagles to just 148 passing yards. Northwestern did struggle against the run however, allowing 172 yards on 5.4 yards per attempts. After two games, Quentin Davie has racked up a team-best 17 tackles, while Nate Williams has contributed 16 stops to go along with 2.5 TFLs.

Syracuse's slow start can be attributed to the team's lack of success offensively, as the Orange are averaging just 13.5 ppg. The unit has struggled mightily to form a ground attack, producing just 77.5 ypg on 2.5 yards per attempt. Unfortunately the passing attack has done very little as well, as the team has just 302 passing yards in two games, and two touchdowns against three interceptions. The majority of those numbers belong to Greg Paulus, who has completed 64.7 percent of his throws. However, in the loss to Penn State on Saturday, the signal caller was just 14-of-20 for 105 yards and one score. Paulus was also intercepted twice and sacked twice. Delone Carter paced the ground game, but racked up only 40 yards on 15 totes. As a whole, Syracuse finished with only 65 yards on 2.2 yards per attempt in the setback.

The defense has played well enough to win, but unfortunately the struggles for the offense have taken away from the play of this unit. After surrendering 189.0 yards per game on the ground a year ago, the Orange have done a terrific job this season against opposing ground games, limiting teams to just 95.0 ypg on 2.8 yards per carry. In the loss to Penn State, the Orange bottled up Evan Royster, limiting him to just 41 yards and PSU's rushing attack to a total of 78 yards on 2.2 ypc. Unfortunately, Syracuse did not have an answer for Daryll Clark and the Penn State passing attack, as the Orange were torched for 240 yards and three scores. Derrell Smith was the most active player on the field for Syracuse, as the linebacker racked up 10 tackles and one TFL.

The Orange need to get the wheels in motion offensively. This could be the weekend Syracuse finds the win column. If the defense puts forth another solid effort, look for Paulus to lead the Orange to a narrow victory at home.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Syracuse 26, Northwestern 21