Syracuse welcomes Bill Belichick and North Carolina for a Halloween night fight

Syracuse really needs to stop their four-game losing streak and their Halloween night opponent seems to give them a very good chance at least on paper. The Orange (3-5, 1-4 ACC) welcome a struggling North Carolina program to the Dome.

The Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3) are also on a four-game slide, only they are still looking for their first victory over a power conference opponent under Bill Belichick.

The Tar Heels and Orange share a disappointing trait

UNC’s major weakness throughout the season has been their struggling offense, which is next-to-last in the ACC in scoring at 18.3 points per game. Of course, after Steve Angeli went on the shelf. SU’s offense has also hit the skids, posting just 12.5 points per game in that time.

Things do not look much better for the Syracuse offense after head coach Fran Brown noted Wednesday that Rickie Collins may not start at quarterback and, if he does, another would take snaps, as well. It will not be known until Friday night if this is simply gamesmanship, a change at starting quarterback or something else, but any of those answers do not throw much of a positive onto the Orange attack.

After all, the SU offense has been mostly stuck in neutral for a month while North Carolina has been gradually improving. The Heels outgained #16 Virginia last weekend, their second straight slim loss against a team with a winning record after getting edged on the road by a now 5-3 California team the week prior.

Will the Orange be able to move the ball against the Tar Heels defense?

Meanwhile, a UNC defense that is a middle of the pack unit in the ACC has also looked pretty good the last two weeks. Most notably, they have held each of those last two foes to under 300 yards of total offense and a combined 139 yards on the ground.

That is not a plus for a Syracuse team that has struggled to consistently move the ball on the ground of late. If the Orange can’t move the ball on the ground, the offensive onus goes back to the passing game, be it engineered by Collins or Luke Carney or another quarterback.

The Heels understand the troubles of a weak passing game, as their quarterback, Gio Lopez, has struggled for much of the season. Lopez ranks last in the ACC in passing yards per game and has thrown just four touchdown passes against five interceptions.

The Syracuse defense may also be the thing Carolina’s offense wants to see. The Orange are next-to-last in the conference in points allowed and last in yards allowed per game. SU is also 14th in the conference in passing yards allowed and dead last in passing touchdowns permitted, so the opportunity exists for Lopez and the UNC aerial attack to have some success.

A potential X-factor?

While they have played better of late, Carolina has hurt themselves with turnovers, possibly costing themselves a win or two. In those tight defeats, the Tar Heels lost four fumbles and also threw a pair of interceptions. The Syracuse defense should be looking for opportunities to help their offensive mates.

While they are facing a team of similar quality on their home turf, it is difficult to put much faith into the Orange right now. The offense struggles to build effective drives, hanging the defense out to dry. And when the defense gives of points, it forces the SU offense into doing what it does not do well.

UNC is improving and has close shaves in their last two games. This time, they break through.

North Carolina 22, Syracuse 19.

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