Syracuse (4-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) kicks off at Florida State (2-5, 2-4) at 12:20 p.m. from Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. FSU, which was ranked No. 3 in the preseason Top 25, lost its quarterback Deondre Francois in the season-opener against Alabama and is now trying to salvage a lost season. The Orange head to Florida off a bye while the Seminoles try to collect themselves after a 35-3 loss at Boston College earlier this season.

Tomer Langer (5-3)
Feeling at home
Syracuse 31, FSU 17

Syracuse hasn’t won away from the Carrier Dome all season. It has played very stiff competition though: LSU, NC State and Miami. FSU has talent on its roster, but at going through a lost season and looking like it quit in a blowout loss to Boston College. I think Syracuse takes advantage of a hapless FSU team and comes away with its first road win.

Joe Bloss (5-3)
Kick ‘em while they’re down
Syracuse 31, FSU 27

Welcome back after the bye week. The time off will serve SU quite well and the Orange will use the fresh legs to get its first win on the road and send FSU further into its downward spiral since starting the season as the nation’s third ranked team. Eric Dungey, who looked all sorts of banged up at the end of the Miami game and said he spent most of last week sleeping, will be a major benefactor of the extra rest time. He will not throw for four interceptions in one half. That bowl bid is sneaking up.

Matthew Gutierrez (4-4)
Breakout
Syracuse 27, FSU 21

The bye week should prove to have benefited SU significantly. The returns of Kendall Coleman and Scoop Bradshaw provide a boost to the defense, not that it needed one. Against a plunging FSU team with no identity, Syracuse pulls out with its fifth win of the season. The Orange has not beaten FSU since the teams’ first meeting in 1966. That changes Saturday.