Preview: Orange Visit Duke for ACC Interdivision Clash

SYRACUSE (3-6, 0-5 ACC) AT DUKE (4-5, 2-3 ACC)
Game Details: 4 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 16
Location: Durham, N.C. | Wallace Wade Stadium
Game Links: Tickets | Listen | Watch | Live Stats
Television: ACC Network
Radio: Syracuse Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Twitter: @CuseFootball | @Cuse
Syracuse Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Notes (PDF)
Duke Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Notes (PDF)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse (3-6, 0-5 ACC) looks to snap a four-game losing streak and secure its first conference win of the season on Saturday, Nov. 16 when it faces ACC Coastal Division foe Duke (4-5, 2-3 ACC) at Wallace Wade Stadium. Saturday's game will air live on ACC Network at 4 p.m. Wes Durham (pxp), Roddy Jones (booth analyst) and Eric Wood (field analyst) have the call. The trip represents the Orange's second-ever visit to Durham and first since 1939.

Syracuse is coming off its second open date of 2019. The Blue Devils have lost three straight, including a 38-7 home decision to Notre Dame in their most recent outing.

With Syracuse having completed the ACC Coastal circuit, Duke will be the first interdivision foe the Orange will play twice since joining the ACC in 2013 outside of permanent crossover partner Pittsburgh. The Orange and Blue Devils initially met as conference opponents in 2014, Syracuse's second year in the league.

BABERS HITS 100
The Duke game will represent the 100th for Dino Babers as a collegiate head coach. Babers is 58-41 in eight seasons as the sideline leader for Eastern Illinois (2012-13), Bowling Green (2014-15) and Syracuse (2016-present).

Babers has steered the Orange for 46 games. The 30th head coach in program history, he's already coached more games than 19 of his predecessors. When Babers takes the field at Wallace Wade Stadium, he'll tie John Meehan (1920-24) and Greg Robinson (2005-08) for ninth in program history with 47 games coached.

INTERCEPTION-FREE
Against Boston College, Syracuse threw 36 times to extend its streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to 153, including 131 by starting quarterback Tommy DeVito.

DeVito's interceptionless stretch is the third-longest among active FBS signal-callers behind Liberty's Stephen Calvert (281) and Georgia Southern's Shai Werts (182). In the Syracuse annals, DeVito's streak sits fourth behind R.J. Anderson (190 from 2002-03), Ryan Nassib (165 in 2012) and Donovan McNabb (133 in 1998).

The last DeVito interception occurred on his final throw versus Holy Cross on Sept. 28. In the four games since that miscue, the redshirt sophomore has completed 64.9 percent (85-131) of his passes for 841 yards and four touchdowns.

PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST
Guard Evan Adams leads the Orange with a career-high 40 knockdown blocks in 2019. Adams has 17 knockdowns over the last two games (8.5 avg.), including a personal-best nine on Nov. 2 against Boston College. Adams' nine knockdowns against the Eagles is the highest single-game total for an Orange lineman since the Syracuse Athletic Communications Department began receiving weekly offensive line reports from the coaching staff in 2015.

In 46 career games, Adams has 135 knockdowns, good for an average of 2.9 per game.

NEW VOICE OF THE DEFENSE
Assistant coach Steve Stanard was named interim defensive coordinator by Dino Babers on Nov. 3. Stanard has 20 years of experience running defenses. He previously worked as the defensive coordinator at Nebraska Wesleyan (1991-95), South Dakota (1996), New Mexico State (2000-02), Colorado State (2003-07), Tulane (2009- 11) and Wyoming (2014-16). Highlights from those previous stops include: Tulane leading Conference USA in passing defense twice in three years, and Stanard's 2016 Wyoming unit finishing third nationally in defensive touchdowns (5) and 10th in takeaways (27).

SERIES HISTORY
Duke has won all three games in the series, two of which occurred prior to World War II.

In 1938, the seventh-ranked and undefeated Iron Dukes came to Syracuse and shut out Ossie Solem's Orange 21-0 at Archbold Stadium.

An interesting note about the 1938 pairing. At the time there was a so-called gentlemen's agreement that saw Northern teams bench black players when facing Southern opponents. Duke coach Wallace Wade accepted the presence of Syracuse quarterback Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, who was African-American and held out of the Orange's game at Maryland the previous year, saying "If he doesn't play, no matter what the score is, we'll get no credit for winning."

In 1939, Syracuse lost its only previous visit to Durham 33-6 to the 13th-ranked Blue Devils. George McAfee scored three touchdowns for Duke. The Blue Devils got the better of the Orange again in 2014, winning 27-10 at the Dome.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
Duke has lost its last three games and four of its last five. The Blue Devils' only victory during that span was a 41-23 home triumph over Georgia Tech on Oct. 12.

The Blue Devils are coached by David Cutcliffe. Now in his 13th season at Duke, Cutcliffe is 115-106 overall as a head coach and 71-77 on the sideline in Durham. Cutcliffe garnered acclaim as Peyton Manning's offensive coordinator and position coach at Tennessee and Eli Manning's head coach at Ole Miss.

Quarterback Quentin Harris is averaging 224.4 yards of total offense per game. He's responsible for 20 of Duke's 30 offensive touchdowns, including a team-high six rushing scores.

Harris' top targets in the passing game are wide receiver Jalon Calhoun (40 receptions) and tight end Noah Gray (30). Calhoun leads the receiving corps with 305 yards and three TDs.

Linebacker Koby Quansah is fifth in the ACC with 9.2 tackles per game. Quansah is also tied for the Duke lead with 8.5 tackles for lost yardage.

Duke boasts a pair of talented specialists. Placekicker AJ Reed is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award and has made nine out of 10 field goals this season. Cornerback Joshua Blackwell tops the ACC statistical charts in punt return average (10.9).

UP NEXT
Syracuse travels to Louisville on Saturday, Nov. 23 for its penultimate regular-season game. The Orange and Cardinals square off at 4 p.m. on ACC Network.

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Preview: Orange Visit Duke for ACC Interdivision Clash

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Players Mentioned

Evan Adams

Tommy DeVito

Syracuse University Athletics