'Cuse Hits the Road to Pitt

SYRACUSE AT PITTSBURGH
Game Details: 12 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 19
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. | Heinz Field
Game Links: Listen | Watch | Live Stats
Television: ACCN
Radio: Syracuse Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Twitter: @CuseFootball | @Cuse
Syracuse Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Notes(PDF)
Pittsburgh Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Notes(PDF)

SYRACUSE HITS THE ROAD FOR THE SECOND-STRAIGHT WEEK
• Syracuse plays its second-straight road contest at Pittsburgh on Saturday.
• Syracuse and Pittsburgh is the Orange's most frequent series, with Saturday's matchup vs. the Panthers set to be the 76th between the two programs.
• This is the seventh time in program history that SU has started with back-to-back true road games, joining 2019, 2010, 2004,1984, 1956 and 1895. The Orange also started away from home in consecutive weeks in 1962, 2001 and 2013 after playing neutral site contests to open the year, followed by a road game.
• Saturday's game will be the second-straight matchup vs. a ranked team, the first time Syracuse has played two-straight ranked opponents since the 2017 season (W, 27-24 vs. #2 Clemson; L, 27-19 at #8 Miami). Syracuse hasn't opened the season against back-to-back ranked teams since 2001, when the team finished 10-3 and won the Insight.com Bowl after opening with losses to No. 10 Georgia Tech and No. 8 Tennessee.
• The game will air on ACC Network, with Chris Cotter (PxP), Mark Herzlich (analyst) and Kelsey Riggs (reporter) on the call.

PICK-CISCO
• With his interception in the season opener, DB Andre Cisco moved into a tie for fourth all-time at Syracuse with 13 career interceptions.
• Markus Paul (1985-88) leads the group with 19, followed by Tommy Myers (1969-71) with 18. Anthony Smith (2002-05) is the only player with more than Cisco in the last-30 years with 14, followed by Cisco and Walt Slovenski (1946-48) in a tie with 13.
• Perhaps more impressive than the total is the speed at which he's climbed the ranks. The North Carolina game was Cisco's 23rd game played at Syracuse. For comparison, Paul amassed his 19 INTs over 44 career games.
• Cisco also moved into a tie for 10th in program history with 29 passes defended after his interception in the opener.
• The AP Preseason First Team All-American S Andre Cisco led the conference in interceptions (5) for the second year in a row in 2019 and ranked fourth nationally in in interceptions per game (0.6).
• He enters Saturday's game vs. Pittsburgh with an interception in four-straight games dating back to last season.
• Cisco is the FBS active leader with 13 interceptions and is No. 2 in passes defended per game (1.26) behind Stanford's Paulson Adebo (1.73), although Stanford is not playing this fall.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Syracuse-Pittsburgh series dates back to 1916, and has been held annually since 1955.
• Pitt leads 40-32-3 in the historic series, the last three matchups being decided by one possession.
• 'Cuse won the first match-up at Heinz Field in 2001, but lost its most recent game on the road at Pitt 37-44 in single overtime.
• Pittsburgh is Syracuse's most frequent opponent. The
two sides have played 75 times previously. Penn State is second on that list, lining up against the Orange on 71
occasions.
• With the 10-game conference slate this season, Syracuse will play four games against ACC Coastal opponents, including Pitt, to start the season. 'Cuse is 4-5 under head coach Dino Babers in games vs. the ACC Coastal. Babers is 3-4 vs. this year's slate of teams, having faced North Carolina, Duke and Pitt in his Syracuse tenure.

LAST TIME Vs. PITTSBURGH
• The Orange threw for 277 yards through the air by combination of QBs Tommy DeVito and Clayton Welch.
• Pittsburgh's then-junior QB Kenny Pickett was held to his second lowest number of completions in 2019
• WR Taj Harris caught three passes for 11 yards to lead the Orange, while WR Nykeim Johnson caught three passes for 47 yards to lead SU.
• DL Josh Black tied his career high in sacks with two, while do-it-all player Chris Elmore had a tackle for loss in the game.

HEY ROOKIE
• True freshman Stefon Thompson earned the start at linebacker at North Carolina. He's the first true freshman to start the first game of the year at the position for Syracuse since Dyshawn Davis in 2011.
• Thompson is the fourth Orange rookie to start the opener on defense since 2011, joining DB Andre Cisco, DL Kendall Coleman and Davis.
• Thompson was third on the team with seven tackles in the opener.

A WIN WOULD …
• Improve Dino Babers' record to 24-27 as head coach of the Orange.
• Snap a two-game losing skid to the Panthers.
• Make five-straight seasons with a victory over an ACC Coastal Division opponent. Usually, the Orange play two per year, but with the revamped format will play four teams from what was the ACC Coastal in 2020.
• Give Syracuse its 736th all-time victory. The Orange currently rank 20th on the FBS ledger of winningest programs. Syracuse is one of 28 FBS schools to have accumulated 700+ wins.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Black

Andre Cisco

Kendall Coleman

Dyshawn Davis

Tommy DeVito

Chris Elmore

Taj Harris

Nykeim Johnson

Stefon Thompson

Clayton Welch

Syracuse University Athletics