Orange Look to Rebound at Virginia Tech

SYRACUSE AT VIRGINIA TECH
Game Details: 12:30 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 23
Location: Blacksburg, Va. | Lane Stadium
Game Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Television: ACC RSN | YES Locally | Where to Watch
Radio: Syracuse Sports Network from Learfield
Twitter: @CuseFootball | @Cuse
Syracuse Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Notes
Virginia Tech Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Notes

GAME INFORMATION
• Syracuse plays three of its next four games on the road starting Saturday at Virginia Tech.
• The Orange have played only two road games this season, posting a 1-1 mark in those games.
• Syracuse faces former BIG EAST rival Virginia Tech for the first time since 2016 and makes its first trip to Lane Stadium since 2003.
• The game will air on ACC Regional Sports Network, with Tom Werme '91 (PxP), James Bates (analyst) and Wiley Ballard (reporter) on the call. It marks the sixth time in eight weeks that a Syracuse alum has served as the play-by-play announcer for the television broadcast.

SERIES HISTORY
• Syracuse and Virginia Tech will meet for the 19th time.
• The Orange own a 10-8 advantage in the series.
• Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the two schools since 2016. The Orange and Hokies met every year from 1992-2003 when both were members of The BIG EAST Conference.
• Syracuse has won three of the last four meetings, including a triple-overtime victory in 2002.

CLOSE CONTESTS
• Syracuse's last four games have been decided by 3-or-less points, with each game coming down to the Orange's final drive. Syracuse kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to defeat Liberty, Florida State did the same thing to SU the following week, Wake Forest defeated the Orange in OT two weeks ago, before Syracuse's game-tying field goal attempt missed last week vs. Clemson for the Tigers to hold on 17-14.
• This is the second time in program history that 4-or-more games in a single season have been decided by three points or less. The other is 1981, but those games were not consecutive.
• It's the sixth time in program history that four-of-more consecutive games have been one-possession (8 points or less) decisions, the prior streaks came in 1922 (4), 1927 (4), 1953 (4), 1993 (4), 1994 (5), 2017 (4).
• In the modern era (post-WWII), the program record for most one-possession games in a single season is six. Most recently, six games in 2011 were decided by a single score or less. Prior to that, it was also done in 1994, 1971 and 1950.

TUCKER ON RECORD SETTING TRACK
• Freshman RB Sean Tucker is on pace to have one of the most prolific single-season rushing totals in school history.
• Tucker has 948 yards rushing on 155 carries through seven games (6.1 avg.).
• That total is the most for a Syracuse running back seven games into the season.
• Joe Morris had 908 yards through seven games in 1979 when he set the program single-season record of 1,372.
• Overall, Orange rushers have topped the 1,000 yard mark in a season 16 times. Tucker would be the first to do so since Antwon Bailey in 2011.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
• Syracuse's offense produced 514 yards of total offense against Wake Forest. That total is the most against an ACC opponent since posting 559 at Boston College in 2018.
• The Orange's 354 yards on the ground were the most during head coach Dino Babers' tenure and the most for 'Cuse since 2014.
• Syracuse is averaging 242.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks 11th in the nation.

A WIN WOULD …
• Improve Dino Babers' record to 28-40 as head coach of the Orange.
• Improve Syracuse's record on the road to 2-1 this season.
• Give Syracuse its 740th all-time victory (includes 11 wins from 2004-06 that were vacated by the NCAA). The Orange currently rank 22nd on the FBS ledger of winningest programs. Syracuse is one of 31 FBS schools to have accumulated 700+ wins.

A STAR IS BORN
• Second-year freshman RB Sean Tucker ranks as one of the top offensive players in the nation.
• Tucker ranks in the top 10 in six different categories in the latest NCAA FBS statistics.
• He is second in the country in rushing yards with 948, which is just 49 behind national leader Kenneth Walker III of Michigan State.
• Tucker also ranks second in the nation in all-purpose yards (167.43) and rushing yards per game (135.4).
• His 11 total touchdowns are good for fourth place, while his 66 total points rank eighth.
• Tucker is also tied for ninth in rushing touchdowns with nine.
• In addition, he is eighth in scoring (66).
• Tucker is on pace to set the program single-season rushing record of 1,372, which was set in 1979 by Joe Morris.

MIDSEASON HONORS
• Sean Tucker and Cody Roscoe both collected AP First Team Midseason All-America honors this week for their performance through the first half of the year.
• Tucker is second nationally in all-purpose yards and rushing yards, Roscoe is fourth nationally in sacks and tackles for loss.
• Additionally, freshman DB Duce Chestnut was on a number of Freshman All-America lists, including ESPN and The Athletic, among others.

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Players Mentioned

Cody Roscoe

Sean Tucker

Syracuse University Athletics