SB Nation’s Mountain West Connection is here to talk about a high-stakes Friday night matchup versus UNLV.
The Syracuse Orange (3-1, 1-1) return to the field this Friday night for their second game against an AP top-25 opponent. This time, the Orange will be hitting the road for all of October with their first stop set for Las Vegas and the No. 25 UNLV Rebels.
With an important game looming for both programs, we called upon Zane Woods from the SB Nation Mountain West Connection site to give us Syracuse fans some perspective on the Orange’s showdown in Vegas.
TNIAAM: UNLV is still undefeated and just cracked the AP top 25. The Rebels ranked high in the Mountain West preseason poll. How do you feel about UNLV’s hot start, and did fans expect this or was this a realistic outcome?
MWC: The start of the season has been a dream. Obviously, there were high hopes coming in with all the growth that was shown last year, but I don’t think people expected them to be this successful. During my preseason predictions I said that they would lose to Kansas, so I wasn’t expecting this much success, but it’s not that unexpected.
TNIAAM: Your original starting QB, Matthew Sluka, announced he was leaving the team due to an NIL dispute with the school. Do you have any perspective you can give Syracuse fans about that whole situation?
MWC: Matthew Sluka leaving due to NIL disputes definitely felt like a setback. He was great to start the season. He struggled with his accuracy, but his run game made up for it. Before the season started however, Sluka and Hajj-Malik Williams were in a head to head competition for QB1 and it wasn’t announced who won until game day week With that much competition, it’s next man up and Williams shined in his first start after the dispute.
TNIAAM: Sluka or not, it didn’t matter last week as new QB Hajj-Malik Williams looked great in his first start as UNLV dropped 59 points on Fresno State. What does Williams bring to the table, and just how good is this offense?
MWC: Williams brings accuracy, something that Sluka lacked. He is still good on the ground too, he ran it in for a touchdown last Saturday. He also has a great connection with Ricky White which is something Sluka didn’t have either. This connection was shown in preseason camp and it was on full display when White hauled in two touchdown receptions on dimes thrown by Williams. UNLV’s offense is seriously good.
Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images
TNIAAM: Syracuse’s own offense has been lights out to start this season. Do you expect this Friday night game to play out as an offensive shootout, a defensive battle or somewhere in the middle?
MWC: Both offenses are red hot, I think the defenses will think they have a good game plan to slow each offense down but it won’t work. This game will be a shootout and it’ll be fun to see McCord go up against Williams.
TNIAAM: What do you consider to be Syracuse’s strengths and weaknesses this year?
MWC: The strength for Syracuse is obviously the offense. Kyle McCord has been amazing. He leads the nation in passing yards per game, doing even better than quarterback like Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward who are also having stellar seasons. A weakness of Syracuse is their defense in the red zone. 90% of the time an opposing team offense goes into the red zone they score which should be a little concerning if you’re a Syracuse fan.
TNIAAM: From a UNLV perspective, what’s the result the fanbase is expecting to happen? And which team’s fans feel worse if their team loses?
MWC: With the spread currently sitting at UNLV -7, I think the fan base is expecting a victory. The people who will feel worse is anyone who’s put their time, hope, and energy into this team this season. With all the ups and downs fans have experienced this year a loss at home will be really heartbreaking especially with all this positive momentum UNLV has going into the game.
TNIAAM: In the spirit of #RealignmentMadness, what’s the perspective from the UNLV side of things when it comes to the Rebels deciding to stay in the Mountain West, the current status of the conference and all the latest moves coming out of the Pac-12?
MWC: Obviously, it’s disappointing that UNLV didn’t leave to go to the Pac-12, but it’s good to see that the rivalry between Nevada and UNLV stays alive, and it also makes UNLV one of the more powerful teams in the conference.
TNIAAM: Last question: who wins and what’s the score?
MWC: This might be biased but I think UNLV wins 34-28 with both offenses showing out but UNLV with the home field advantage edges out the Orange.
Huge thanks to Zane for participating in our Q and A! Be sure to check out mwcconnection.com for the latest on UNLV and the rest of the Mountain West.