Dino Babers and Syracuse face their first ranked opponent this season on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Carrier Dome against No. 13 Louisville. Here’s what you need to know about the Cardinals.

All-time Series: Louisville owns the all-time series, 8-6. In the last ten matchups, Syracuse is 3-7 against the Cardinals. The Orange last won a matchup with UofL when the teams played in 2012 as members of the Big East. SU racked up 45 points and thrashed the nationally-ranked Cardinals. The season proved to be Doug Marrone’s last at Syracuse (he left for the Buffalo Bills) and the second-to-last for then-UofL head coach Charlie Strong (he took the Texas head coaching job).

Last Time They Played: Syracuse’s last two matchups haven’t exactly worked out. Two seasons ago, Scott Shafer referenced ISIS after UofL crushed SU, 28-6, to put the game and the postgame press conference in perspective. Last year, SU got smacked, 41-17, as UofL backup quarterback Kyle Bolin torched the Orange for 362 yards and three touchdowns. Cardinals running back Brandon Radcliff ran 10 times for 117 yards, too.

With Syracuse down by 31 points and less than 4:30 left in the game, SU head coach Scott Shafer left quarterback Eric Dungey in. Dungey took a big hit and suffered a season-ending “upper-body” injury. Shafer claimed he had thought SU could get back into the game. Offensive coordinator Tim Lester said SU was just trying to get the first team more reps. Either way, the last time fans saw Dungey in a game against an FBS opponent was when SU played Louisville last season.

The Louisville Report: Lamar Jackson.

No, seriously. He torched Louisville’s first opponent, Charlotte, for eight total touchdowns, gained 286 yards in the air and ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Going against an SU defensive line with young and inexperienced defensive ends, Jackson could use the read option to his advantage.

Defensively, Louisville’s success is predicated on its front seven. Devonte Fields may be the best of the bunch. He transferred to Louisville from TCU after he was kicked off the team for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Before then, Fields was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He’s proven to be a very good pass rusher and will play outside linebacker for UofL. In total, the Cardinals have three players in its front seven who earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference preseason honors.

How Syracuse Beats Louisville: Defensively, Syracuse doesn’t have much it can do other than prepare sufficiently for Lamar Jackson. What SU can prepare for is the Louisville defense. Its best bet is going to be to spread out the Cardinals with four wide receivers, forcing UofL to take its outside linebackers off the field in favor of defensive backs and run the ball. It doesn’t totally nullify the front line, but it gets some space for Dontae Strickland, Moe Neal and Jordan Fredericks (in that order).

Running the ball should also grind down the defense, which will come in handy when SU needs scores to keep the game tight at the end of the game. SU’s offensive line played just poor enough against Colgate to draw doubt about whether it can get done what the Orange needs on Friday.

Stat to Know: 38

That’s the number of first downs UofL tallied against Charlotte, good for second-best in both program history and in a single game in FBS football this year. It falls just behind Ohio State, which thrashed Bowling Green for 41 first downs. UofL’s beatdown wasn’t just a big-play affair — the Cardinals methodically picked apart its inferior opponent.

Player to Watch: Lamar Jackson, quarterback, No. 8

He’s just so dynamic. Charlotte was far inferior, but Jackson showed growth from last season and showcased both his ability to throw and run. There’s very little SU can do to stop him, so the goal will be containment, which doesn’t make the assignment any easier.

Published on September 8, 2016 at 11:39 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati