FSU-Syracuse: Five Things to Watch

17th-ranked Florida State will look to notch its eighth win of the season on Saturday as the Seminoles head north — way north — to take on the Orange of Syracuse. As expected, Syracuse is a heavy underdog, but the Orange did upset ranked Virginia Tech at the Carrier Dome earlier this season. The Orange are 4-6 overall while FSU is 7-3.

For Florida State, Saturday’s contest will wrap up ACC play. The Seminoles celebrated Senior Night last week with a 45-7 victory over Boston College, but Saturday will be their final road game of the year. The Orange are coming off a 35-20 home loss to N.C. State and will be in front of their home crowd for the final time this season.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. EST and will air regionally on ABC. Before the contest, here are five things to watch for:

1. QB Play for Syracuse
All signs are pointing to sophomore Eric Dungey not playing on Saturday for Syracuse, so that will leave the job in the hands of either Zack Mahoney or Austin Wilson. Both are juniors and both have seen meaningful snaps, but neither have the mobility that Dungey does. With a suspect ground game and a young, struggling offensive line, Saturday could be an adventure for the Syracuse offense.

2. Dalvin Cook’s Run at the FSU Rushing Record
In Florida State’s last trip to the Carrier Dome in 2014, Rashad Greene surpassed Ron Sellers as FSU’s all-time leader in career receptions. On Saturday, junior running back Dalvin Cook will look to surpass Warrick Dunn as the school’s all-time rushing leader.

Dunn finished his career, which spanned 1993-96, with 3.959 career rushing yards. Cook is just 19 yards away from breaking that. Cook’s first career 100-yard rushing game took place in the Carrier Dome more than two years ago. Since then, he’s had 18 more. Cook missed last season’s game against the Orange in Tallahassee with an ankle injury.

3. Receivers
Syracuse’s corps of receivers doesn’t receive that accolades that a lot of great corps do, but it is deep and talented. Amba Etta-Tawo leads the ACC with 79 receptions for 1,246 yards. At 6-2 and 200 pounds, Etta-Tawo is a physical receiver who is a tough 1-on-1 cover for any opposing cornerback. Ervin Philips has also been a reliable target with 72 catches while Steve Ishmael and Brisly Estime provide a nice combination of size and speed.

For FSU, the sophomore duo of Auden Tate and Nyqwan Murray have really stepped up in recent weeks. Tate leads the team with six touchdown grabs while Murray has averaged more than 80 yards per game over the last three weeks. The guy to watch this week however, might be junior and leading receiver Travis Rudolph. Rudolph had what at the time was a career day against Syracuse last season with 191 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

4. FSU Defensive Line vs. Syracuse Offensive Line
There are several areas where Florida State looks to have an advantage over Syracuse this weekend, but the biggest might be up front when the Orange have the ball. The starting offensive line for the Orange features two freshmen and two sophomores while the FSU defensive front led by senior end DeMarcus Walker is very deep.

Walker ranks third in the country with 11 sacks this season, but has a nice corps of linemen around him. Defensive tackles Derrick Nnadi and Demarcus Christmas have played great the second half of the season while ends Josh Sweat and Brian Burns are great athletes off the edge. The Orange have allowed 27 sacks this season which is among the worst in the country. FSU ranks eighth with 33 total sacks. Syracuse is also averaging just 3.2 yards per carry on the ground while the Seminoles are yielding just three yards per carry over their last five games.

5. Logan Tyler
Logan Tyler has done the punting and kicking off for Florida State all season long, but might the freshman soon add another duty? Last week against Boston College, Tyler was put in to try a 53-yard field goal, which he nailed. The Seminoles have been using fellow freshman Ricky Aguayo on field goals, but Aguayo is 0-for-3 on his last three attempts of 40 yards and beyond. After drilling a long kick last week, Tyler could be making a push for duties as the field goal kicker — at least from long distance.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson