Two things don’t add up: Syracuse’s vision to become a big-time football program and its early season schedule.

To step toward bowl eligibility, and its first winning record since 2013, Syracuse needs to look no further than its own schedule. Playing schools in the Football Championship Series — the league below Syracuse, which is in the Football Bowl Subdivision — will do nothing to help Syracuse (1-0) climb up from the bottom of the ACC, let alone anywhere near where the program was in the 1990s or before that.

Friday night provided another example that Power 5 schools like Syracuse have no business playing fledgling FCS programs like Central Connecticut State. There are many reasons why.

First, players are at an added injury risk with little reward. Just ask redshirt junior defensive back/punt returner Antwan Cordy, who missed most of 2016 due to injury, then exited Friday’s game in the first quarter with an apparent right leg injury sustained while making a tackle. His status is now unclear.

Second, attendance is mediocre at best. That contradicts one of SU’s biggest goals: putting people in seats. A generous estimate of 30,274, including players and employees, attended the 2017 season opener, the lowest Carrier Dome attendance since Oct. 24, 2015 and the fifth-lowest home-opener attendance in the history of the Dome, which opened 37 years ago.

Meanwhile, the last time Syracuse hosted another Power 5 nonconference opponent, Louisiana State in 2015, 43,101 fans showed up. That was the most-attended game since October 2014, when No. 1 Florida State and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston visited the Carrier Dome. Better teams attract more fans.

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

Third, games against FCS teams are often over by halftime. Fans file for the exits before the third quarter begins. With fewer fans at the venue in the second half, SU loses out on potential concessions and merchandise revenue.

Though Syracuse may insist there are other reasons to play those games beyond business, the heart of the matter is that FBS schools welcome FCS schools to campus for the home game and likely win.

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said this week that he believes Power 5-FCS matchups should continue. SU’s second-year head coach noted that FCS teams are often paid several hundred thousand dollars to play big-time FBS teams, a boost to any athletic department’s budget. There’s also the possibility of upsets. Babers cited Appalachian State’s 2007 upset at No. 5 Michigan, as well as Howard’s (FCS) 43-40 upset of UNLV on Sept. 2. That was Howard’s first win over an FBS opponent in program history.

“Anytime you see one of those David versus Goliath stories,” Babers said, “that’s the main reason why you should have those games.”

Yet those are rare. From 1978 to 2013, FBS schools had a record of 2,028-423-17 (.824) against FCS schools, according to FootballGeography.com. Since 2016, the Big Ten conference has forbid its programs from scheduling games against FCS competition and advised schools to play Power 5 opponents only.

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

To its credit, Syracuse has slightly stiffened its nonconference schedule in the years to come. Director of Athletics John Wildhack has said that a priority is upgrading the football program. SU took a few steps forward when it announced it will open the 2018 season at Western Michigan, an FBS school. The Orange also scheduled games with Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Army, which will fulfill a conference-wide mandate to schedule one Power 5 opponent out of conference each year.

Then SU took steps backward in announcing it will open the 2019 season at Liberty (FCS) and host Wagner (FCS) the year prior. The last time SU faced Wagner, in 2013, SU won 54-0.

“This series makes sense for many reasons,” Wildhack said in a statement when the Liberty game was announced. “It’s an opportunity to play in an area that’s important to our recruiting and it’s within driving distance of one of our largest alumni centers (Washington, D.C.).”

“This game fits with our philosophy of putting together a schedule which collectively balances our non-conference opponents and ACC opponents,” he said in statement regarding the Wagner game.

In both statements, Wildhack did not address competition. Rather than focusing on playing in recruiting areas or near alumni centers and rather than highlighting balance of the schedule, SU should play teams of its caliber or better to grow as a football team. That is the growth that could help it become more competitive.

Syracuse has outscored its last three season-opening opponents, all FCS, 130-14. That will boost everyone’s stat line. What it won’t do is prepare SU for what really matters: a brutal ACC schedule.

Looking back to Friday, it’s unclear which is worse: a game decided by halftime or the fact that SU is on the same field as lower-tier programs in the first place.

Matthew Gutierrez is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at mguti100@syr.edu and on Twitter @Matthewgut21.

Published on September 4, 2017 at 8:25 pm