Connecticut @ Syracuse preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 28, 2009 ) Syracuse 31, Connecticut 56

Having locked up a bowl bid and posting an impressive string of conference road victories, Syracuse gets another chance to get it right at the Carrier Dome.

The Orange host Connecticut on Saturday in a Big East Conference matchup that is extremely important to both teams.

Syracuse (7-3, 4-2 Big East) became bowl eligible last week with a 13-10 victory at Rutgers. The win made the Orange bowl eligible for the first time since 2004 and upped their road record to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big East. The Orange’s seven wins are the most in a season since 2001 when they went 10-3.

Syracuse is one of four Big East teams with two conference losses. Pittsburgh leads the way with a 3-1 Big East mark but its loss to Connecticut last week opened the door for other teams in the race for an automatic BCS bowl berth.

The Orange will need to beat the Huskies this week and then see how things play out. But to do that they will have to play better in the Carrier Dome than they have of late. Pittsburgh came in and routed Syracuse, 45-14, on Oct. 16. The Orange responded with road wins over West Virginia and Cincinnati but then returned home and laid an egg against a Louisville team that was without its starting running back and quarterback.

If anything, Syracuse should be motivated for this one.

They still have a shot at a conference title and they should still remember the beatdown Connecticut laid on them a year ago. Connecticut (5-4, 2-2) leads the series with Syracuse 4-2 and that includes a 56-31 victory last season.

The Huskies are still in the conference race because they have won two straight, posting wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh. However, while Syracuse has thrived on the road, Connecticut has struggled. The Huskies are 0-4 on the road and will have to win two road games, this week and a season finale at South Florida, to have any chance at the conference crown.

Connecticut still needs a victory to become bowl eligible and is likely to ride running back Jordan Todman if it is to make the postseason at all.

Todman rushed for 222 yards in Connecticut’s 30-28 victory over Pitt on Nov. 11, and he is the second-leading rusher in the nation at 147 yards per game. Todman enters the game against the Orange with 1,176 rushing yards this season - the seventh-best total in program history. He needs just 13 yards to move into sixth and pass his total of 1,188 yards he racked up last season.