Syracuse football is heading back on the road Thursday night with plenty to clean up after last weekend’s stumble, and the next stop is a familiar one: Pittsburgh.
The Orange, now 1-1, is trying to shake off a 21-18 home loss to California in a game Syracuse football should have put away. Instead, the schedule now sends SU into a long stretch away from the JMA Wireless Dome, with the team not returning home until Oct. 17 for a matchup with No. 23 Louisville.
Pittsburgh comes in at 2-0, even if its latest win didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard. The Panthers beat UCF 12-7 at home, and they’ve also had Syracuse’s number for a while, going 8-2 over the last 10 meetings.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. EST on Sept. 17 at Acrisure Stadium, with ESPN carrying the game.
Matt Barrie will handle play-by-play, Chase Daniel will be on analysis and Paul Carcaterra will report from the sideline. Carcaterra is an SU alum.
The betting line also leans heavily toward Pitt. FanDuel listed the Panthers as 9.5-point favorites, with the over/under set at 51.5 points.
Syracuse’s availability report, submitted to the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday evening, listed six players out: defensive back Tedarius Hughes, linebacker Maurice Medley, offensive lineman Jackson Iak, offensive lineman D’Joni Scatliffe, wide receiver Nate Edwards and wide receiver Terrell Wilfong.
Wide receiver Calvin Russell III was listed as doubtful, while running back Tylik Hill was questionable. Still, Fran Brown said on his weekly radio show Tuesday night that he expects Russell to be medically cleared for Syracuse’s Oct. 3 game at Connecticut. Brown also said Hill, who has not practiced this week, is not expected to play at Pitt.
The Panthers are Syracuse’s most common opponent, and the series goes all the way back to 1916. Pittsburgh holds the edge, 45-33-3.
There’s also a road trend the Orange is trying to keep alive. Syracuse football has won its first true road game in each of the last five seasons: Ohio in 2021, UConn in 2022, Purdue in 2023, UNLV in 2024 and Clemson in 2025. The Orange will look to make it six straight on Thursday night.
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