SYRACUSE ORANGE
vs.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons

GAMEDAY CENTRAL

Carrier Dome (49,262/FieldTurf)
Syracuse, N.Y.
Thursday, September 1 • 7:30 p.m. • ESPN3.com

Television
ESPN3.com — Dave Weekley and John Bunting

Syracuse Radio
WTKW-FM 99.5 (flagship)
Sirius 128

THE GAME
Thursday’s game will be just the second meeting between Syracuse and Wake Forest … The only previous meeting was a 20-10 Wake Forest win in the 2006 season-opener, jump-starting the Deacons to an 11-3 season and an ACC championship … The game will be the first Thursday-night home date for Syracuse since a Nov. 23, 1989, Thanksgiving matchup against West Virginia, won by the Mountaineers, 24-17.

SYRACUSE (0-0)
Head Coach
Doug Marrone (Syracuse ’91)
12-13, third season

NOTES
Syracuse has increased its win total in each of Doug Marrone’s first two seasons at his alma mater, including an 8-5 showing in 2010 … The Orange hope to register their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2001, when they capped a streak of 15 straight winning seasons … Syracuse was 2-4 in home games last season and has dropped four straight at the Carrier Dome … QB Ryan Nassib leads an experience offensive unit that returns its five leading receivers and four starters on the offensive line … Nassib threw for 2,334 yards and 19 touchdowns with eight interceptions last season … RB Antwon Bailey (554 yards, 2 TDs) should see an increased workload with the departure of All-BIG EAST tailback Delone Carter … WR Van Chew had 41 receptions for 611 yards and five touchdowns last season … DE Chandler Jones is the featured man on defense following an All-BIG EAST Second Team performance in 2010 … Jones had 57 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks last season … SS Shamarko Thomas and FS Phillip Thomas return from a secondary that led the BIG EAST in pass defense last year (165.3 ypg) … K Ross Krautman set a BIG EAST single-season record last year by making 94.7 percent of his field goal attempts (18 of 19).

WAKE FOREST (0-0)
Head Coach
Jim Grobe (Virginia ’75)
62-60, 11th season at Wake Forest
93-95-1, 17th season as collegiate head coach

NOTES
Wake Forest went 3-9 overall and was 1-7 in the ACC Atlantic Division in 2010 … The Demon Deacons snapped a nine-game losing streak with a win at Vanderbilt in the season finale … Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe ranks second on the school’s career wins list … The Deacons return 17 starters from last year’s team … QB Tanner Price started the last nine games of 2010 as a true freshman, throwing for 1,349 yards and seven touchdowns with eight interceptions … RB Josh Harris — also a true freshman last year — was the leading rusher with 720 yards and seven touchdowns … The top returning receiver is WR Chris Giens, who had team highs of 514 yards and four touchdown catches last year … The defense returns nine starters from a unit that allowed six opponents to score at least 30 points … LB Kyle Wilber led the team with 14.5 tackles for loss and six sacks last season, while NG Nikita Whitlock had 10.5 tackles for loss and three sacks … Wake Forest plays nine opponents that played in a bowl game last season.