If Colgate was Syracuse’s first true test, then Louisville is like the final exam you didn’t study for.

It’s fine that the Orange posted 33 points against the FCS Raiders, held them scoreless after surrendering a touchdown on the opening drive and set expectations for what should be a season teeming with offensive fireworks. But that was Jake Melville and a Patriot League defense. This is Lamar Jackson and some of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference on the other side of the ball.

“I think if we would have lost against Colgate, you wouldn’t be asking me that question,” Dino Babers said after being asked if UofL is the first true test of his Syracuse tenure.

Of course that question wouldn’t arise if Colgate left the Carrier Dome with a win. But it’s a serious hypothetical Babers posed after a season-opening victory. This Friday, however, is different. The No. 13 Cardinals (1-0) visit SU (1-0) and the result will provide a better barometer of how Syracuse’s defense stacks up against ranked teams, if its offense can pierce an ACC defense and, ultimately, whether SU has advanced past an era that produced seven wins.

“Really we face it like any other type of game,” defensive tackle Kayton Samuels said. “You can’t have anxiety too high … You can’t, ‘Oh, now it’s a big game.’ Nah, you gotta stay level-headed, so when you play, you play level-headed.”

Coach speak is coach speak and that will produce an answer treating every team as an equal. While Babers preached on Monday that each game is a test, they’re different kinds of tests with different levels of difficulty and different questions.

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Last Friday, the test looked something like this: Can Babers give Syracuse fans reason for optimism by starting out with a convincing win? Will this hyped-up offense produce the aerial numbers it has advertised? Has Eric Dungey returned to normal after seeing his career flash before his eyes as a freshman following multiple hits to the head?

Syracuse aced the first test, but now it’s time for one where mistakes will do a lot more harm than an eventually meaningless first-drive touchdown. This Friday, the questions may look like this: Will Syracuse be able to contain Jackson, one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country? Can SU’s ground game make a dent in Louisville’s All-ACC-riddled front seven? Will Syracuse pick up an unexpected win to help its cause for bowl eligibility down the road?

Those questions are more difficult, with outcomes that have a much greater chance of being no, no and no.

“Whatever rank they are,” Samuels said, “just another game.”

For Syracuse, though, it’s not just another game. It’s primetime on Friday night on ESPN2 with a chance to shock the college football world and make people really pay attention to what Babers has going here.

The risk and reward were high and low, respectively, against Colgate. Lose and you’re an early-season laughing stock. Win and you’ve accomplished what was expected. Now it’s the opposite. Lose and it’s what is expected. Win and you have yourself a pretty nice reward.

It’s early for a measuring stick game like this, one that could elevate Syracuse to new heights or keep it at the same ones it currently rests. Game 1 didn’t have that potential. That’s why this is the first true test, even if the head coach won’t say it.

“I think Colgate was the first true test of the season,” Babers said, “and Louisville is the second test.”

Matt Schneidman is a senior staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at mcschnei@syr.edu or @matt_schneidman.

Published on September 9, 2016 at 12:04 am