Up Next: New York Football Weekend Preview
An exciting start to the season for Central New York Football fans as some of our teams are performing better than expected, so far.
Syracuse Orange
After the experts put the Syracuse over/under for wins at 3.5, many have been surprised to see the Orange emerge 2-0, including an opening win over ACC-for Louisville. The SU win over UC was expected, as the Orange were favored by more than three touchdowns, and it was nice to see the other end of a rout as 'Cuse rolled 48-14.
A test is ahead as Dino Babers and the Orange welcome the Purdue Boilermakers to the Dome. Syracuse is a 1.5 point favorite. Kickoff is set for noon with the game televised on ESPN2.
New York Giants
A good start and some good luck for new head coach Brian Daboll. Thanks to a risky 2-point conversion late in the fourth-quarter and a missed field goal as time expired, Big Blue found the win column in Week 1 for the first time in six years.
Their opponent, meanwhile, found the loss column last week via a long made field goal in the closing seconds. A heartbreaker for QB Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers as Mayfield had looked to extract some revenge on the team that recently traded him away, the Browns. However, a 58-yard FG spoiled his debut with his new team.
The Giants and Panthers kickoff at 1:00 on Sunday, on FOX.
Buffalo Bills
Seemingly everyone's odds-on favorite to lift the Lombardi Trophy in February, the Buffalo Bills are the hottest thing going in the NFL. Josh Allen and the offense exploded in the second half of the NFL-opener last Thursday, scoring 21 unanswered points for a 31-10 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Rams. The offense needs to correct their 4 turnover performance, but otherwise, Bills' fans seem to be rightfully confident about what is to come.
The downside to being a hot team that everyone wants to watch is that you may need to make other plans on NFL Sundays - unless you want to watch almost every other team but yours play. This is another non-Sunday showdown. Buffalo hosts the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football (the first of 2 MNF games this week), with kickoff set for 7:15.
Catch the game on TV via ESPN, and remember WIBX 950 will have the game at 950am/106.9fm on your radio dial.
Utica University Pioneers
A 2-0 so far for coach Blaise Faggiano and the new-look Pioneers. It's only been two contests, and both at home, but the UU football program has never lost (they've only played two games since changing from a college to university).
The Pioneers hit the road for the first time this season to battle Western New England University. Kickoff is Saturday at 1:00, with the Pioneers coming in a 2-0 and the Golden Bears at 1-1.
Colgate Raiders
Colgate is playing their third straight game on the road to start the 2022 campaign. The Raiders were smacked around by Stanford in the opener (41-10) but bounced back with a 21-18 victory in Maine last week.
Colgate will visit the Penn Quakers for a 1:00 Saturday kickoff looking to improve to 2-1. The Raiders will then return to CNY for their home opener and Home Coming/Hall of Honor celebration next Saturday as they host Holy Cross at 1:00.
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