Orange Turn the Page to Central Michigan

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they cap a season-opening, three-game homestand Saturday, Sept. 16 against Central Michigan. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

Syracuse is coming off a 30-23 loss to Middle Tennessee, a game that was tied in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously, it was disappointing that we didn't win the game," said head coach Dino Babers. "I thought, when we went back and watched the tape, there were a lot of positives with a lot of the young guys playing extremely well. We are going to see what happens from here."

Freshman fullback/right end Chris Elmore and sophomore safety Evan Foster are two underclassmen who turned in solid performances against the Blue Raiders. Elmore was Syracuse's second-leading rusher with 28 yards on eight carries. Foster carded six tackles and forced a fumble.

Another bright spot for Syracuse Saturday was the continued emergence of Steve Ishmael. The senior, who posted 12 catches in Week 1 and 14 receptions in Week 2, is the first player in program history with 11+ receptions in consecutive games. Through two games, he leads the nation in receptions per game (13.0) and ranks second in the ACC (9th in the FBS) in receiving yards per game (125.0).

"I thought that Ishmael played well," said Babers. "There's a lot of pressure on him to perform at that level, but he has big shoulders and he can handle it."

As Syracuse looks ahead to Central Michigan, the Chippewas are 2-0 and defeated Kansas 45-27 in their last outing. CMU quarterback Shane Morris threw for 467 yards (28-for-37) with five touchdown passes against the Jayhawk and the Chippewas piled up an additional 123 yards rushing. Defensively, they lead the FBS with eight interceptions.

Syracuse caused a season-best three turnovers against Middle Tennessee, including a pair of fumbles. Coordinator Brian Ward's unit will try and keep that momentum going against the Chippewas, who have turned the ball over five times in their first two games. Central Michigan has also struggled thus far on third down (.281, 9-32), an area in which the Orange defense has excelled. Syracuse is fifth in the country in third-down conversion defense (.148, 4-27).

Tickets for the Central Michigan game start at $25 are and are available online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B). Partial plans and group tickets for Syracuse's remaining home games are also available now.

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Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Chris Elmore

Evan Foster

Steve Ishmael

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