There’s no arguing that Syracuse is the worst team in the Big East, so let’s just get that out in the open to start. The Orange has won just eight games since Greg Robinson took over in 2005 and just one this season. Only two of those wins have come against Big East teams—Connecticut in 2006 and a shocker at Louisville last year.

This year Syracuse is as bad as ever. The Orange are last in the Big East in 17 statistical categories including total offense, total defense and scoring defense. That’s good for 114^th in the country in total defense and 111^th in scoring defense. They give up 462 yards and 36 points per game.

Syracuse is also last in the league in rushing defense while West Virginia is second in the league right behind Connecticut, so the Mountaineers should be able to have success running the ball on Saturday. West Virginia should also have success converting on third down, something that has bothered the Mountaineers at times this season (even though the Mountaineers are second in the league and 34^th in the country in the category). Teams are converting 62 percent of their third downs against the Orange.

While the Orange gives up a lot of yards and a lot of points, they have been able to force some turnovers. They actually have a +1 turnover ratio. The Orange has forced 8 turnovers while only committing seven.

So, overall Syracuse’s defense is horrible without a single player that merits any individual attention in this article. If West Virginia cannot rack up huge rushing numbers and several touchdowns against the Orange then something is wrong. But I think you can expect a big day Saturday from the Mountaineer offense.

While Syracuse’s defense is abysmal the offense is not much better. The Orange is only averaging 21 points a game, good for 7^th in the Big East. The offense averages 287 yards per game, also last in the league. The ground game accounts for most of those yards—157 per game. The Orange is a run oriented team with 167 of its 284 plays (58 percent) being on the ground. Senior Curtis Brinkley (5-9, 203) is Syracuse’s leading rusher with 477 yards on 84 carries. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry and 95 per game.

Andrew Robinson, last year’s starter at quarterback, was benched after the first game when he went 14-28 for 103 yards and an interception. Since then Cameron Dantley has been running the offense. He’s started the last four games and completed 57 percent of his passes for 549 yards and seven touchdowns with just two interceptions.

If you think West Virginia’s third down conversion rate is bad (44%) then you’ll be happy to hear that Syracuse’s third down conversion rate is downright embarrassing (26%).

The bright spot on the Syracuse team may be its special teams. Morgantown-native Patrick Shadle has been named Big East Special Teams player of the week three times. He is 7-8 on field goals with the only miss coming on a 51 yarder. His long is 46 yards.

Punter Rob Long is also averaging a league best 46.6 yards per punt with a long of 72 yards.

The kickoff return team has had a lot of work as teams have been scoring a lot of points but opponents have only punted twice.

Overall, this Syracuse team will likely be the worst team the Mountaineers face this season, including the Football Championship Division Villanova Wildcats.

Kickoff is scheduled for noon at Milan Puskar Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN U. Pregame coverage on Metronews will begin at 8:30 with The Big East Today.