Syracuse takes on Colgate at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome on Friday in its season opener. The game marks Dino Babers’ first as the Orange’s head coach. Here’s how beat writers Chris Libonati, Jon Mettus and Matt Schneidman predict the game will unfold.

Chris Libonati (0-0)
Syracuse 52, Colgate 13
Tartared and feathered

This game starts out about as fun as a root canal, but Syracuse gets going, grinds down Colgate with tempo and proves to be too much for the Raiders. #OrangeIsTheNewFast will take some time to settle in since SU still hasn’t played a game within the offense, but if quarterback Eric Dungey is on his game and the offensive line gives him a chance to make the right reads without too much pressure, the Orange should come out with a win regardless of how the defense plays.

Jon Mettus (0-0)
Syracuse 49, Colgate 17
Brush Up

The first test for Dino Babers and his new football team means way too much for this game against Colgate, another ranked FCS team, to go the way that the Villanova game did in 2014. It’s time to work out some kinks of installing a new system for the last nine months. The Orange will look bad at times, but it’ll look good at most. The only way Colgate could make this close is with a dominate performance in the running game and time of possession battle. But that’s not going to happen. The Orange can afford a few mistakes and still beat Colgate easily.

Matt Schneidman (0-0)
Syracuse 31, Colgate 17
Squeaking by

Remember when Syracuse needed a Riley Dixon touchdown pass to Kendall Moore in double overtime two season openers ago? This one will have that same feel in the fourth quarter when the Orange is only leading by one score, and Colgate is still around thanks to a quarterback in Jake Melville, who doesn’t throw many interceptions. That doesn’t bode well against an SU defense that on paper will struggle, but a late Eric Dungey touchdown pass will erase the doubt and start off the Dino Babers era with a not-so-convincing win.