Syracuse vs Northwestern NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The Northwestern Wildcats were able to pull off a road victory at Cal in its season opener, but it came at a cost. Now the Cats’ will have to host a Syracuse team on Saturday without the possibility of two key offensive weapons.
Syracuse (0-1) vs. Northwestern (1-0)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013
Time: 6 p.m. EST
Venue: Ryan Field
City: Evanston
O/U Odds: 53
Spread: Northwestern -15 1/2
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Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter sustained a concussion against Cal, and it’s not clear if he will be ready to play this weekend. Likewise, for dynamic running back Venric Mark, who is battling through a leg injury.
In their game at Cal, the Wildcats turned to quarterback Trevor Siemian who will likely once again fill in after proving himself capable. And while Colter adds more versatility and leadership to the Cats’ offense, Siemian can get the job done.
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He completed 18 of 29 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown versus the Golden Bears, but was intercepted twice.
Meanwhile, the Syracuse defense played well last week, giving up 353 yards of total offense with a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery in their season opening loss to Penn State. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Orange defense also held the Nittany Lions to just 57 yards rushing in the contest, but gained just 260 total yards of offense, including just 71 yards on the ground.
The offense sputtered all day, failing to convert on third down and turned the ball over three times — something they cannot due if they want to win the battle against a Northwestern defense that forced three turnovers and did a good job getting off the field on third down versus Cal.
The Wildcats defense allowed 455 yards passing and only 93 rushing on Saturday night.
Now they will have to play solid against the run again this weekend and try to force Syracuse into throwing the ball if they want to ink this one.
Matt’s free prediction:
Northwestern showed just how good this team could be against Cal, producing 508 yards of total offense, which included 299 passing and 209 rushing.
Now they will head home and have the luxury of playing in front of their home crowd.
The Orange are 15 1/2-point underdogs in this one and rightly so, as their offense is limited.
That means Syracuse’s defense will have to play lights out against Northwestern, who has a well-tuned balanced offensive attack.
If Northwestern’s defense can perform as well as it did against Cal, I expect them to cover the spread in this one.
Northwestern 38 – Syracuse
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