Orange vs Scarlet Knights NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
When Syracuse was 0-2 with a close loss to Northwestern and a relatively impressive performance against USC some were thinking the program is finally getting back to some solid footing before it bolts to the ACC.
Syracuse Orange (2-3) vs #19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-0)
Saturday October 13
High Points Solutions Stadium – Piscataway, NJ
12:00PM
Moneyline: Rutgers -280, Syracuse +240 at JustBet.cx
Spread: Rutgers -7
O/U: 46.5
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Syracuse
Since then they have won two games, barely, and lost on the road to Minnesota.
Clearly not all is right in upstate New York and this program has a lot to prove and is unlikely to go bowling this season.
The biggest default of this team is that they struggle to put points on the board.
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They are 37th in yards gained but just 87th in points averaging just 24.4 per game. Rutgers’ offense is not going to run away and hide but they will likely have to break 30 points to win.
QB Ryan Nassib is both part of the problem and the solution. He has a great arm but needs to learn not to always fire it in there.
Balls bounce off hands into defenders waiting arms far too often.
The last two in the series have been decided by 3 points with both programs winning on the road.
I want to get behind the Orange in this one because I am not sure I believe in Rutgers but they have made it tough to believe in them also. If they are in the middle of what they showed in the first couple of games and the last three than they could be good enough to cover.
Rutgers
I suppose you could say that Rutgers is a team on the rise. They have won all their games this season and have covered in the last three to boot.
Looking at their schedule they have a great chance to run their record to 9-0 before finishing against the other Big East teams that have a pulse. Could this team really run the table – unlikely – but if they really get up to 9 wins who knows what will happen next. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Rutgers has been winning due to a surprisingly good defense that is 5th in points allowed at just over 10 and amazingly second in rushing yards allowed giving up just 60ypg.
That has allowed them to be perfect even though they average just 25 points per game on offense.
Jawan Jamison might be the best running back in the Big East this year and as long as he can keep churning out 4.5 yards per carry Rutgers can stick with this formula.
The Scarlet Knight have no room for error and it won’t matter how many wins they rack up if they don’t start impressing more. Sure they have some gaudy defensive numbers but the best attack they have faced this year was Arkansas and we all know what has happened to that program.
Last week they shut down a run oriented UConn team but will they have as easy a time controlling Nassib and the Orange.
It will be more of a challenge for sure .
Spread Pick: Rutgers -7
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Rutgers 27 – Syracuse 17
