Penn State Syracuse Predictions

Written September 9, 2008 by Jack Jones

The No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions will try to keep up their string of impressive wins to start the 2008 season when they travel to Syracuse to take on the struggling Orange Saturday. Jack Jones will detail both of the teams as well as give his prediction based off of the college football odds. The early spread shows Penn State as a 27-point favorite with a total listed at 51.

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Penn State doesn’t seem to be bothered by the off-field distractions they have been suffereing through. Earlier two defensive linemen were dismissed for unspecificed reasons, then head coach Joe Paterno had to suspend two starters on defense last week after police found marijuana residue in their apartment. Then last Thursday cornerback Willie Harriott was kicked off the team for being cited with driving with a suspended license, 10 months after getting a driving under the influence.

The offense seems to be picking up the slack left by the suspensions. After compiling almost 600 yards of total offense in a season-opening win over Coastal Carolina, the Nittany Lions scored 28 points in the first quarter and a half of their 45-14 rout of Oregon State.

Daryll Clark has played well enough so far to secure down the starting quarterback job. He was battling it out with Pat Devlin in the practice and through the first game, but Saturday Clark went 14-for-23 to rack up 215 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a score with his feet and 61 rushing yards.

Evan Royster has provided the ground game support for Clark, racking up 205 rushing yards on 8.2 ypc and three touchdowns. He was named the Big Ten’s offensive player of the week after his 141 yard rushing performance against the Beavers.

It is uncertain whether Paterno will allow the two suspended players to play this week, as he said he is taking the situation one day at a time. The defense was still strong against the Beavers, forcing two turnovers. You can bet on Penn State -27.5 at JustBet and get a 20% signup bonus.

Syracuse has been terrible the last few years, going 7-28 under head coach Greg Robinson, and things don’t look like they are getting turned around this year. After losing back on August 30th to Northwestern by a score of 30-10, they were embarrassed 42-28 by Akron last week.

Offensively Cameron Dantley started at quarterback against Akron and went 13-for-20 for 135 yards and a touchdown. He replaced Andrew Robinson who struggled in their opener, and it appears that Dantley will be under center against Penn State. The offense did get 143 rushing yards and a touchdown last week from senior Curtis Brinkley, which was one of the few positives we could find. If you want to take the points and Syracuse this weekend, do it at JustBet.

Predictions: Penn State 38, Syracuse 13

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