Rutgers at Syracuse Line

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Syracuse Orange will host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Big East play. It will be the first conference game for both teams. The Orange improved to 3-1 with a 33-30 overtime win over Toledo on Saturday, while the Scarlet Knights returned from a bye and brought home a 38-26 win over Ohio. Syracuse has won two straight in the series, which included a 13-10 win at Rutgers last season.

Taking a look at the week 5 college football lines, oddsmakers currently have the Orange favored by 2.5-points over the Scarlet Knights with the total set at 50 points.

Rutgers:

The Scarlet Knights only defeat in 2011 is a 22-24 loss at North Carolina, but they were pretty fortunate to have that game stay as close as it did. I was impressed with their performance against Ohio last week, but fans are looking for results inside the Big East. Rutgers opened up conference play with a 27-24 win over Connecticut (Big East Champions) last season, only to lose their final six conference games.

Offensively Rutgers has had to rely on the passing game to move the ball down the field, as they come in averaging just 99 yards a game on the ground. The passing attack is led by sophomore quarterback Chas Dodd, who has completed 57% of his passes for 588 yards and six touchdowns. Dodd doesn’t exactly spread the ball around all that much. Junior wide out Mohamed Sanu has caught 36 of Dodd’s 55 completions this season for 363 yards and four scores. Sanu had 16 catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns in last weeks game. His 16 catches broke the single-game record of 13 by any Big East player.

The offense should be able to move the ball against the Orange this week, especially through the air. Syracuse is giving up and average of 276.5 passing yards a game, which is the 96th worst mark in the nation.

Syracuse:

The Orange are definitely battle tested after the first four games of the season. They had an amazing come from behind win over Wake Forest in the first game of the season, scored a late touchdown to beat Rhode Island 21-14 the following week, and were pushed to the limit last week by a talented Toledo team. They did suffer a 38-17 loss at USC, but I don’t think this team is scared to play anyone, especially not inside the conference.

Unlike the Scarlet Knights, Syracuse has a number of weapons you have to worry about on the offensive side of the ball. Starting quarterback Ryan Nassib has completed 71.4% of his passes for 939 yards with nine touchdowns to just one interception. Senior running back Antwon Bailey has rushed for 318 yards and three touchdowns. The Orange also have three talented receivers in Van Chew, Alec Lemon, and Nick Provo, who have each caught at least 15 passes for 175 yards and two scores.

Syracuse might be forced to rely on Nassib and the passing game. Rutgers is allowing just 68.3 yards per game on the ground, but have allowed 241.3 passing yards on average. North Carolina did manage 132 yards a game on the ground against Rutgers earlier in the season. I think whether or not the Orange can run the ball will have a huge impact on this game. They had just 73 rushing yards in their loss against USC, and will struggle to win if they don’t get over the 100-yard mark.

Betting Trends:

Rutgers is 11-24 ATS after a game where they forced 4 or more turnovers since 1992.

Syracuse is 19-7 ATS in home games off a home win since 1992.

Be sure to check out what Steve Janus has picked to win in week 5 of college football. The expert college football handicapper cashed in a 6-1 premium card in week 4!

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