Syracuse v. Minnesota Football Odds
Written September 4, 2009 by Jack Jones
1* on Syracuse +6.5 – The Syracuse Orangemen will continue their trend of taking on the Big Ten in non conference play as they open the 2009 season in the Carrier Dome against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Both teams come off disappointing seasons in 08’ and look to bounce back in different ways this season. If you are going to do any football betting on this game, take a look at BetUS which offers our readers $500 in signup bonuses! The college football odds on this game show Minnesota as a 6.5 point favorite.
The Orange posted a 3-9 campaign last season that saw former head coach Greg Robinson receive his walking papers in the off season after 4 lackluster years with the program. New head coach Doug Marrone took the challenge of turning this program around after running the New Orleans Saints offense from 2006 to 2008. 14 returning starters return (7 on each side) and one unexpected transfer join this years squad. Former Duke PG Greg Paulus decided to use his one year of eligibility left and transfer to Syracuse to compete for the starting QB position. Paulus was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in high school, but has not played the position competitively for 5 years. He was named the starting QB during spring practice, beating out Cameron Dantley who threw for 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions as a JR. The Orange’s best offensive player, RB Curtis Brinkley, graduated from an offense that averaged less than 300 yards a game. The defense should be improved with 7 returning starters including 4 of the top 5 tacklers. A first year Head Coach with new coordinators and a QB that hasn’t played against an opposing defense since his SR year in high school could make for tough sledding at the start of the new season.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers finished bowl eligible in 2008 with a 7-6 record, but those numbers are deceiving. The boys from up North capped off the year by getting throttled by the Kansas Jayhawks 42 to 21 in the Insight.com Bowl. They lost their last 5 games of the season by an average of 22 points/game. Tim Brewster’s squad does return 17 starters (9 on offense and 8 on defense) including QB Adam Weber and WR Eric Decker. These two combined for over 1000 yards and 7 touchdowns in 08’. Brewster is switching from a spread attack to more of a power running game in 2009 that should decrease the amount of sacks given up by a suspect offensive line. The defensive side of the ball was good in the first half of last season but got blitzed for 55, 42 and 35 points down the stretch. Even with all the returning starters, the majority of preseason publications have this Minnesota team finishing in the middle of the Big Ten. The theory goes that coach’s make the biggest leap in year 3 with a program and Gopher fans are hoping this is the year that their team finally exceeds expectations.
The line is pretty low for teams heading in completely opposite directions. Syracuse is in a transition year yet again and Minnesota returns an experienced squad that might surprise some teams in conference play. This is not a logical line which raises a red flag. The line hasn’t moved much since open and it doesn’t look like it is ever going to get to the magic number 7. With his college football picks on this game the Rock says take the points and get Saturday started the right way.
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