Syracuse at Duke

Time: 2:30 PM CST, Sat

Spread: DUK -10.5

Odds c/o 5dimes

The Duke Blue Devils are 4-5 on the season and in need of a couple wins to earn a bowl invite. It will host the Syracuse Orange at 2:30 PM (CST) Saturday on the ACC Network. Duke is 10.5-point favorites in the game, despite the fact that Duke is currently riding a three-game losing streak heading into this week’s action.

DUKE BLUE DEVILS NEWS & NOTES:

Duke’s three-straight losses have been costly. The team was a respectable 4-2 prior to this skid which saw it fall to Virginia, North Carolina and Notre Dame. It will close the season with its last two games against Wake Forest and Miami. Ideally, the Devils need to “win out” to assure it can find its way into a Bowl game.

Duke has done nothing outstanding this season. It has a 0.0 point differential, as it both scores and surrenders 27.2 per game. The passing offense is weak (No. 106) and the rushing offense is marginal at best (158.2 per). This is not the same vaunted offense it was while Daniel Jones called the shots from the pocket. Instead, Duke has entrusted Quintin Harris with the task, and the results, clearly, have been mixed. Harris is averaging just 60.6 percent on his throws, but he does have a somewhat respectable 14 to 8 TD:INT ratio. He has done a decent job of avoiding sacks with just 13, as well.

Of course, this underscores the fact that Harris is a huge rushing threat from the pocket. He ranks No. 2 on the team in attempts (111), yardage (418) and yards-per-carry (3.8). He leads the Devils in rushing touchdowns with six. No. 1 running back Deon Jackson has 138 rush attempts for 539 yards and five touchdowns. No. 2 running back Mataeo Durant has 72 rushes for 277 yards and a touchdown. Harris’ top receiving targets have been the quartet of Jalon Calhoun, Noah Gray, Scott Bracey, and Aaron Young. All have 250-plus yards and at least two touchdowns to their credit, respectively.

SYRACUSE ORANGE NEWS & NOTES:

The Syracuse Orange is 3-6 this season, but it enters this week on its own four-game skid. It has lost the last four games to Boston College, Florida State, Pittsburgh, and NC State. The losses to FSU and Boston College the past two weeks have not even been close, though. Syracuse has yet to win an ACC game this season and it might finish the seasons in that fashion, given that it faces a tough Louisville team before closing the year with a more winnable contest against Wake Forest.

The Orange are a good passing team, but its rush attack is not much of a threat. It results in a rather mediocre offense that averages 24.1 points per game, while Syracuse’s defense has been rather poor in surrendering 30.7 per game.

Quarterback Tommy DeVito has been the bright spot on an otherwise bleak roster. He has thrown for over 2k yards at a 64 percent clip with 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions. The black mark on his record is that he has incurred 41 sacks for 239 lost yards, but much of the blame for that can be laid on the offensive line. It is not good. The backfield suffers, too, as the Orange manage just 3.1 yards-per-rush, with its top-two running backs barely topping four yards-per-carry.

ATS TRENDS (C/o Covers):