Syracuse Orange at Washington Huskies, Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA
Saturday, September 11, 2010, 7:00 pm, TV: Fox Sports-Northwest
Opening Line: Washington -10
Current Line: Washington -13
Opening Total: 49 1/2
Current Total: 48 1/2
Money Line: Washington -500/ Syracuse +400
Prices from above taken from Bookmaker Sportsbook and Casino.
Washington Quarterback Jack Locker’s potential run to the Heisman got off to a rocky start with a 23-17 loss at BYU. Meanwhile Syracuse beat Akron 29-3. The Orange now travel cross-country to play the Huskies.
The Orange traveled to Akron last week and came away with a 29-3 victory. Syracuse racked up 431 total yards, including 202 on the ground. Delone Carter led the rushing with 91 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Nassib wasn’t bad behind center throwing for 229 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. For reasons I can’t understand Syracuse went for 2 in the third quarter after blocking a field goal and running it back for a touchdown. that made the score 23-3. Unless it was a botched snap or something I don’t see the difference between being up by 21 or 22. at that point the defense was dominating the Zips, and the chances were pretty slim that Akron would come back. I know Syracuse is a young team, but that seems a little unnecessary to rub a teams nose in it like that especially at their place. The Orange ended up missing another extra point late in the game, so perhaps it was karma. Syracuse gave up only 166 total yards to the Zips. Syracuse turned the ball over three times, something that can’t happen if they hope to compete against Washington.
The Huskies traveled to Provo last week to take on the BYU Cougars. The game was pretty evenly matched as both teams had around 400 total yards. The Cougars outgained them 408-394. Jake Locker played well, but not as brilliant as the hype surrounding him would say. He threw for 266 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 29 yards and another touchdown. Chris Polk did most of the rushing gaining 92 yards on 16 carries. Jermaine Kearse was Locker’s top target catchign 5 balls for 108 yards and a touchdown. On defense, The Huskies gave up a ton of yards but not a lot of points. The definition of bend-but-don’t break, I suppose.
The Orange are 1-11-1 straight up since 1964 when traveling to the West Coast. Conversely, Washington is 23-2 at home straight up against East Coast teams since 1970. Those would seem to be daunting numbers for the Orange, but I am sure that very few teams have winning records when traveling across country. If Syracuse has any chance of winning and breaking the trend, they must contain Locker. Stopping him completely might be too much to ask, but the Orange would be wise to copy BYU’s game plan. The problem is the Orange aren’t as talented on defense as the Cougars, so we will see what happens. Washington’s defense sometimes gambles by blitzing, and Syracuse needs to take advantage of that when it happens. Syracuse might also need a big play on special teams like the blocked field goal they got against Akron. This could be a potential trap game for the Huskies as they welcome Nebraska next week, so potential bettors might keep that in mind.
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