Time: Noon EST, Saturday
Spread: RUT -7.5
Total: 45
M/L: RUT -295, SYR +245
Odds from Bookmaker
The 20th ranked Scarlet Knights have rolled through the first six weeks (one was a bye week) with five victories on the heels of a very strong defense. The Knights have allowed just 10.8 points per game, good for fifth in the nation. They’ve disposed of Tulane, Howard, South Florida, Arkansas and UConn.
This week’s matchup against Syracuse could be their toughest yet, as college football oddsmakers have set the line just over a touchdown in favor of Rutgers.
Their average offense may be the reason they are not bigger favorites. So far, the Knights rank in the lower third of both passing and rushing yards (223.8 per game and 148.0 per game, respectively).
Sophomore sensation Gary Nova has improved from his freshman campaign, raising his QB rating from 116.6 last season to 142.4 this year. His completion ratio is 60.9 percent and he’s thrown for 10 touchdowns on the season. His finest game came in the 35-26 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. Nova threw for nearly 400 yards and a 71.4 completion ratio, while throwing for five touchdowns without a single interception. His QB Rating for that game? A healthy 213.9.
If Syracuse is going to match Nova’s firepower, it will be using their own aerial attack, which ranks 17th in the nation with 310.4 yards per game. Senior QB Ryan Nassib is having his finest season so far, posting a QB rating of 138.6 while having completed 65.9 percent of his passes. If not for his 6 interceptions and 8 sacks, Nassib would rank much higher. He’s had three games with over 300 passing yards, and he nearly threw for 500 in the one point loss to Northwestern.
The Orange defeated Pitt last week by a point, which snapped an eight game FBS winless streak for Syracuse. Despite the win, the Orange accumulated less total yardage than Pitt and were destroyed in the air by Tino Sunseri, who threw for 319 yards.
That raises flags that Gary Nova of Rutgers has certainly seen, and he’ll look to exploit the Orange secondary to his full advantage, as Brandon Coleman and Tim Wright will be his primary targets. Coleman has 278 receiving yards on the year and Wright has 239. Coleman has accounted for five of the 10 Rutgers receiving TDs this season.
Syracuse Betting Trends:
Orange are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games after allowing 280+ passing yards, 2-5 ATS vs teams with winning records, 3-12-1 ATS in their last 16 overall, 0-5-1 ATS in their last 6 conference games, 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 after scoring less than 20 the previous game.
Rutgers Betting Trends:
Scarlet Knights are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 conference games, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games following an ATS win, 2-7 ATS in their last 9 vs teams with losing records, and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 on turf.
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