The Syracuse Orange faces off with the Stanford Cardinal after one of their best starts to the season in recent memory. The Orange offense has been firing on all cylinders and is looking to carry that over against an average Stanford defense. It is time to continue our college football odds series with a Stanford-Syracuse prediction and pick.
Stanford took care of business against Cal Poly in last week's matchup, rebounding from their season-opening loss. The Cardinal won 41-7, with Ashton Daniels leading the way with 221 passing yards and two touchdowns. Stanford also plays their backup quarterback Justin Lamson in some running situations, as he recorded a touchdown on the ground. The Cardinal also got a lift from Tiger Bachmeier, who had a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown to break the game open in the third. Stanford showed a massive gap in skill over the FCS school, as they had a blocked field goal attempt and a successful fake punt.
Kyle McCord has shown that the experience gained at Ohio State will serve him well with Syracuse. The Orange hosted newly-ranked Georgia Tech last week, escaping with a 31-28 victory. McCord has his second-straight stellar outing, throwing for 381 yards and four touchdowns. He threw two touchdowns each to Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden II. First-year head coach Fran Brown had some extra motivation for this matchup, as he took Brent Key's comments about the program as a slight in the lead-up to the game. Key said his team needed to be physical against the Orange, which Brown believed was a comment about his team's toughness.
Here are the College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Stanford-Syracuse Odds
Stanford: +8.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +255
Syracuse: -8.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -320
Over: 57.5 (-115)
Under: 57.5 (-105)
How to Watch Stanford vs. Syracuse
Time: 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT
TV: ESPN
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Stanford Could Cover The Spread/Win
Stanford's offense has been performing decently, averaging 34 points per game after their 1-1 start. Stanford suffered a difficult 34-27 loss to TCU in their first game of the season. The Orange showed some struggles in their win over Georgia Tech, allowing their passing attack a 72.5% completion rate and 266 yards. They also allowed 112 yards on the ground. There are some defensive gaps to exploit for the Cardinal but they'll need to solidify their gameplan heading into the week. Stanford had three quarterbacks take snaps last week, which they'll need to figure out. It worked against an FCS school, but having a quarterback rotation rarely works against superior opponents.
Why Syracuse Could Cover The Spread/Win
Syracuse has been one of the top offenses in college football through the season's first four weeks, ranking 41st with 34.5 points per game. They are 15th in the nation in yards per game with 497.5. Syracuse's numbers increased significantly in their 31-28 victory over Georgia Tech in their last outing, racking up 515 yards. Stanford has given up 278.5 yards per game through the air, which is significant considering they faced an abysmal Cal Poly team in their last outing.
Final Stanford-Syracuse Prediction & Pick
As the old saying goes, “If you have multiple quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks.” Stanford used a three-quarterback rotation last week but needed some good luck from special teams' plays and trickery to secure the victory over Cal Poly. They ended up winning by 34 points, but they could be in for a rude awakening against the Syracuse aerial attack. Take Kyle McCord and the Orange to figure out the Cardinal and win this game by double digits.
Final Stanford-Syracuse Prediction & Pick: Syracuse -8.5 (-110)
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