Quote Originally Posted by McGuire87:
You sickos want'em? You got'em!
Next up on my card: Notre Dame (-12) vs. Syracuse
Power ratings: Notre Dame (12th, -22) vs. Syracuse (76th, 4.2) = projected spread of -26 (neutral field @ East Rutherford)
Syracuse had a very cake schedule their first 2 weeks, then BAM Maryland trounced them to win by 2 TDs despite being an underdog.
I felt Syracuse was overrated prior to their Central Michigan game, made an uneducated bet and didn't know CMU was without their best player Thomas Rawls, and then decided to not play Maryland last week not knowing how they'd react after their heartbreaking loss to WVU.
So, here we go. I'm just not a Syracuse fan at all. I think if you have the personnell at DL and LB (Notre Dame does), then Syracuse can be a simple team to stop. They just don't have a QB. Terrel Hunt is not a good passer. So while Syracuse does average a sick 5.9 yards/carry, I'm just not buying them against a team of the caliber of ND. Let's get to it:
Reason #1: The ND defense has shut down everyone they have played this season. Purdue (who played way above their heads in a nationally televised rivalry game) was 5.9 ypa + 2.2 ypc,
Rice (starting QB) 6.8 ypa + 3.5 ypc, and Michigan was 5.9 ypa + 2.9 ypc. This is a consistent defense we can rely on to get stops + cover a spread. Because we are going up against a rushing offense, I even looked at how Notre Dame did in giving up explosive run plays. Only 9 runs given up of 10+ yards, and ZERO run plays given up of 20+ yards. That will change vs. Syracuse, but we just want to limit Syracuse's offense. We only have to win by 13 points to win the bet.
Despite having a much tougher schedule than Syracuse so far ('Nova, CMU, Maryland), ND also has a better 3rd down defense.
Reason #2: The passing game here is gonna be all ND, which means more points, more first downs, better field position, and a more tired defense. Despite Cuse's weak schedule, they still only rank 90th nationally in def ypa. Everett Golson is 38th nationally in ypa among QBs and 36th in comp %. He also hasn't thrown 1 INT this season. We can trust him in this spot.
Reason #3: Syracuse's defense is going to break. C.J. Brown of Maryland threw for 10.8 ypa/280 yards...to put that in perspective, if his receivers had gotten 2 more yards it would have been a career high!!! Villanova's QB threw for 7.4 ypa and ran for 112 yards. Nova's #1 RB ran for 3.8 ypc. Cuse' defense gave up more passing yards than James Madison, USF, and a bad WVU defense.
Reason #4: Penalties. These can be kind of random, but sometimes they aren't and we have a decent sample size. Notre Dame is 15th in nation in penalties (4/game) and Syracuse is 105th nationally (8/game).
Reason #5: WR Ashton Broyld is out. Led team last year w/ 52 receptions. So even if we were worried about the Syracuse passing game, they are now without one of their best weapons.
My advice: Not my most favorite play of the week because ND is everybody's Super Bowl...I suggest making a 1-2 unit play now, and then waiting until Saturday morning to check the weather. If the wind is 7mph or below in East Rutherford, then you can unload...but check the weather because it will affect ND's offense more than Cuse's offense.