CFB
(1 Picks)
7:30PM EST: SYR/VT Over 47 (3 Units)
This Syracuse offense has really struggled in recent weeks but that's partly due to scheduling. They played Florida State and Clemson in 2 of their last 3 games. Easily the top 2 defenses they'll face all year and 2 of the best defenses in the ACC. They also played North Carolina who is the worst of those 3 allowing just 22.4 points per game to FBS opponents. That was also in North Carolina and they were down early and trying to play catch-up which just isn't how this Syracuse offense will work. Defensively Syracuse has allowed 41, 40, and 31 going back.
Things will get easier against the Hokies. Tech's had an incredibly favorable schedule and still have just 3 wins. Only 1 of their opponents ranks higher than 54th in points per game against FBS opponents and it was FSU who dropped 39 on them. They still rank 52nd in points allowed per game. Syracuse is also coming off a bye week. QB Garrett Shrader is in his 3rd year leading the Orange and a capable dual threat QB. He threw for 236 yards and ran for 174 with 5 total touchdowns the last time these two met in 2021.
The Tech offense has also scored 30 or more points in 3 of their 4 home games. They scored 30 against Wake Forest their last home game and 38 against Pitt the Home game prior. They even managed to score 17 @ FSU which doesn't sound like much but huge talent gap there. Besides their last 3 weeks they haven't faced an FBS opponent ranked higher than 76nd in points per game.
Neither of these two teams can compete with the best in College Football but they're much more evenly matched against each other and have playmakers at the QB position. V-Tech QB Kyron Drones has started each of the Hokies last 5 games (back-up weeks 1 and 2) and ran the ball at least 15 times in every game. He has 10 touchdowns with just 1 interception thrown so far this season. Shrader's thrown 42 career TD passes and ran for 35. There's aren't some elite defenses they're up against. These two should be able to make plays to push this over 47.
