NCAA Football Picks – Syracuse Orange at Penn State

Syracuse Orange (0-1 SU, 1-0 ATS) at Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0 SU, 0-1 ATS)

Saturday, September 12- 12:00 p.m.

BetOnline Football Betting Odds: Penn State -28.5, Total 53.5

One Greg got Syracuse into this mess, and if you’re a fan of the Orange, you hope another Greg will get you out.

Doug Marrone is in as head coach at Syracuse, following in the footsteps of Greg Robinson. Robinson’s time in upstate New York equated to some of the worst seasons in school history, as the Orange went just 10-37 in his four years at the helm.

There are some bright spots for the new coach though, especially his new quarterback, Greg Paulus. The former high school All-American is at the helm of the Syracuse offense, after taking a four year sabbatical from football to play basketball at Duke. New coach and player may have their biggest challenge Saturday, when they go to Penn State.

The Nittany Lions started out their 2009 season much the way most of 2008 went, dominating Akron 31-7. Penn State scored all their points in the first half, cruising to another comfortable home victory.

It won’t be easy for the Orange on Saturday. But unlike last year’s 55-13 loss to Penn State, there’s at least a little hope.

The headline of Syracuse’s Week 1 loss was Paulus’ overtime interception which all but sealed an 0-1 start for the Orange. What the story should have been however, was that Syracuse was in the game at all. Remember, this was a team that went 3-9 in 2008 and was starting a quarterback who hadn’t seen live game action since the fall of 2005. Paulus is only going to get better with the more experience he gets. And their opponent- Minnesota- wasn’t too shabby a year ago either, posting a 7-6 record.

Looking at the loss, it’d be easy to say, “Well, that’s the same old Syracuse.” But look beyond that. Sure Minnesota had 360 yards of total offense, but the Orange did a very good job of limiting one of the Big 10’s best passers- Adam Weber- to just 19-42 in the pocket. And yes Weber threw for 248 yards, but realize also that half that yardage came on three long completions (passes of 31, 30 and 53 yards).

And as for Penn State, I’m still having a tough time wrapping my head around the idea that they’re a top 10 team. Yes they won Saturday, but they also didn’t score a single second half point, despite keeping their starters in until their last possession of the game. Now the question becomes was Penn State just trying to keep the clock moving, or did Akron actually figure them out?

Maybe I’m looking too much into it, but on surface, Syracuse looked much better in Week 1 than the final score might indicate, and Penn State a little worse. Take Paulus and the points. The Orange still don’t have enough to pull out a victory, but they’ll at least keep it close.

Aaron’s Pick: Syracuse + 28.5