College Football 9/5/09
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big 10)-Syracuse Orange (Big East)
By Mark • Saturday, September 5th, 2009 12 PM EST
Syracuse (0-0) vs Minnesota (0-0)
Line-Minnesota -6
These two teams haven't met since 1996 so there's no real history between them, no grudge or dislike that would make this a more entertaining game. Syracuse has had some competitive teams in the past but this current squad certainly hasn't been one of them in what has primarily been a basketball school. Syracuse didn't have a whole lot going for them in 2008 offensively as the Orange only managed 270 yards a game which barely kept them out of the cellar in the national rankings. Syracuse had a decent rushing attack but little else and a running game is good to have if you have the lead which was a rare occurrence. Cameron Dantley led the passing attack with 1,300 yards, but was largely ineffective with a completion percentage that hovered around 50% with a little more than a 5 yard per attempt average. Not great numbers for a team playing from behind and forced to play catch up through the air. Just not happening and didn't happen last year by the looks of that 3-9 record. Giving up 33 points a game surely didn't help with an offense that could muster only 18 per outing.
Minnesota's play last season was unspectacular and just as perplexing. The Gophers could look completive one week and seemingly didn't have a clue the next and their night/day performances were independent of the competition. If Minnesota did anything right it was letting quarterback Adam Weber (2,700 passing yards) and WR Eric Decker (1,100 rec. yards) play catch. This was their offense in a nutshell as the Golden Gophers did little else to make much of a difference. Their ‘D' was what I would describe as being plain vanilla allowing 25 ppg and didn't give opposing offensive coordinators nightmares. Minny started the season 4-0 but truth be told, it wasn't a daunting schedule they faced and the Gophers quickly came back to earth once the conference schedule began going 3-5 to close the season.
The Golden Gophers have 9 players on offense and 8 on defense returning from 2008, while the Orange have 7 players returning on each side of the ball. Minnesota was 7-5 ATS but was a sparkling 5-1 on the road against the number. Syracuse was 5-6 overall against the spread and fared no better at home going 2-3 ATS. On paper it looks like Minnesota might have the advantage over an Orange team whose best player is a DB/KR in Mike Holmes, but being the better team on paper has not meant much to the Gophers on the field. Minnesota needs to start the year with a win because their schedule is more difficult to start this year than in 2008 and perhaps a sense of urgency will get them motivated.
Marks Pick: Minnesota -6
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
.gif&AffUrlID=768)
