The Syracuse Orange meet the Albany Great Danes Saturday in week 3 college football action from the Carrier Dome. Albany is coming off a week two game versus Rhode Island. In that one, the Danes took a tough two-point defeat. As for the Orange, they played Rutgers in their last game. Syracuse fell by 10 points. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Albany didn’t have much luck against North Dakota State in their first game of the 2021 season, falling 28-6 and only scoring in one quarter. QB Jeff Undercuffler put up 183 yards with one TD and two picks, while Karl Mofor led an ineffective rush attack with 21 yards on 11 totes.
In their week two matchup against Rhode Island, Albany fell in a tough loss 16-14. Danes quarterback Jeff Undercuffler put up 166 yards and a TD on 19-of-35 passing, and Karl Mofor managed 75 yards and a score on 26 carries to lead the ground game.
Over on the Syracuse side, they took a big win over Ohio in their opener this year, nabbing the victory 29-9 after a 12-6 first half. Orange quarterback Tommy Devito passed for 92 yards, and Sean Tucker put up 181 yards with a TD on 25 carries.
As for the second game versus Rutgers, Syracuse couldn’t get much going in a 17-7 defeat. QB Tommy DeVito managed 149 yards and an interception. Sean Tucker led the rushers with 54 yards and a score from 13 carries, and Taj Harris had eight grabs for 122 yards.
PICK: I’m probably going to stick with Syracuse. Had the Orange avoided a few mistakes during their week two game, we’d have seen a victory. Syracuse gave up three turnovers in that one and weren’t very efficient on third down, going 2-of-14. The paltry 67 rushing yards didn’t help either.
As for Albany, they had a late lead but couldn’t hang on in the fourth quarter. The Danes had a pretty well-balanced offense going in week two, there just wasn’t much output to be had. I think Albany can hang around for a while here before the Orange pull away on a cover.