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Purdue opened as a -2 road favorite versus Syracuse. The line moved down to Purdue -1 by 3 pm ET Sunday.
Sagarin Week 3 power ratings had Purdue at 78.57 (a big 5 point jump from 73.72 last week) and Syracuse at 76.23 (an even bigger improvement off the 70.78). With home field advantage of 2.43 tacked on, we get a number of 0.09 leaning towards the Orange. The wrong team appears to be favored.
Purdue lost its Week 1 game against Penn State, 35-31, but shut out and blew out Indiana State in Week 2, 56-0.
Charlie Jones caught nine passes for 133 yards in his second straight 100-yard game since transferring to Purdue from Iowa while Aiden O'Connell went 17 of 19 for 211 yards and four scores. Jones now moves past Scott Campbell for sixth on Purdue's list for passing touchdowns.
Despite the close loss to Penn State, Jones and O'Connell have proven to be a dangerous duo, connecting 21 times for 286 yards and four scores this season.
"I came here, obviously, for the offense and I like what I'm seeing so far," said Jones. "Definitely, it was a good move."
As for Syracuse, the Orange managed to romp over UConn for a 48-14 win. It was the Orange's Week 1 upset victory against Louisville that had people talking. This was the same Louisville team that handed UCF a rare home loss Friday night. So it's not as if the Cardinals aren't any good.
Syracuse has a new look offense and a solid defense. The Orange finished 5-7 last year and closed the season with three straight lopsided losses to miss the postseason. But the entire team was overhauled during the offseason with offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck hired.
“I think right now they’ve given themselves an opportunity to be something," coach Dino Babers said of his team. ”They don’t know what that something is yet. But right now they don’t have a blemish on their record.”
The Boilermakers are 16-6-2 Against The Spread in their last 24 road games vs. a team with a winning home record while the Orange are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 7-1 Against The Spread in their last 8 games following an ATS win.
Syracuse is just 1-5 against Big Ten teams while Purdue is 8-8 versus ACC teams. Neither of these teams have faced one another recently.
Syracuse as a home favorite since 2017 have gone 11-2 Straight Up but they open as a home dog here. They are 11-32 SU as a dog since 2017 (25.6%).
Purdue does come into this game with a disadvantage, however. They will be without their top defensive playmaker – Jalen Graham.
He suffered a tibia impact fracture against the Nittany Lions in Game 1 and will be sidelined for approximately four weeks.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
