The Syracuse Orange face the Stony Brook Seawolves Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome (4 p.m. ET on SNY), and the non-conference contest that will feature SU has a 22 1/2-point favorite according to Oddshark. The point spread was listed just a few hours before kickoff.
The showdown should be a high-scoring affair as both programs enter the contest with top-ranked offenses in its respective levels. Currently, Syracuse is ranked third in the nation in passing offense (402 yards per game) and has the No. 1 ranked total offense in the Big East Conference, while Stony Brook has the first-ranked offense in the FCS (591 ypg).
The Seawolves will attack the Orange with a ball-control rushing attack featuring running backs, senior Miguel Maysonet and junior Marcus Coker. Senior quarterback Kyle Essington will be asked to throw the ball in timely situations, while on the other side of the field Orange senior quarterback Ryan Nassib will try to gash a defense that is made up of a young defensive line mixed with an experienced linebacking corps and secondary.
Prediction
If there rushing attack is working well, the Seawolves could hang in this one until the fourth quarter. But the Syracuse offense has been very good in its first two games against the Northwestern Wildcats and N.-2 ranked USC Trojans. That trend should continue against a Stony Brook defense which features solid players but not many of the FBS caliber.
Final score: Syracuse 35, Stony Brook 21.
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