Syracuse vs. UConn: Huskies open as touchdown favorite over Orange

The Syracuse Orange have been through two butt-kickings in the last two weeks. This week, however, they get the chance to take on an opponent more on their level. Unfortunately, Vegas isn’t convinced that SU has it in them to beat the Connecticut Huskies on the road and have installed UConn as a 7-point favorite.

UConn (2-1) opened the season with a close win over Maine and followed it up with a close loss to Navy. This past weekend, the Huskies picked up a win over ACC squad Virginia thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback.

The Orange (1-2) have a win over Colgate but have been beaten up in consecutive weeks by high-powered offenses led by dual threat quarterbacks. The Louisville beating doesn’t seem quite as bad after watching the Cardinals do the same thing to FSU but the USF win felt like a confirmation that the Orange have a long season ahead.

A big part of that is the defense, which is currently ranked among the worst in the nation in various categories. Not only that but they’ve been decimated by injuries in the secondary, making it seem all the more unlikely they’ll be able to improve in the interim.

All of that said, the Orange have to consider this game one of the most-winnable left on the schedule. If SU has any chance of getting their record into a reasonable place they need a win here. UConn’s offense is pretty unspectacular so if the defense was going to be able to turn things around, at least for one week, this is the time to do it.