Week 9 College Football: Syracuse vs. Pitt

Our first Power Four game of Week 9 comes from the ACC and has the potential to be a very good one between Syracuse and Pitt, as a couple of old Big East rivals go at it. Speaking of the Big East, our 2024-25 College Basketball Guide is out Thursday, so give that a look after you get done checking out this football preview.

We also have some Sun Belt action between Georgia Southern and Old Dominion in what has the potential to be another entertaining game. We’ll look at the ACC tilt first and then the other one.

 

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For all of this week’s college football insights, refer to our College Football Week 9 Hub.

Syracuse Orange at Pitt Panthers (-6, 62)

7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Syracuse and Pitt both come into this game with some extra rest and prep. The Panthers are still holding on to an undefeated record, but they had a very close call against Cal back in Week 7. They had Week 8 off to work on some different things, which couldn’t have come at a better time after Eli Holstein only had 133 passing yards in that contest against the Golden Bears.

Syracuse gave one away at home against Stanford, otherwise we’d be talking about another 6-0 squad. Instead, they are 5-1, with wins over Georgia Tech and UNLV when they were ranked. They’ll try to make it 3-for-3 here in what will be their third straight road game.

Even though Syracuse has played two ranked opponents, these teams have faced two of the weaker strengths of schedule among ACC teams. Pitt’s close calls against Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Cal seem to stand out a little more in that context.

If we look only at conference play, Syracuse is outgaining Pitt on a per-play basis. The Panthers are a top-10 offense in yards per play, but they had 10.6 yards per play against Youngstown State and also pummeled some of their other non-con foes. In two conference games, they have 5.99 YPP to Syracuse’s 6.12 in three conference clashes.

The main difference between these two teams is that Syracuse has been objectively bad on defense regardless of opponent, while Pitt is a top-20 team in that regard as well. And they allowed 4.8 YPP to non-conference opponents and have given up 4.8 to conference ones also, so we don’t see a drastic difference.

The one-dimensional nature of Syracuse’s offense has been a surprise. Kyle McCord has thrown for at least 339 yards in each of the six games, but the ground game has only mustered 3.4 yards per carry overall. LeQuint Allen should cross 100 carries and 500 yards in this one with his 4.8 average, but the others who have touched the ball in that regard have not impressed.

Pitt has been a much more balanced unit, as Holstein has accounted for 18 total touchdowns and just under 2,000 yards of offense, with 266 yards as a runner.

All in all, I do expect this to be an entertaining game that could have some back-and-forth characteristics, especially with the two QBs. Pitt’s pass rush, which has been a hallmark under Pat Narduzzi, could be the difference with 18 sacks in five FBS games, but I do think McCord and the Orange will move the ball and I think they could’ve made some defensive adjustments with the extra time off.

Pick: Syracuse +6

Other Thursday Game

Georgia Southern Eagles at Old Dominion Monarchs (-2, 54): Georgia Southern comes in off of a very under-discussed upset win over James Madison. The Eagles are now 3-0 to open Sun Belt play. Old Dominion scored a nice upset of their own last week against Texas State, so this battle is actually for first place in the Sun Belt East Division. This is the only conference that still uses divisions.

The Monarchs have gotten a lift from Colton Joseph, who has taken over for Grant Wilson as a more creative option at QB. Joseph is already the second-leading rusher and leads the team in rush TD with five. He hasn’t been a great passer yet with 571 yards on a 54.7% completion rate, but he has done a better job of avoiding sacks and extending plays.

Georgia Southern is getting good play from JC French, but what stands out to me is the defense. They gave up 56 points to Boise State in Week 1 and 52 points to Ole Miss in Week 4, but they’ve been rather solid in their five victories, allowing just 5.3 YPP. They allowed 9.3 in their two losses.

Old Dominion is 2-1 in league action, but they’re getting outgained on a per-play basis (-0.25 YPP). Georgia Southern is +0.65 YPP in their conference games, and that includes that win over JMU, where they had a 150-yard edge and were still -4 in TO margin.

Pick: Georgia Southern +2

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