Free Pick | Thursday | NCAA | Oct. 24

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#112 Pittsburgh -5.5 over Syracuse 6:30 PM CT

Syracuse snapped a five-game slide in this series last season when these teams played at Yankee Stadium, with four turnovers from the Panthers helping the cause. Pittsburgh is 6-0 this season but only two wins have come in ACC play. After an outlier 2023 season with a losing record, Pat Narduzzi’s team has its typically excellent run defense back with Pittsburgh allowing just 3.0 yards per rush on the season, including just 3.3 yards per rush allowed over the past three games. The offense has also shown considerable potential under the new offensive coordinator Kade Bell. The Panthers have 4.9 yards per rush while freshman quarterback Eli Holstein has already thrown 15 touchdown passes. His worst game was his last one with a narrow escape in a low-scoring game with California, but he has decent mobility and has displayed consistency despite his limited experience. Syracuse played a less impressive schedule to get to 5-1 and a few close calls easily could have swung the other way. Georgia Tech and Stanford have lost some quality with the big season opening win that boosted the Yellow Jackets now a worthless result vs. a 1-6 Florida State team. The loss to Stanford hasn’t aged well for the Orange while last week’s win came narrowly vs. a struggling NC State team, even with a 3-0 turnover advantage. The best win of the season was the Friday prime time win over UNLV early in October but that was a fortunate overtime escape in a back-and-forth game. The Orange haven’t played since October 12, but this will be a third consecutive road game and Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord has five interceptions while taking nine sacks in the past four games. Syracuse has gained just 3.6 yards per rush on the season and just 2.9 over the past three games while facing an FCS team, a MWC team, and one of the worst teams in the ACC. Pittsburgh has better numbers on both sides of the ball and while many may be looking to go-against the Panthers at some point with a somewhat suspect 6-0 start, this isn’t likely the right matchup to try to beat Pittsburgh.