Syracuse Orange vs. Miami Hurricanes Odds, College Football Betting Pick

The Syracuse Orange are suddenly a hot item, with a hot quarterback, coming off an upset of the defending national champions and riding a 4-0-1 run against the spread. Can they avoid a letdown when they head down to Miami to take on the undefeated Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon?

College football point spread: The Hurricanes opened as 14.5-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. (Line updates and matchup report)

College football betting pick, via OddsShark computer: 44.4-20.0 Hurricanes (College football picks on every game)

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Why the Syracuse Orange can cover the spread

The Orange own a two-game winning streak after upsetting Clemson last Friday 27-24. Syracuse drove the opening possession of the game 72 yards to a touchdown and never trailed from there.

Kicker Cole Murphy broke a 24-24 tie with a field goal early in the fourth quarter, and the Orange defense then made a stop on a fake field goal. The offense then ran the last six-plus minutes off the clock to secure the outright victory as 24-point home dogs.

On the night, Syracuse outgained the Tigers 440-317 and won time of possession by a 35-25 split. Junior quarterback Eric Dungey threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 61 yards. Meanwhile the Orange defense stymied Clemson to a two-for-12 performance on third-down and fourth-down conversions.

Syracuse might have had an easier time with the Tigers if not for a fumble returned for a Clemson touchdown in the second quarter.

Two weeks ago, the Orange held another 35-25 time-of-possession advantage as they beat Pitt by the exact same score.

Why the Miami Hurricanes can cover the spread

The Hurricanes ran their winning streak to 10 games last week with a come-from-behind 25-24 victory over Georgia Tech. Miami took an early 3-0 lead, fell down to the Yellow Jackets 24-13 in the third quarter, but ended the game with a 12-0 run, with the last three points coming on Michael Badgley's fourth field goal of the game with four seconds left.

On the day, the Hurricanes outgained Georgia Tech 481-281. But the biggest play came when wide receiver Darrell Langham, who caught the game-winning touchdown two weeks ago against Florida State, caught a fourth-down pass off a carom for a first down to keep the final drive alive.

Miami might not have needed the late-game heroics had it not given up a touchdown on an onside kick. Nonetheless, the Hurricanes are now 6-0 SU and 4-2 ATS in quarterback Malik Rosier's six career starts.

Smart pick

Syracuse is almost certain to suffer a letdown to some degree, but it has enough to keep things close. Also, early line movement indicated little faith in the Orange, but it's never a bad idea to bet against the flow.

Meanwhile, Miami may be 5-0, but it isn't exactly blowing opponents out. Smart money here takes the points at online gambling sites.

College football betting trends

Syracuse is 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS in its last five games against Miami.

The total has gone under in three of Syracuse's last four games against Miami.

Miami is 1-5 ATS in its last six games in October.

All college football odds and betting trends courtesy of Bleacher Report’s official odds partner, OddsShark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line-movement updates and the OddsShark YouTube page for picks and analysis, or download the free odds tracker app.