Syracuse beat No. 19 SMU 30-27 on Saturday when Steve Angeli hit Noah Meyers for a 2-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left. Great for the Orange. Not great for me, because I had SMU -9.5.
Here’s how it got away. SMU scored 10 straight in the fourth quarter, a safety and a Kendrick Raphael touchdown run plus a two-point conversion, to take a 27-20 lead with 9:04 to play. Syracuse kicked a field goal to make it 27-23, forced a three-and-out, then went 68 yards in 11 plays for the winner. SMU’s last-gasp play ended in a fumble Syracuse recovered as time ran out.
Kevin Jennings did his part: 29 of 36 for 351 yards and two touchdowns. Didn’t matter. Syracuse (4-4) took down a ranked team, and SMU (6-2) took my pick with it. I’ll be fine. Eventually.
How our early picks did
- ✅ Texas Tech -4 vs. No. 22 Arizona: Texas Tech 34, Arizona 26. Noah Fifita threw for 417 yards and the Red Raiders still covered, because J’Koby Williams went 64 yards for a touchdown with 2:05 left. He finished with 175 rushing yards. That’s the cover. 🙌
- ✅ Duke -7.5 vs. Boston College: Duke 47, Boston College 2. Nate Sheppard ran for five touchdowns. Five. This one was over by halftime.
- ❌ SMU -9.5 at Syracuse: Syracuse 30, SMU 27. Didn’t cover, didn’t win. Somebody check on me.
That’s 2-1 in the early window. Still on the board: the Fade, Indiana -19.5 vs. Minnesota; the Bama Hat Guarantee, Utah -6.5 at Cincinnati; and No. 2 Ohio State -7 at USC tonight. All the picks and the reasoning are in what we’re watching Saturday, and the head-to-head with the betting public is in Fading the Crowd.
Scores and stats from ESPN. Lines are ours, as of when the column was written.
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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
