The Syracuse Orangemen (not Orange, as a Syracuse grad I’m grandfathered, no matter what strings puppet master Nike pulls in the athletic department) pulled off the biggest pointspread upset in modern college football history on Saturday. Syracuse did everything they could to give the game away in the final six minutes, as two fumbles by otherwise flawless QB Andrew Robinson (4 TD passes, no interceptions, 16.2 yards per attempt) led to Louisville TD, but when the clock finally ran out in nearly empty Papa John’s Stadium, Syracuse had the improbable win.

The most common number on this game was Louisville –37½, though the Golden Nugget and Hilton closed 38 and Pinnacle had it at 38½ Saturday morning. No favorite of more than 36 points had ever lost a game before. The previous largest pointspread upset was a win by 36-point underdog Oregon State over Washington in 1985.

Though this is the largest pointspread upset, it isn’t the most surprising upset. We’ll still have to give that to 0-6 Temple’s win over 5-0 Virginia Tech as 35-point dogs in 1998. Doing a little oddsmaker math, the total in that game probably hovered around 41, suggesting a projected 38-3 result for the Hokies, so Virginia Tech was expected to score 92.6% of the points in that game. With a total of 65, Louisville was expected to win by about 51-14 on Saturday, so they were expected to score 78.4% of the games points. The higher pointspread was the result of higher expected scoring, not necessarily a higher likelihood that they would win the game outright.

Louisville was decidedly more susceptible to an upset by a bad team than that Virginia Tech team was. Tech entered the ’98 Temple game at 5-0, outscoring a tough schedule 146-30. Remember just a couple of weeks ago the Cardinals permitted a Middle Tennessee State team with only 7 healthy offensive linemen (3 starters injured) to score 35 points in the first half, though the Cards eventually won the game. And MTSU fell to 0-4 with a loss to Western Kentucky this week. The ‘ville entered Saturday’s game as the 92nd ranked defense in 1-A, allowing opponents 428 yards per game. Five Louisville defenders have been drafted the past two years, and defensive talent is clearly at a low ebb. It certainly is no surprise that the Cards would have trouble getting off the mat after a gutbusting loss to Kentucky the previous week. So Louisville hardly has the resume that leaves one absolutely floored that they would lose a game.

But clearly this was a monumental upset for a Syracuse team who, along with Temple was the only team in 1-A to average less than 270 yards of offense in each of the past two years. Syracuse then started 0-3 this season, getting sandblasted by three teams that had losing records last year by an average of 39-11 on average yardage of 453-199.

Historical note for Syracuse fans: SU was a 24-point dog when they shocked Nebraska 17-9 at the Carrier Dome in 1984.

Tough day for Ralph Friedgen. Maryland people quietly believed that they were poised for a big season, but their conference opener was a disaster. With less than 90 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter, the Terps had the ball on the Wake 3 with a 24-3 lead. Jordan Steffy proceeded to have an interception returned the length of the field for a TD and Wake Forest somehow stormed back to win 31-24 in overtime. From the start of the 4th quarter until the end of overtime, Maryland had 1 yard of offense. Steffy was horrible down the stretch, both in execution and making decisions. Throughout his career Friedgen has been a master at developing quarterbacks. His inability to do so the last few years is baffling.

Favorites and dogs split pretty equally this weekend, with favorites going 25-23. Overs were marginally profitable heading into the weekend and crushed, going 33-15. Reports of the Pac Ten’s defensive resurgence appear to be exaggerated, as that loop went 4-1 to the over. Pac Ten games had point totals of 61 (which snuck under in the USC/Wazzou game), 72, 75, 76, and 86. All five Pac Ten favorites covered, meaning that favorites and overs combined to go 9-1. Saturday was a square’s dream out west.

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Check back on Monday for some NFL notes. Have a great Sunday.