Purdue Football Opens as Slim Favorite in Road Matchup Against Syracuse

Purdue football will head to Syracuse as a one-point favorite in its first road matchup of the 2022 season. The team is coming off a 56-0 win over Indiana State.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Following a dominant 56-0 victory over Indiana State, Purdue football sits at 1-1 on the season. Its loss came at the hands of Penn State in the team's season opener. 

Both games took place in front of a home crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium, but the Boilermakers will be tested this week with their first road test of the season. The team will travel to Syracuse, N.Y. for a bout with the Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday. 

Syracuse — which boasts a 2-0 record after the first two weeks of the season — will have home-field advantage, but Purdue opened as a one-point favorite in the matchup, according to the SI Sportsbook. The over/under was set at 58.5 points. 

"We'll have our hands full, and it will be the first test for our team on the road," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said during his Monday press conference. "So we're going to have a good week of practice, prepare well. Syracuse does a lot of things on defense to give you problems. They'll give you a lot of different looks, a lot of athletes on the field, and challenge the offense to make plays and try to create mistakes."

Syracuse opened its season with a big win at home against Louisville, taking a 31-7 victory. The Orange was fueled by sophomore running back Sean Tucker, who registered 184 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. 

The team went on the road in Week 2 for a matchup with UConn, routing the Huskies 48-14 on the shoulders of five total touchdowns from junior quarterback Garrett Shrader. He was 20-of-23 for 287 yards and three scores through the air while also getting into the end zone twice with his legs. 

Shrader transferred to Syracuse from Mississippi State in the spring of 2021. He played in all 12 games for the team last season, completing 123 of his 234 passes for 1,444 yards and nine touchdowns with just four interceptions. 

"The quarterback really is fitting in well in what they're doing, taking care of the football, getting easy completions, finding ways to get on the outside," Brohm said of Shrader. "He's a good runner himself, so that creates problems when the quarterback is athletic and can throw and run." 

Purdue's road game with Syracuse is scheduled to kick off at noon ET on Saturday. The team will return home the following week for a matchup against Florida Atlantic inside Ross-Ade Stadium. 

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