No. 2 LSU Tigers at No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers
Saturday, 9/24/11, 8:00 PM EST, TV: ABC
Opening Point Spread: LSU -6
Current Betting Line: LSU -5.5
Opening Total: 51
Current Total: 49.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
LSU comes into Morgantown with a perfect 3-0 record and knows the host is going to be seeking revenge from a contest played inside Tiger Stadium last year. The Tigers came away with a 20-14 win as 9.5-point home favorites and will now be putting the nation’s longest non-conference regular season win streak on the line. The last time the program lost to a team outside of the SEC during regular season play was in 2002, dropping a 26-8 contest to Virginia Tech in the season opener. Head coach Les Miles also knows how to prepare his troops for ranked competition, posting a 25-13 record during his time in the Bayou. LSU is 8-10 ATS as a favorite over the last two-plus seasons.
The Tigers have one of the more ferocious defensive units in all of college football, coming in as the No. 3 unit agains the run and No. 6 in total defense. Offensively, the team is averaging 36 points a game and 344.7 total yards a contest. LSU had a big question mark coming into the season opener with the suspension of quarterback Jordan Jefferson, but senior Jarrett Lee has stepped up his play. He has completed 67.8 percent of his passes for 444 yards and three scores. Fans are still wary of his 9-4 career record as a starter.
West Virginia definitely moves up in class in terms of competition Saturday, but will remain confident due to winning 16 of its last 17 games in Morgantown. First-year head coach Dana Holgorson has done a nice job familiarizing his team with his game plan, including picking up a 37-31 win over Maryland as one-point road favorites last week. Quarterback Geno Smith has really taken to the system and enters off a career-high 388 passing yards. West Virginia is 5-1 ATS as an underdog, but is 6-8 ATS at home over the last two-plus campaigns.
The Mountaineers shouldn’t be overlooked in this contest due to playing in the Big East, as the program has won 63 of its last 80 games. West Virginia has played a few prime-time games in its program’s history, posting a 25-6-2 record all-time in night games in front of the home fans, including an 18-2 mark since 2000. This squad also has its own non-conference win streak to put on the line, as its captured 18-straight home games in the situation. Something has to give Saturday night on ABC.
Bettors will likely back the Mountaineers due to their 8-2 ATS record versus winning teams, while the Tigers are 2-5 ATS as a road favorite.
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