South Florida Bulls at West Virginia Mountaineers
Thursday, 10/14/10, 7:30 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: West Virginia -12
Current Betting Line: West Virginia -10
Opening Total: 43
Current Total: 44
Current Moneyline: West Virginia -410/USF +340
South Florida returns to action on Thursday and travels to Morgantown to take on West Virginia in front of a nationally-televised audience. The Bulls are coming off a 13-9 loss to Syracuse in their Big East opener. “This is going to be one of the better football games we’re going to play, especially on the road on a Thursday night,” first-year head coach Skip Holtz said. “They’re throwing the ball better than they ever have. They are adding a dimension to their offense they have not had over the last four or five years.” Since joining the Big East, South Florida is 1-1 in Morgantown, losing the 2008 matchup, 13-7, while winning in 2006 by a 24-19 score. The squad is 6-9 ATS versus conference opponents over the last three years and the total is 8-7 Over/Under in those contests. The current college football odds see the Mountaineers as 10 point home favorites with a total of 44.
The Bulls better get acclimated quickly to a mid-week schedule, as the team doesn’t play another Saturday contest until November 13. South Florida will need to spend a good amount of time on the practice field working on pass protection, giving up eight sacks in the last two games, after surrendering only four in the first three games combined. Luckily, quarterback B.J. Daniels has some escapability and has 960 career yards on the ground in a season-and-a-half. The team ranks fourth in the Big East in running the football, averaging 176.2 yards per game, but will be up against a West Virginia stop unit that ranks second in the conference in stopping the run (86.8 ypg). USF is 0-4 ATS in its last four games on Thursday night.
West Virginia is coming off a lopsided 49-10 home win over UNLV last week that pushed the program back into the rankings. The Mountaineers are fully aware of how dangerous this week’s opponent is, knocking them off in both 2006 and 2007 while they were ranked in the Top 10. “We’ve got a lot on our hands,” head coach Bill Stewart said. “They’ve whipped us the last couple of games.” The team comes in wit ha 127-103-7 all-time record against current members of the Big East Conference and is 44-20-1 in league home games since it was created in 1991. WVU enjoys a great home-field advantage in Morgantown, posting a 139-49-4 all-time record at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. The team is 6-8 ATS at home and the total is 7-7 O/U in those games.
The Mountaineers scored the most points in the Stewart-era against the Rebels and much of that is attributed to the passing attack. Deep threat wide receiver Bradley Starts scored three touchdowns in his return to the football field after being injured for most of the year and held without a catch. On the other side of the ball, West Virginia has allowed the fewest first downs in the nation this year (61), but will have to game plan in stopping Daniels. “Last year he was a thorn in our side,” Steward recalled. “They match up with us, for whatever reason.” He ran for 104 yards and threw for 232 in last year’s contest.
Bettors will find that the Bulls are 0-5 ATS in their last five Thursday games and the total is 4-1 O/U when they are on the road. West Virginia is a dismal 3-7 ATS as a favorite and 1-6 ATS at home when favored by 10.5 points or more. Maddux Sports has released 2 Thursday college football picks on tonights card. Get these winners by visiting our winning college football picks page of the website.
