Pittsburgh at West Virginia College Football Odds

Written November 24, 2009 by Kyle Hunter

It’s known as the Backyard Brawl because of the relatively close proximity between West Virginia and Pittsburgh. Every year this game is a knock down drag out battle, but this year it has increased importance in the Big East race. The Pitt Panthers are #9 in the country and unbeaten in Big East coming into this game, while West Virginia is 7-3 and coming off a tough loss at Cincinnati. No doubt the Mountaineers will give their best effort in this one, so the Panthers better be ready! Get an extra $100 matching bonus to bet on football when you sign up for an account at Bodog and deposit $100 or more.

The Pittsburgh Panthers have been one of the biggest surprises of this college football season. The football predictionsfrom preseason magazines didn’t even have the Panthers in the top 25, let alone in the top 10. On the offensive side of the football there are two direct reasons for the extreme amount of success they have had. The first is the emergence of tailback Dion Lewis as a star. Lewis has 1,291 yards rushing and averages 5.8 yards per carry. Lewis even has his name in the Heisman race now because of his consistently great performances. At quarterback Bill Stull has matured and has turned into a very good player. Stull has thrown 18 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions and is completing 66% of his passes. The Panthers defense is much improved from a year ago. The defense is allowing just 315 yards and 17.6 points per game this year. The Panthers have great balance on both offense and defense, which has propelled them to their 9-1 record on the season.

West Virginia has lost twice in conference play, and both times it was on the road. On the season the Mountaineers are 6-0 at home. Jarrett Brown has done a solid job at quarterback for West Virginia, completing 65% of his passes and running the ball effectively quite often as well. The game breaker for West Virginia is running back Noel Devine. Devine has amazing quickness and can break one and go the distance at almost any time. Devine has 10 touchdowns and is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. At the receiver spot Jock Sanders is the big play maker who Brown looks for early and often. The Mountaineers defense has been pretty good this year, allowing 21 points per game. A concerning fact though is the Mountaineer run defense has allowed 202 yards on the ground on average in the last 3 games.

The college football betting lines show Pittsburgh as a 1 point favorite in this year’s Backyard Brawl. I think very accurately the odds makers understand that anything can happen in this game, especially since it is being played at West Virginia. When making your college football picks for this game remember that Pitt does have a 10-4 against the spread record in their last 14 road games, but rivalry games can be tough to handicap.

This game is likely to be won by the team that can run the ball effectively throughout the game. If West Virginia’s run defense doesn’t clamp down, Lewis may have a huge game. On the other hand, Noel Devine could break some huge runs if Pitt doesn’t contain him well. This one should be a very entertaining game of football!

I am now 12-3 in the last two weeks on my college football plays after going 6-1 the prior weekend and then 6-2 this past weekend. This weekend I’ll have a full slate of post-Thanksgiving plays again. Check out the premium packages and remember these packages are all guaranteed.

Filed Under: College Football
Tags: college football odds, Pittsburgh Panthers, West Virginia Mountaineers

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