Week 1: Mountaineers vs Crimson Tide Lines
College Football Week 1 betting action sees the West Virginia Mountaineers taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday August 30th at the Georgia Dome. Cappers Picks provides free College football handicapping tips all season long.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s second-ranked Crimson Tide will aim to put a disappointing end to the 2013 season behind them when they open up a new year by playing West Virginia in Georgia on Saturday.
NCAA Football Spreads
When: Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. EST
Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: ABC/ESPN2
College Football LINE: -26.5 (Alabama)
College Football O/U 55.5
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Alabama
The Tide enter the 2014 season as one of the favorites to win it all again, and they will no doubt be hungry to get off to a good start after dropping their final two games of their 2013 campaign.
Alabama (2013: 11-2) was on the verge of another trip to the National Championship game, but it all came undone when they were beaten by Auburn in the 2013 regular-season finale. Saban’s boys would have to settle for a trip to the Sugar Bowl instead, where they would eventually fall to Oklahoma.
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Nevertheless, the new season brings new hope and a new quarterback, as Saban lost starting quarterback A.J. McCarron to the NFL in the offseason. However, Saban must still decide if he will go with senior Blake Sims or junior Jake Coker under center for the opener.
Meanwhile, everywhere else, the Tide are pretty much the same team a year ago, with returning wide re-ceiver Amari Cooper and a trio of running backs, which includes last season’s leading rusher T.J. Yeldon, thundering Derrick Henry and speedster Kenyan Drake.
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But it will be Bama’s defense that will perhaps carry the load this season, as it remains among the top de-fensive teams in the country. Defensively, they will return guys such as Landon Collins, Trey DePriest and Denzel Devall, and that could wreak havoc on a West Virginia team that finished the 2013 with a 4-8 rec-ord.
West Virginia
In the meantime, the Mountaineers (2013: 4-8) return seven starters on both sides of the ball, and will hope that its new and improved running game, which is led by Wendell Smallwood and Rushel Shell, will make a big difference for a an offense that was 80th in the country in points scored during the 2013 season.
If the Mountaineers’ rushing attack can just improve on the 148 total yards it racked up last year, it will take some pressure off quarterback Clint Trickett, who passed for 1,600 yards and seven touchdowns be-fore being sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Defensively, the Mountaineers finished 100th in country last season, surrendering an average of 33.3 points per game in their second full season in the Big 12.
Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski will lead the unit that will be piloted by veteran coach Tom Bradley, formerly of Penn State, who was brought on to strengthen the Mountaineers’ defense.
College football betting trends
- Over is 9-1-1 in ALA last 11 neutral site games.
- Over is 6-2 in ALA last 8 games overall.
Week 1 NCAA Football Spread Prediction
No matter who starts under center for Alabama, the offense should have a field day against a smaller West Virginia defense.
I smell a blowout.
Score Prediction: Alabama 45, West Virginia 17
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