West Virginia Mountaineers vs. South Florida Bulls 8:00 ET
College football betting heads to Raymond James Stadium, where Big East bragging rights will be on the line Friday night. The West Virginia Mountaineers (6-1, 2-4 ATS) will get it on with the South Florida Bulls (5-2, 3-3 ATS). South Florida badly needs a victory to stay alive in the Big East race, while the Mountaineers still control their own destiny in the chase for the Orange Bowl.
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Team Records:
West Virginia: 6-1 SU, 2-4 ATS
South Florida: 5-2 SU, 2-3 ATS
The Mountaineers had a lot of things going against them at home on Saturday afternoon, as they had to deal with an emotionally charged Connecticut team. Still, RB Noel Devine had all of the answers for a good UConn defense. He rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown, showing flashes of his predecessor, Steve Slaton.
HC Bill Stewart had to be concerned with the play of his defense, which gave up 501 yards of offense to the Huskies. It was an unusually bad game for a ‘D’ which still ranks ninth in the country against the run (86.3 yards per game) and 36th in total defense (322.6 yards per game). There’s still a big question about the quality of opponents that the Mountaineers have taken on this year, as there could only be a pair of legitimate bowl teams on the schedule so far.
The illusions that the Bulls used to get to 5-0 and in the Top-25 are starting to fade. They used smoke and mirrors to hide the weaknesses in the passing game, but over the L/2 weeks, freshman QB BJ Daniels has been exposed. Teams have wised up to what HC Jim Leavitt is trying to accomplish with his ‘O’. Daniels has very little touch, and he frequently just tries to chuck it deep. It worked against Florida State and Syracuse, but against the Bearcats and Panthers, he has completed less than 50% of his passes for just 262 yards and one touchdown against four picks.
It should come as no surprise that the Bulls are 0-2 SU and ATS in their L/2 games. The defense hasn’t done South Florida any favors either. After allowing just 27 points in the first four weeks of the season, the Bulls have given up an average of 31.7 points per game since then.
Over the L/3 seasons, the Bulls have been the dominant team in this series. They are 3-0 ATS and 2-1 SU against the Mountaineers. In 2008, WVU won an ugly 13-7 decision in spite of the fact that it only rolled up 287 yards of offense for the game. USF is just 3-11 ATS in its L/14 games against teams with a winning record, but West Virginia isn’t any better in the same situation, going 1-7 ATS in its L/8 against teams with a better than .500 record.
The Mountaineers have been lined as three-point road favorites over the Bulls in this one, while the oddsmakers have put the ‘total’ at 47.5.
