CFB - West Virginia at Cincinnati
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2007-11-19
Two teams still in the hunt for the Big East title and BCS berth battle when Cincinnati hosts West Virginia. The Bearcats come off a win at home against UConn and will be looking to spoil the hopes of another contender while boosting their own.
They have been tough at home, going 4-1 SU & ATS, yielding just 10.2 PPG. However, the host in this series has failed to cover in any of the last four games. For the Mountaineers, fate is right where they wanted it, in their own hands. They’ll follow this game up with a home date against Connecticut. The Big East road has been kind to WVU the L3 seasons, 10-2 SU & ATS.
Sometimes no matter what you do, people are just going to be unhappy. West Virginia lost three offensive linemen from last season, including Rimington Award winner Dan Mozes at center. The offensive totals over 470 yards, of which just a shade under 300 comes by way of the ground and fans still aren’t content with over 40 points of offensive being enough. Coach Rich Rodriguez bristles at such talk. "They're pretty good," Rodriguez said. "If you look back, we're averaging more yards and more points than last year. If that's the case, where's the problem?"
Cincinnati has been a wonderful story in the Big East and is having a direct affect on the outcome of the conference. They could make another statement about where the program is heading under first year coach Brian Kelley who is pugnacious. The Bearcats are second in the league in rush defense and in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense. Cincinnati is a ball-hawking bunch, ranking third natioanlly in turnover margin. Transfer QB Ben Mauk has run Kelley’s offense expertly.
Key Trend – West Virginia is 13-1 straight up versus Cincinnati (5-2-2 ATS).
If the Bearcats can neuter the Mountaineers running game and force a few miscues, they will have great shot to pull shocking upset. Bearcats are 9-4-1 ATS in last contest at Nippert Stadium, with one of the losses a 38-0 blowout to the ‘Teers two years ago. Prediction – West Virginia by 6