The Mountaineers enter Death Valley on Saturday knowing a win over LSU would be a huge boost to the Big East’s reputation.
Last man standing The Big East entered 2010 with little hope of its teams challenging for the BCS title, but no-one in the conference could have foreseen its awful start to the season. West Virginia and Rutgers are the only undefeated teams left standing with the Mountaineers holding the Big East’s lone win over BCS conference opposition. That 31-17 win over Maryland helped to gloss over WVU’s shocking performance at Marshall, where a big comeback and overtime was required to pick up the win.
Now West Virginia travels to Baton Rouge where the Tigers lie in wait. LSU has picked up wins over North Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State to start the season. A fourth straight win over BCS caliber opposition could push the Tigers into the top 10. Offensively the Tigers have been ordinary, with a solid but unthreatening ground game and a similar scenario through the air. Defensively LSU presents a much greater threat. On Saturday the Tigers forced 5 turnovers against Mississippi State and I expect the defense to keep up that tempo when the Mountaineers come to town.
College Football betting fans shouldn’t expect anything spectacular from Jordan Jefferson but he will do enough under center to ensure a win for the Tigers. Bet on LSU as -8.5 favorites with Sports Interaction.
No repeat of the rout The UCLA Bruins haven’t faced Texas on the road since 1997 but Longhorns fans remember that game all too well. In what became known as Rout 66, the Bruins stomped Texas 66-3. Don’t expect a repeat this Saturday. The Longhorns defense carried Texas to victory at Texas Tech last week. We should see a repeat performance this week as the Bruins offense is a big concern, particularly with the line showing a notable lack of maturity.
As -15.5 favorites with Sports Interaction, there will be some pressure on Texas’ offense to finally deliver. While the Bruins looked shabby against Kansas State and Stanford, both teams have offenses that are clicking. The Bruins home win over Houston last week showed they can be competitive when an opposing offense isn’t firing on all cylinders. Garrett Gilbert hasn’t won over too many fans with his early season displays and I don’t expect a step forward this week. With a margin this big, bet against Texas covering. The Longhorns will win but they will make hard work of this game.
