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Pittsburgh at Rutgers Football Picks & Betting Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd

pitt rutgers 101309 The 5-1 Pittsburgh Panthers take on the 4-1 Rutgers Scarlet Knights under the Friday night lights at Rutgers Stadium in a Big East battle airing on ESPN. Rutgers has won four straight in this head-to-head series, but college football odds makers expect that streak to come to an end, listing Pittsburgh as the 3-point favorite.

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Pittsburgh comes into this week’s contest with plenty of momentum on its side after rallying to beat Connecticut last Saturday. The Panthers trailed the Huskies 21-6 with just 3:56 remaining in the third but rallied for a 24-21 victory. The Pitt offense, especially the passing game, continues to shine. QB Bill Stull came up big again last week, throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin continues to be Stull’s go-to guy and he finished with eight catches for 104 yards and a score. The big story last week, though, was freshman running back Dion Lewis, who finished with 158 yards on 24 carries. If Pitt can find the consistent running game they had a season ago, to go along with its much improved passing attack, this offense could be scary.

Another huge positive to take away from last week’s win is the defensive effort in the fourth quarter, limiting the Huskies to zero rushing yards. The defensive side of the football is where Pitt still needs most of its work, though. The Pitt defensive line was losing the battle to UConn’s offensive line through the first three quarters last week before turning it on. It is worth noting that the Panthers are 9-4 against the spread in their last 13 road games and the road team is 8-3 ATS in the last 11 meetings. If you like the Panthers to take care of business on the road, bet Pittsburgh at -3 at Sportsbook.com.

Rutgers followed up its bye week with an easy 42-0 win over Texas Southern, but the Scarlet Knights can’t forget what it’s like to play against a formidable opponent. The only good team the Scarlet Knights have played is Cincinnati and the Bearcats drilled them 15-47. That game was Rutgers’ season opener and head coach Greg Schiano confidently expressed that the conference hasn’t seen his team since that day. In other words, he expects a much better performance out of his team against Pitt this week. The good news is that QB Tom Savage is back. Last week’s contest with Texas Southern marked Savage’s first action since suffering a concussion against Florida International on September 19th. He was a solid 14 of 21 with one touchdown strike in his return. Rutgers’ running game has been strong this season, racking up over 200 yards in three contests, but the Knights are going to have to prove that they can run the football against better competition.

Rutgers could have the edge on the defensive side of the football, boasting a big play defense. Cornerback David Rowe was the latest defender to score, taking back an interception 56 yards for a touchdown last week. In all, the Knights have scored four defensive touchdowns in just five games.

The Knights are going to have to get to Stull in order to win this football game and that duty falls to end Jonathan Freeny. He is coming off a 2.5-sack performance last week. The line as a whole also held Texas Southern to negative 25 yards rushing. The defensive side of the football has shined the most for the Knights this season. It is also worth noting that the Scarlet Knights are 10-4 against the spread in their last 14 games as a home underdog and 25-10-1 against the spread in their last 36 games as an underdog overall. If you think the Scarlet Knights are a live dog Friday night, bet Rutgers at +3 at Sportsbook.com.

Score big with expert football picks Friday night from world champion handicapper Jimmy Boyd!

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