Pittsburgh Panthers at South Florida Bulls Big East Betting Line & College Football Picks

The Pittsburgh Panthers take on the South Florida Bulls Thursday night on ESPN in a big time Big East matchup down in the Sunshine State. South Florida has played some close games early on but a 41-10 offensive explosion against North Carolina State has odds makers listing the Bulls as 13.5-point favorites. Jimmy Boyd takes a look at both sides of this matchup to help you with your college football handicapping.

USF was looking to make a statement after having trouble putting teams away and that it did last week. USF scored on five of its first six possessions to take a 31-10 halftime lead against the Wolf Pack last week and it never looked back. The Bulls are now out to a quick 5-0 start for the second straight season.

QB Matt Grothe 20 of 29 for 259 yards and a touchdown in the win. He also racked up 68 more yards on the ground.

While the offense makes the headlines, the defense gets the game ball last week. Without injured starters George Selvie, Terrell McClain, and Brouce Mompremier in the front seven, the Bulls were still able to limit the N.C. State offense to just 10 points and only 26 yards rushing on 27 carries. The Bulls were also able to come up with a rare pair of safeties.

While Grothe gets plenty of attention, running back Mike Ford is another guy you should hear plenty about in this game. Ford has been slowed by an ankle injury in the early going, but is getting healthy and it showed last week when he ran for 64 yards on just 11 totes and a touchdown. If you like the Bulls to run up the score again this week, bet South Florida at BetUS and receive up to a 50% signup bonus.

Pitt turned to its bread and butter, the running game, to outlast Syracuse 34-24 on the road last week. Running backs LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling racked up a combined 220 yards on the ground and two scores to improve to 3-1 on the season.

It was the type of game McCoy needed to get on track as the sophomore carried 28 times for 149 yards. As a freshman, McCoy rushed for 1,328 yards and 14 touchdowns but had yet to look as good as he did a season ago until last week when he turned in his first 100-yard performance of the season.

QB Bill Stull mixed in enough passes to keep the Syracuse defense honest. Stull was 17 of 29 for 166 yards and a touchdown. He may have to be relied on more against South Florida if the Bulls decide to stack the line of scrimmage to make Pitt beat them with the pass.

Pitt has done a good job of dictating the tempo thus far, playing its physical run-dominant brand of football. This type of football has been successful for Pitt, but it has not given the Panthers much breathing room in three straight wins. It will likely take another clock-eating performance to give the Panthers a chance this week.

Kicker Conor Lee will also have to be on his game again. Lee is heavily relied on scoring option in this coservative offense. Lee tied a school record by making four field goals against Syracuse. The field goals were from 40, 43, 44 and 25 yards. If you think the Panthers can keep this one within the point spread, bet Pittsburgh at BetUS.

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