West Virginia Cincinnati Line

The No. 23 Cincinnati Bearcats look to take home a potential Big East title Saturday when they host the West Virginia Mountaineers. They will also be looking for redemption after a 37-10 road loss to the Mountaineers last season. Geno Smith threw for 174 yards and four touchdowns to lead WVU to victory, while Zach Collaros threw for 222 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for the Bearcats.

According to the oddsmakers there is a line of Cincinnati -3.5 over West Virginia and a total set of 66.5 points.

Cincinnati

The Bearcats now have a six game winning streak ever since a 45-23 road loss to the Tennessee Volunteers back on September 10th. Cincinnati has a record of 7-1, and 3-0 in the Big East is certainly the favorite to win the conference thanks to back-to-back road wins. Cincinnati beat the South Florida in a thrilling 37-34 victory.

Following a bye week, the Bearcats returned to play last Saturday and showed their resiliency by taking down the Pittsburgh Panthers 26-23 after erasing a 13-23 third quarter deficit. Even though Collaros had an off game as he was just 19 of 32 for 214 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Running back Isaiah Pead picked up the slack offensively though, rushing for 118 yards. Collaros did have two rushing touchdowns, though he was held to 20 yards on 11 carries. Kicker Tony Miliano carried the team in this win as he kicked four field goals and accounted for 14 of their 26 points.

Cincinnati ranks 40th in the FBS in total offense with 425.4 yards/game and 46th in total defense allowing 363.3 yards/game. Their strength is a run defense allowing just 86.0 yards/game that ranks 4th in the country, but their weakness is a pass defense allowing 277.3 yards/game that is 105th in the Nation. That could be bad news as they are up against one of the top pass offenses in the Nation Saturday. Collaros is completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 1,784 yards with 14 touchdowns to eight interceptions, while also rushing for 245 yards and eight scores. Pead leads the team with 821 rushing yards and eight touchdowns this year.

West Virginia

After a promising 5-1 start, the Mountaineers have lost two of their last three games. West Virginia has a record of 6-3, and 2-2 in the Big East was a preseason favorite to win the conference, but their hopes of playing in a BCS bowl will be completely crushed if they lose their game on Saturday. They lost 49-23 at Syracuse three weeks ago before bouncing back with a 48-38 victory at Rutgers.

West Virginia’s inconsistent has been the team’s problem all year as they suffered a home loss at the hands of Louisville 38-35. Kicker Tyler Bitancurt missed a short field goal attempt and had another one blocked in the fourth quarter that was subsequently returned by the Cardinals for a touchdown. Geno Smith had another big game with 410 passing yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough for the Mountaineers. They have been outscored 45-28 in the second half of their two conference losses, and they went scoreless in the third quarter for the first time all year against Louisville.

The Mountaineers rank 12th in the country in total offense with 487.8 yards/game and 24th in total defense allowing 331.9 yards/game. Their strength is a passing offense with 361.0 yards/game that ranks 7th in the land. They’ll be up against one of the worst pass defenses in the FBS Saturday, so look for Smith to continue putting up more big numbers. The junior quarterback has thrived under new head coach Dana Holgorson’s offense, completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 3,125 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Betting Trends

The Mountaineers are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games, and 4-0 ATS in their last four games as a road underdog.

The Bearcats are 4-1 ATS in their last five games as a home favorite, but just 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games following a win.