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West Virginia Colorado Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd on September 16, 2008

The West Virginia Mountaineers head to Boulder, Colorado to take on the Buffaloes of the Big 12 North on ESPN Thursday September 18. JustBet odds makers have listed the Mountaineers as 3-point road favorites for this contest. Jimmy Boyd’s West Virginia/Colorado preview analyzes this matchup from a college football betting outlook to help you better handicap this game. If you’re looking to knock one out of the park Thursday night, you can bet Jimmy’s ESPN Game of the Year for a guaranteed winner.

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The 21st ranked Mountaineers did not look like the team we are used to seeing running up the score last week. West Virginia enters Thursday night’s matchup coming off its worst offensive performance in nearly seven years.

Head coach Bill Stewart led the Mountaineers to a big Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma last January and was hired to be the successor to Rich Rodriguez a day later. Last week’s non-existent offense was somewhat surprising as the Mountaineers return QB Pat White and the speedy Noel Devine among eight returning offensive starters who averaged nearly 40 points per game last season. The only key player that didn’t come back was running back Steve Slaton, who left for the NFL.

The unit looked sharp in its opener as White threw five touchdown passes to help crush Villanova 48-21. What a difference a week makes as West Virginia was held to just 72 yards passing and lost two fumbles as it was pounded 24-3 at East Carolina. It was the first time the Mountaineers were held without a touchdown since 2001.

All I can say is that head coach Bill Stewart better erase last week’s loss in a hurry or West Virginia faithful will have calling for his head, especially after inking in a big six-year deal. If you think West Virginia will be in bounce back mode this week, you can bet the Mountaineers at -3 at Bookmaker and receive up to a 20% cash signup bonus.

Pat White and Noel Devine each ran for 90 yards last week. Those are respectable numbers but not nearly good enough to get the job done. They’ll likely face an even stiffer test this week against a solid Colorado front line that has only allowed 59 yards per game over its first two contests.

Colorado defeated in-state rival Colorado State 38-17 in its opener. It was supposed to have an even easier time with Football Championship Subdivision opponent Eastern Washington on September 6th, but that was not the case. The Buffs trailed 24-17 with less than four minutes to play before QB Cody Hawkins fired his third touchdown pass of the game to tie the score. Just two plays later, Cha’pelle Brown picked off an Eastern Washington pass and returned it 27 yards for a score and Colorado went on to win 31-24 in thrilling fashion.

The Buffs have relied on the arm of Hawkins to move the football. He’s completed 71.6 percent of his passes for 475 yards through two games. The ground game has struggled to get going however. The Buffs are averaging only 3.5 yards per carry which is only good for 90th in the country. Freshman Darrell Scott has received the bulk of the carried, gaining 104 yards on 24 rushes so far. If you like the Buffaloes to play much better at home this week, bet Colorado at +3 at BetUS and receive up to a 50% signun bonus.

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