West Virginia at South Florida Line
The Big East Conference race comes down to the first week of December. While other conferences hold their conference championship games this week, the Big East essentially will have a couple of de facto title games to decide the conference title. The first such game is Thursday night when West Virginia visits South Florida.
Louisville has the lead in the clubhouse with a 5-2 Big East record. WVU and Cincinnati are both 4-2 with their league finales this week and chances to tie the Cardinals.
West Virginia needs to root for Cincinnati to win (vs. UConn Saturday) to create a three-way tie. If West Virginia is the only one tied with Louisville, the Cardinals win the automatic BCS bid due to winning the head-to-head matchup. A three-way tie will cause the tie to be broken by the BCS standings – in which WVU is the highest-ranked Big East team at No. 23.
The all-time series between West Virginia and South Florida is tied at three-all, with West Virginia winning last year in Morgantown, 20-6, and USF winning in Tampa, 30-19, in 2009. The home team has won each of the last four meetings.
The latest college football odds list the Mountaineers as 1-point road favorites, while the total has been posted at 55 points.
West Virginia
The Mountaineers kept themselves alive in the Big East race thanks to rallying from 14 points down to win the Backyard Brawl vs. Pittsburgh, 21-20, last week. Overall, West Virginia has won three of its last four games, with the only loss a 38-35 decision to Louisville. The Mountaineers are 3-1 on the road this year.
West Virginia ranks 20th nationally in scoring offense (35 ppg) while compiling 463 yards of offense per game (351 passing, 117 rushing). Geno Smith leads the offense by completing 65 percent of his passes for 3,741 yard and 25 touchdowns with five interceptions. The offensive line has allowed 25 sacks.
Tavon Austin has caught 82 passes (22 more than anyone else) for 1,009 yards and four TDs, while Stedman Bailey has 60 grabs for 1,117 yards and 11 scores to lead the receiving corps. Dustin Garrison paces the running attack with 655 yards and five TDs on 5.5 yards per carry.
Defensively, West Virginia ranks 59th in points allowed (26 ppg), surrendering 335 yards per game (197 passing, 138 rushing) while recording 26 sacks and forcing 17 turnovers – two of which were converted to TDs (Julian Miller, fumble recovery; Terence Garvin, interception).
Najee Goode and Darwin Cook lead the unit with 77 tackles each, with the two combining for four sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Bruce Irvin has seven sacks, 38 tackles and two forced fumbles, while Keith Tandy has three interceptions and 54 tackles. Miller has three fumble recoveries, 51 tackles, six sacks and two forced fumbles.
South Florida
The Bulls continued their late-season struggles, falling for the sixth time in seven games after a 34-24 defeat at home to Louisville, a game USF led after three quarters. Four of the six recent losses have been by six points or fewer. The Bulls are 3-3 at home this year, losing each of the last three games (Cincinnati, Miami, and Louisville).
South Florida ranks 33rd nationally in scoring defense (22 ppg), allowing 350 yards per game (245 passing, 105 rushing) while recording 38 sacks and forcing 23 turnovers – with three turned into TDs (Kayvon Webster and Mark Joyce, fumbles; Sam Barrington, interception).
DeDe Lattimore leads the defense with 87 tackles and seven sacks, adding two forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery, while Mike Lanaris has 81 tackles, a sack, a pick and a fumble recovery. Webster and Jerrell Young have two interceptions each, combining for 90 tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Ryne Giddins has three forced fumbles, 44 tackles, 5.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
The Bulls rank 52nd nationally in scoring offense (29 ppg), compiling 434 yards per game (250 passing, 184 rushing). B.J. Daniels completes 60 percent of his passes for 2,359 yards and 12 TDs with six interceptions. The offensive line has given up 14 sacks.
Victor Marc, Deonte Welch and Evan Landi have combined for 81 catches for 924 yards and four TDs, while Daniels, Darrell Scott and Demetris Murray have combined for 1,769 rushing yards and 18 TDs on 4.8 yards per carry.