My Big Play for Saturday...

Well, it's that time off the week again. So far this year I'm 6-0-1 on my big plays. This weeks play is:

West Virginia -3.5 over Maryland

Maryland is 3-2 on the year, but looks are deceiving. Their three wins came over Akron, Eastern Michigan and Wofford - all at home! Their two losses came on a neutral field to Notre Dame 22-0 in which they looked absolutely horrible on offense. The second loss came at home to Florida State 37-10 in which Fla St led 30-0 at the half. In that one both sides of the ball looked horrible. This will be their first real road game of the year which does not bode well since Morgantown is one hell of a place to play and this is a big rivalry game to boot. Maryland has been terrible on offense this year with the graduation of the QB Hill (leader of the team and very good qb) and the loss of 2001 ACC off. player of the year RB Perry. Their defense is solid, but it gets worn down being on the field so long.

West Virginia is 3-1 with the lone loss coming at Wisconsin, not an easy place to play. They've destroyed their two home opponents (Tenn-Chattanooga and E. Carolina) and won on the road against a solid Cincinnati team. They are also the owners of the top-ranked rushing offense IN THE NATION! Their QB Marshall is a fleet-footed QB who hasn't thrown a INT so far this year (has 4 TD passes). On the other hand, Maryland QB McBrien has thrown for 5 td's and 4 ints. WV's Qb takes care of the ball much better. West Virginia's defense is solid, but they won't have to be anything special against a terrible Maryland offense.

West Virginia is 3-0 straight up and ATS agains't Maryland the last three in Morgantown. Last year's game proves to be a valuable tool for us this year. Maryland was 10-2 and played in a BCS game. West Virginia was only 3-8. Yet last year, at Maryland, West Virginia lost only 32-20, and the final score doesn't show the true game. WV had 27 first downs to 23 for Maryland. RB Perry had 150 yards, but WV's RB Courbourne ran 31 times for 128 (also, WV passed for 316 yards). Perry's out, QB Hill is gone, but Courbourne is the star of WV's top-ranked rushing attack this year, and WV has a mobile QB who can pass when needed and doesn't turn the ball over. The biggest stat from that game was the fact that WV turned the ball over 6 TIMES! Also, WV's first drive ended with an INT in the end zone, killing a scoring opportunity. ALSO, Maryland got a fumble return for a TD. That game should have been a WV victory, and don't think WV hasn't forgotten about it. They got them on their home field now, and Maryland isn't half the team from last year while WV is looking very good. This is a big rivalry game and West Virginia will atone for last year's debacle. Maryland's offense won't be able to do anything all day, and with WV's top rushing attack look for that solid Maryland defense to get tired quickly. Don't forget, WV showed they can move the ball on Maryland last year, and if Maryland tries to stack the box QB Marshall has shown he can throw the ball or will run with it himself. Maryland, on the other hand, can't do either well. Look for West Virginia in a home-field, payback win easily.

West Virginia 32, Maryland 17

Good luck to everyone!