Rutgers vs. West Virginia Preview
MORGANTOWN, WV (AP) – West Virginia may feel it’s the best team in the Big East, but it might have to settle for sharing the official honor. That’s not going to get the Mountaineers to a BCS bowl, either.
Needing a win and some help to claim sole possession of the conference title, the No. 23 Mountaineers will try to do their part and continue their dominance of last-place Rutgers on Saturday.
According to latest college football odds, oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made West Virginia 20.5-point spread favorites for Saturday’s game against Rutgers. Current NCAA Public Betting Information shows that 80% of more than 2,260 bets for this game have been placed on West Virginia -20.5.
West Virginia (8-3, 4-2) was picked to finish fourth in the Big East preseason poll, but the team felt it was a serious contender and has backed it up by tying Connecticut and Pittsburgh for first place heading into the regular-season finale.
“Yeah, we felt we were the best team,” quarterback Geno Smith said. “We’re always going to feel that way.”
The Mountaineers’ path to at least a share of the conference title appears to be relatively clear with a visit from Rutgers (4-7, 1-5), which is trying to avoid its longest single-season losing streak since dropping nine in a row from Sept. 21-Nov. 30, 2002.
West Virginia, though, needs a win over the Scarlet Knights combined with a Huskies loss to South Florida later in the day to gain the conference’s berth to a BCS bowl.
Doing their part doesn’t appear to be an issue for the Mountaineers after beating the Panthers 35-10 last week to gain the tiebreaker in the standings.
West Virginia is 31-4-2 all-time against Rutgers, winning all 16 meetings in Morgantown. The Mountaineers have also won the last 15 matchups overall, but the last two have been decided by seven or fewer points, including a 24-21 victory last December.
Coach Bill Stewart isn’t taking the Scarlet Knights lightly.
“I have never been involved in a game where somebody doesn’t have something to gain,” Stewart told the team’s official website. “Rutgers is going to come in here and play hard. They are tough, physical, they’ve got more blocked kicks than anybody in the league and they can turn a football game around with a blocked kick in a blink of an eye.”
While Stewart tries to keep the Mountaineers focused, Smith’s efficiency could be key. The sophomore has thrown 22 touchdowns and six interceptions, and his 145.1 passer rating leads the conference.
He completed 9 of 12 passes for 212 yards and three scores last week, giving him seven TD passes with one INT during a three-game winning streak.
Smith is also spreading the ball around, with seven players catching scoring passes with running back Tavon Austin leading the team with seven – two versus Pitt.
“They have so many weapons offensively and they have kind of jelled here in the last three or four games,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “They are operating on offense as good as I’ve seen them in a long time, so it’s a huge challenge for us.”
Rutgers’ defense is entering this matchup with major struggles, allowing 1,088 total yards while getting outscored 109-51 over the last two games.
The Scarlet Knights sputtered again last week, falling 40-13 to Louisville. It was their fifth consecutive loss since defensive end Eric LeGrand suffered a spinal cord injury in a 23-20 overtime win against Army on Oct. 16.
“We’ve had trouble responding the last four or five weeks since some true adversity rocked our team, and I’m hoping we can play our way out of it and start to heal,” Schiano said.
Protecting Chas Dodd will need to be a priority against the Mountaineers, who are second in the conference with 34 sacks. The freshman has been sacked 34 times for the fourth-highest total in the nation with 16 coming in the last two games.
“I don’t know if there is a guy on their team that doesn’t rush the passer at one time or another,” Schiano said.
Dodd is completing 55.8 percent of his passes for 743 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions during the losing streak.
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