28-18-3 YTD
Lots of good games on the calendar this week. Jawga at LSwho is definitely the marquee matchup of the week. The undercard isn't too bad with Alabama at UcheaT, Kentucky at the Reptiles Nutt Bowl One AKA Ole Miss at Arkansas, Middle Tennessee at Mississippi State and Duke and Vandy. But first... Tommy Tubberville takes his traveling train wreck on the road to Morgantown, WV to take on the equal underachieving Mountaineers of West Virginia.
On to the action....
Awbarn at West Virginia
Could this be the beginning of the end for Awbarn HC Tommy Tubberville? War Eagle's record sits at a disappointing 4-3 with games against Ole Miss, Jawga and Alabama still to come. I see tonight as a must win for Awbarn if they wish to make a bowl game.
Things aren't much better in Morgantown with first year HC Bill Stewart. The 'Neers are 4-2 and any chance of a National Championship are long gone. BUT... they still control their own destiny for a BCS bid as Big East Champion. They should receive a boost with QB Pat White returning to action tonight after suffering a concussion earlier this season.
By the way, kudos to the schedulers at Awbarn. Tonight marks their first non-conference road game in 5 years. Not bad if you can work your schedule that way.
Awbie has an all-time record of 6-1 in Thursday night games, including a 3-0 mark under Tommy Tuberville; a record of 5-2-1 against teams that currently comprise the Big East Conference; and have the nation's third-best record in games away from home (road or neutral) since 2004 with an 18-5 (.783) mark.
Awbarn has been a wreck offensively, ranking 107th nationally in total offense and getting next to nothing from the passing game. Ben Tate leads War Eagle with 533 yards rushing and needs 172 yards to become the 13th player in Awbarn history with 2,000 career rushing yards. The QB situation is still a mess. Sophomore Kodi Burns will get the start on Thursday, but he has yet to inspire confidence. Backups Neil Caudle and Chris Todd are in the mix as well. If none of the above manage to step up, the team may consider forgoing the redshirt year of freshman Barrett Trotter.
WVU?s 14th-ranked scoring defense has allowed one TD pass at home all year and will make Burns? third start of the season a difficult one. They are also only giving up just under 15 points a game. LB Mortty Ivy (leads the team in tackles with 46) and S John Holmes are the "studs" of the Mountaineer defense, swarming to the ball and playing with exceptional range. Quinton Andrews is second on the team in tackles with 45. He is averaging 7.5 tackles per game, which ranks him fifth in the Big East.
With 3,875 career rushing yards in just 35 starts, Pat White is the WVU and Big East career QB rushing leader. White is just the seventh quarterback in NCAA history to have 3,000 yards passing and rushing in a career. Noel Devine is averaging 7.4 yards per carry during his career. He has tallied 1,269 rushing yards in 18 games played and has 761 all-purpose yards on the season/1,989 for his career. He is averaging 110.5 all-purpose yards per game during career. A particular problem has been the complete nonexistence of a downfield passing game. With the team not even attempting to throw the ball downfield their running game has become easier to defend. WVU has only averaged 17 points per game in their last 5 matchups overall.
Tommy Tubberville's back is against the wall and I'm sure his Tigers will fight tooth and nail this evening. Morgantown though is a tough place to play, especially at night. I think that it stays a close game, but in the end WVU has enough to put it away and win by a TD.
My prediction is WVU 20-13
My bet is the Mountaineers -3
Lots of good games on the calendar this week. Jawga at LSwho is definitely the marquee matchup of the week. The undercard isn't too bad with Alabama at UcheaT, Kentucky at the Reptiles Nutt Bowl One AKA Ole Miss at Arkansas, Middle Tennessee at Mississippi State and Duke and Vandy. But first... Tommy Tubberville takes his traveling train wreck on the road to Morgantown, WV to take on the equal underachieving Mountaineers of West Virginia.
On to the action....
Awbarn at West Virginia
Could this be the beginning of the end for Awbarn HC Tommy Tubberville? War Eagle's record sits at a disappointing 4-3 with games against Ole Miss, Jawga and Alabama still to come. I see tonight as a must win for Awbarn if they wish to make a bowl game.
Things aren't much better in Morgantown with first year HC Bill Stewart. The 'Neers are 4-2 and any chance of a National Championship are long gone. BUT... they still control their own destiny for a BCS bid as Big East Champion. They should receive a boost with QB Pat White returning to action tonight after suffering a concussion earlier this season.
By the way, kudos to the schedulers at Awbarn. Tonight marks their first non-conference road game in 5 years. Not bad if you can work your schedule that way.
Awbie has an all-time record of 6-1 in Thursday night games, including a 3-0 mark under Tommy Tuberville; a record of 5-2-1 against teams that currently comprise the Big East Conference; and have the nation's third-best record in games away from home (road or neutral) since 2004 with an 18-5 (.783) mark.
Awbarn has been a wreck offensively, ranking 107th nationally in total offense and getting next to nothing from the passing game. Ben Tate leads War Eagle with 533 yards rushing and needs 172 yards to become the 13th player in Awbarn history with 2,000 career rushing yards. The QB situation is still a mess. Sophomore Kodi Burns will get the start on Thursday, but he has yet to inspire confidence. Backups Neil Caudle and Chris Todd are in the mix as well. If none of the above manage to step up, the team may consider forgoing the redshirt year of freshman Barrett Trotter.
WVU?s 14th-ranked scoring defense has allowed one TD pass at home all year and will make Burns? third start of the season a difficult one. They are also only giving up just under 15 points a game. LB Mortty Ivy (leads the team in tackles with 46) and S John Holmes are the "studs" of the Mountaineer defense, swarming to the ball and playing with exceptional range. Quinton Andrews is second on the team in tackles with 45. He is averaging 7.5 tackles per game, which ranks him fifth in the Big East.
With 3,875 career rushing yards in just 35 starts, Pat White is the WVU and Big East career QB rushing leader. White is just the seventh quarterback in NCAA history to have 3,000 yards passing and rushing in a career. Noel Devine is averaging 7.4 yards per carry during his career. He has tallied 1,269 rushing yards in 18 games played and has 761 all-purpose yards on the season/1,989 for his career. He is averaging 110.5 all-purpose yards per game during career. A particular problem has been the complete nonexistence of a downfield passing game. With the team not even attempting to throw the ball downfield their running game has become easier to defend. WVU has only averaged 17 points per game in their last 5 matchups overall.
Tommy Tubberville's back is against the wall and I'm sure his Tigers will fight tooth and nail this evening. Morgantown though is a tough place to play, especially at night. I think that it stays a close game, but in the end WVU has enough to put it away and win by a TD.
My prediction is WVU 20-13
My bet is the Mountaineers -3
