Pitt vs West Virginia Betting Preview
In the fifth game of our Countdown to Kickoff series, Sportsmemo handicapper JM Sports takes a look at Pitt vs West Virginia on September 1. After winning the ACC Championship, Pitt went on to lose the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl to Michigan State. West Virginia finished last season 6-7 and losing in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl to Minnesota.
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Thursday, September 1 | College Football Betting Notes |
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Point Spread: | Pittsburgh Panthers -7 vs West Virginia Mountaineers |
Total: | 51.5 (Over -110 / Under -110) |
Kickoff: | 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT |
Venue: | Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA |
TV: | ESPN |
Pitt vs West Virginia Analysis
For West Virginia and 16th ranked Pitt, their season starts off with the 105th meeting of the Backyard Brawl. This time, the teams travel to Pittsburgh to play in week 1 of the 2022 season.
Pitt Moves On Without Pickett
Pittsburgh was a story of the underdog last season, where they finished 11-3, which included a 7-1 record in conference play, the best in the ACC Coastal division.
They look to repeat as champions in the division, but to do that, they will have to snap a three game losing streak against the Mountaineers. While this is the first time these two teams have met since 2011, it has been an exciting series with four of the last five matchups being decided by four or less points.
It has been 14 years since Pitt beat West Virginia, and now they have to look ahead and continue their impressive run without their veteran play caller in Kenny Pickett.
Pittsburgh obviously lost their QB to the Pittsburgh Steelers, not moving far geographically, but that isn’t the only loss this team suffered.
They did lose five of their top seven receivers, which includes a coincidental flip-flop, as their leading receiver, Jordan Addison, heads to USC, while USC’s QB for last season, Kedon Slovis, will look to replace Kenny Pickett at Pitt.
They are fortunate enough to keep their 3 leading rushers in Abanikanda, Davis and Hammond. Pitt came into the 2021 season losing some big pieces on defense, but they managed to impress all the same, without 2 AA players, this season, they return a majority of their talent on defense and it seems the potential on this teams defense has only increased this off season.
West Virginia Losses Many Key Pieces
That defense of the Panthers looks to turn things around in this series against West Virginia, and this may be the perfect opportunity to do it.
Even though the Mountaineers added JT Daniels at QB after transferring from Georgia, and they add a big piece on the OL with Doug Nester coming over from Virginia Tech.
Even though those two pieces are impressive, the pieces that this team lost are seemingly more devastating than the pieces that were added.
West Virginia loses their leading rusher, leading passer, four of their top six receivers and all five of their leading tacklers! Under HC Neal Brown the Mountaineers are just 5-11 on the road and just 2-8 against teams in the top 25!
Pitt vs West Virginia Prediction
Even without Kenny Pickett, I like the Panthers on this on at (-7). They are 31-15 with Narduzzi as the HC and they have won seven of their last eight home openers, I expect that run to extend on Thursday, September 1st.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Panthers -7
Next Matchup: (15) USC vs. Rice
Interested in placing a bet on this Pitt vs West Virginia Week 1 showdown? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.
Sportsmemo Today | NFL Season Preview
JM Sports joins Dan Neubert and Dr Chuck on Sportsmemo Today to discuss the NFL futures market, and the Week 1 betting lines.
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Meet the Author
Jeff’s hunger for handicapping began at a young age being surrounded by parents that made sports betting a daily routine. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Cleveland handicappers like Marc Lawrence, Phil Steele, Ralph Michaels, Ed Meyer and Bryan Leonard, Jeff started his sports betting career working for both Northcoast Sports and Phil Steele Publications learning the intricacies of sports betting and becoming a profitable handicapper. Through out his college years, Jeff’s mathematical and analytical prowess helped him develop a betting strategy that turned sports betting into a profitable venture, where he focuses on the NFL, college football, NBA, college basketball and MLB while showing strong results in the WNBA.
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