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West Virginia Mountaineers (4-0) -7, o/u 56 at South Florida Bulls (3-0), 8 pm Eastern Friday, ESPN2
by Marasoft.com Staff

The high-powered offense of the West Virginia Mountaineers matches up against the stout defense of the South Florida Bulls in the Big East Conference opener for both teams Friday night at a sold-out Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.


West Virginia is ranked in most Top 5s after beating Western Michigan, Marshall, Maryland and East Carolina by an average of 30 points.


South Florida is ranked in the Top 20 for the first time ever after beating Elon, winning at Auburn in overtime and, last week, defeating North Carolina 37-10.


The Mountaineers are 3-1 against the spread this season, while the Bulls are 2-0 vs. the numbers.


Last season, WV went 3-0 straight up and 2-1 against the spread as road favorites. Meanwhile, USF went 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS as a home underdog.


The Bulls pulled a neat upset last season when they went into Morgantown and beat the Mountaineers 24-19 as 21-point road underdogs. South Florida held West Virginia to just 132 rushing yards that day, less than half what the Mountaineer running game was averaging. The Bulls also scored on a fumble return, held a 32-28 time-of-possession advantage, and forced four WV turnovers.

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South Florida is outrushing opponents this season by a 155-79 yards-per-game average, while West Virginia is outgrounding its foes by an average of 357-87. The Bulls have outrushed each of their last four opponents, while the Mountaineers haven't been outrushed in a game since October of 2005, when Virginia Tech did it.


WV junior QB Patrick White, with 21 career collegiate starts under his belt, has completed 71% of his passes this season and owns a 6/0 TD/INT ratio. He has also run for 286 yards on the season.


South Florida sophomore QB Matt Grothe, who's started 15 games for the Bulls, has hit on 60% of his throws this year and owns a 4/0 TD/INT ratio.


On the injury front, the Mountaineers could be without two starters from their defensive front seven. On the other side, USF could be without two starters on its offensive line.


The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at USAToday.com rank West Virginia sixth at 90.7, South Florida 23rd at 81.1.


The o/u is 2-2 in Mountaineers games this year, 1-1 in Bulls games.


West Virginia opened up as a seven-point road favorite for Friday night's game, with a total of 54 ½. And while the line has remained steady, the total has been bet up to 56. Also, the Mountaineers are listed at right around -250 on the moneyline, with the Bulls getting +225 as home dogs.

Marasoft Staff Pick:

South Florida 27 West Virginia 23