The 2010 college football campaign is about to get underway, and here at BetUS Sportsbook, we have the best football expert line analysis on the internet! We’ll take our licks at the duel in Salt Lake City between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Utah Utes for Thursday night!
CLICK HERE TO OPEN A BETTING ACCOUNT AT BETUS

Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Utah Utes
Game Date/Time: Thursday, September 2nd, 8:30 ET
Game Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT
TV/Radio Broadcast: Versus, Sirius

NCAA Football Odds: Pittsburgh Panthers (+3) -110 vs. Utah Utes (+3) -110: Over/Under 49.5

The Panthers have two critical things going for them in this game. The first is that they clearly have one of the, if not the best running backs in the game in Dion Lewis. He rushed for 1,799 yards last year as just a freshman, and there is no reason to believe that he will be slowed down in the opener either.

The second item of note for U-Pitt is the fact that it always seems to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks with just the use of its front four. Blitzing isn’t really in the cards most of the time for Dave Wannstedt, but in the event that he does call for the heat, it is unlikely that most quarterbacks will find the time to make the throws to beat the ‘D’.

On the other side of the ball, it isn’t going to help the Utes any that their quarterback, Jordan Wynn is just a sophomore and has still yet to reach double digits in terms of games played at this level. Wynn did come on strong against the California Golden Bears in Utah’s bowl game last year, going 26-of-36 for 338 yards with three TDs, but he was sacked a handful of times and couldn’t get away from the pass rush when it came.

Wynn is going to need a lot of help from his defense in this game to contain Lewis and the Panthers. This is a unit which ranked in the Top 25 last year in total defense (313.8 yards per game), pass defense (176.2 yards per game), and scoring (20.2 points per game). The better news is that Pittsburgh might be a one dimensional team, as it is breaking in a new quarterback in Tino Sunseri, who replaces a veteran of the team, Bill Stull.

NCAA Football Insider Tip: The Utes are generally slow starters, at least in terms of the spread, as they are just 1-4 ATS in their L/5 games played in the month of September.

Though this is a tough game to call, the Panthers are our choice. The defensive front and the consistency of the rushing game with Lewis will be too much to handle. Our football expert line choice is on U-Pitt in this college football betting battle.

My NCAA Football Predictions: Pittsburgh Panthers (+3) -110

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com