Colorado at West Virginia Betting Matchup

West Virginia's Noel Devine could easily get 100 yards in the first half against the Colorado Buffaloes Thursday Night.

This Thursday’s national spotlight game is a rare non-conference battle as most teams are slugging it out within their respective conferences already.  It is also a rematch of a hotly contested midweek tilt from a year ago that was the highlight of the Buffaloes season so you know the Mountaineers will have revenge on their mind.  Revenge and then some as they have to be still smarting from the way they fell apart on the second half against Auburn two weeks ago.  Oh what might have been.

I feel like I say this all the time but this is a very interesting matchup (or else I wouldn’t write about it).  Win and you can head into conference play on with a little bit of confidence.  Lose and a season that is already disappointing could get much worse in a hurry, especially for Colorado who has Texas on the road next week.  Given the -17 spread it appears that most people believe that Buffaloes are in for a world of hurt.  I have to agree.  From what I can tell there is not a single player from Colorado who is living up to expectations or exceeding them.  From the coach to the punter they are a huge disappointment and Coach Hawkins is running out of credibility as he tries to swim with the big boys.  They are a big 12 team and they lost to a team from the MAC.  (P.S. MAC I still love you…always will)

Score prediction:

West Virginia 33

Colorado 13

Here is what will happen as it seems every West Virginia win follows a distinctive formula.  First they gash you with big chunks in the running game.  c could easily get 100 yards in the first half but the back breaker will be a dramatic run by the QB (this year Jarrett Brown).  Once the QB gets loose and confident then they bubble screen you to death on third down and sack your QB as you try to play catchup.  It is a pretty simple formula than West Virginia has down to a science.  The only way I see Colorado making it a game is if they are able to knockout Brown.  Unlike USF I do not think they have an adequate alternate.

Things to consider/remember:

• Colorado upset West Virginia at home last year as  2.5 point dog
• Colorado is 2-6 ATS against winning opponents
• Mountaineers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games after allowing more than 40 points in their previous game.