BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #9 CINCINNATI

November 7, 2008


Don't look now, but West Virginia has taken their normal position atop the Big East standings with a 3-0 conference record as we head down the home stretch. After a rough start to the Bill Stewart era, the Mountaineers have won five in a row, but what is more important, they have begin to rev up their offense of late, scoring a 34-17 win over Auburn back on October 23rd and following that up with a 35-13 win at UConn last week.

The key? Pat White returning to health and being in sync with coach Stewart's offense. White threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns against Auburn and he ran for 109 and scored twice on the ground against UConn. With White back as a dual threat, it opens the lanes for Noel Devine, and he shredded Auburn for over 200 yards in that win that seemed to re-energize WVU.

Quietly, Cincinnati remains in the Big East title race and their 24-10 win over South Florida last week re-inforced that notion. With four quarterbacks shuffling in and out of the line-up because of injuries, it looks like Tony Pike has grabbed ahold of the position and his efficient outing against USF (20-28-282-2-1) is a great building block. Facing the Mountaineers in Morgantown on a Saturday night will be a whole new set of challenges, though, for the senior QB that was not even listed in the three-deep depth chart not long ago.

The latest Latest NCAA College Football Odds list the Mountaineers as 7-point favorites. With a team that seems to be coming together, especially offensively, at home in a tough place to play, I think they take care of that number and make another statement that the Big East title needs to be taken from WVU first.

Prediction:

West Virginia 33
Cincinnati 19