It appears as though oddsmakers are having a hard time figuring out the odds for Pitt-West Virginia this weekend.
Oddsmakers are split when it comes to whether Pitt or West Virginia is to be set as a slim favorite as the Backyard Brawl kicks off at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia this weekend.
DraftKings has set Pitt as a 1-point favorite, with bets for either side to cover holding -110 odds. FanDuel has set WVU as a 1.5-point favorite — an over/under set at 50.5 points. Both bets currently hold -110 odds. Neither betting site has opened moneyline bets to this point in the week.
Both Pitt and West Virginia are entering the week at 1-1, with wins over FCS opponents, and neither side has looked particularly effective this season.
West Virginia lost a Week 1 matchup against Penn State in Happy Valley, falling apart in the fourth quarter against the Nittany Lions, before rebounding with a 56-17 win over Duquesne over the weekend.
Pitt has a lot of questions to answer heading into the Backyard Brawl this weekend after a lackluster showing against Cincinnati over the weekend, and there isn’t a lot of time to answer those questions this week in practice. It sounds simple, but Pitt simply must be better entering the bulk of its season.
There will be a lot on the line for both Pitt and West Virginia this weekend, and it should be a wild night in Morgantown.
Pitt, of course, is coming off a 38-31 win over West Virginia in the revival of the Backyard Brawl last season, capped by an M.J. Devonshire pick-six late in the fouth quarter, and it will be a different story this season. In an interview with 93.7 The Fan’s Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson, Narduzzi touched upon the Brawl this season.
“I’m really excited about that 7:30 night game, couldn’t be more excited,” Narduzzi said. “I mean, hey, 7:30 night game in Pittsburgh a year ago, and we’ll take another 7:30. It’ll be a great atmosphere down there, wear your hard hats and be ready to go. It’ll be a little different style than the clash in Pittsburgh.
“I don’t think we’ll travel as well down to Morgantown because of the smaller stadium size, and the way they treat fans down there, I think there’s a lot of Pitt fans — obviously they’ve got the money to do it, but I wonder what that will be like. From all the stories I’ve heard, there’s a lot of older Pitt fans that are like, I’m not going down to that place. I’d rather go to the zoo.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium.
If the same effort is given on Saturday as last night then Pitt will lose by 35.
It’s True!
WVU has a mean OL, big hard running back and a scrambling QB. Duzz must preach discipline on D and stop the run
which translates to Penn State was only up 21-7 after the 3rd quarter … so PITT is clearly going to be in trouble because the little brother PITT is not PSU.
West Virginia has film of Phil and his obvious weaknesses. If the Panthers believe they will beat WVU on the road, with #5 at quarterback, in all that noise, they are not taking a realistic approach to this game. At least #5 won’t have to worry about the booing.
Just hand it off to primary RB 38 times when you have an immobile weak arm QB like we did in 2009.
Booing probably not so much, if you hear baaahing from a Sheep it might be EIEIEIO half-time entertainment.