West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh Prediction: Can Pat Narduzzi Win Without Kenny Pickett?
By Josh Yourish
The Backyard Brawl is back!
West Virginia makes the trip up 79 from Morgantown to Pittsburgh to renew one of the most fun rivalries in College Football. Chants of "13-9" are certain to rain down on the 2022 edition of the Mountaineers; many of which were only six or seven years old when Pitt spoiled WVU’s national championship hopes.
New memories will be made in this rivalry and while a potential national championship is not up for grabs, there is always a lot to play for when these teams meet.
Let’s check out the odds for this year's Backyard Brawl.
West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh Odds, Spread and Total
West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh Odds, Spread and Total Movement in Week 1
Pitt opened as a 6.5 point favorite, but has since been bet up to 7.5, a crucial change as it goes through the touchdown. Seven and three are the most important numbers for a football spread, so this is a big change.
West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh Best Bet and Prediction
Kedon Slovis starts for Pitt and seems to have a lot of confidence that he will beat his former USC teammate, J.T. Daniels and West Virginia. At a Pitt pep rally this week Slovis went so far as to say, "F*** West Virginia." Strong words from the No. 17 ranked team in the country coming off of an ACC Title.
Slovis obviously was not around for that and the transfer will try to fill Kenny Pickett’s massive shoes in the Panthers offense. The problem is that Jordan Addison is now at USC and Mark Whipple, their offensive coordinator, is in Nebraska. The offense is going to look different and the fear is that Pat Narduzzi, their Head Coach will lean too much on defense and the run game; abandoning what led him to success a year ago.
That defense will certainly be strong. Louis Riddick, who is calling the game, said on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that the Panthers could have the best defensive line in college football. Even so, 7.5 is a lot in a Week 1 rivalry game with so much turnover in PIttsburgh.
J.T. Daniels couldn’t start in Georgia, but we know he has talent. Maybe, at his final stop he will finally be able to showcase it. The offensive line in front of him should be solid and is returning all five starters.
Listen I’m a Penn State fan from Pittsburgh so this game is incredibly conflicting for me. I don’t like either of these teams. I don’t like West Virginians invading my city, but I don’t like Pitt fans either. If it was still 6.5 I think I would take Pitt to cover, but now 7.5 is scaring me off. Rivalry games almost always play close, so I think I have to go with Reed Wallach from earlier this week and lean WVU on the road. Because there might be more Mountaineers fans in Acrisure Stadium tonight.
LEAN: WVU +7.5
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE