Maryland Terrapins (2-0) +16, o/u 48 at West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0), 6:30 p.m. Eastern Thursday, ESPN
by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
The Maryland Terrapins face the ominous task of trying to contain a potent West Virginia Mountaineers running game when the two teams hook up for their annual battle Thursday night in Morgantown.
Maryland hasnt shown a helluva lot so far this season. The Terrapins beat 1-AA William & Mary 27-14 in their season opener, then defeated Middle Tennessee State 24-10 last week as 24-point home favorites. Maryland allowed MT State to outgain them 321-274, and the Blue Raiders held a 35/25 time-of-possession advantage.
West Virginia opened its season by pounding Marshall 42-10 as 21-point home favorites two weeks ago, rolling up 312 rushing yards in the process. Then the Mountaineers destroyed 1-AA Eastern Washington 52-3 last week, rushing for 394 yards. With the game in hand by halftime, West Virginia was able to rest many of its starters during the second half, which should help with the short week coming into Thursday night's game.
Maryland returns seven starters on both sides of the ball from a team that went 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the ACC last season.
The Mountaineers return eight starters on offense but just four on defense from a team that went 11-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the depleted Big East last season. West Virginia capped off its fine 2005 campaign by upsetting Georgia 38-35 in the Sugar Bowl.
The Terrapins went 4-2 straight up and against the spread on the road last season, and they were 3-1 ATS as road dogs.
On the season, the Mountaineers went 5-1 straight up at home in '05, 3-2 ATS.
Leading the way in the WV rushing attack are RB Steve Slaton and QB Patrick White, who combined for almost 2,100 ground yards last season.
These teams have matched up against each other every year since 1980. Last season, the Mountaineers used a big fourth quarter to pull away and beat Maryland 31-19 as three-point road dogs. West Virginia led 7-6 after three quarters, but outscored the Terrapins 24-13 in the fourth quarter to win and put the game over the posted total of 41. The Mountaineers ran up 301 yards on the ground and held Maryland to just 50 rushing yards, and WV dominated the clock by a 36/24 margin.
The line on this game opened up with West Virginia favored by as little as 14 points at some
sportsbooks
, with a total as low as 45. But the Mountaineers have been bet up to as high as 18-point favorites, and the total has risen to as much as 48.
The Ultimatecapper Pick: We like the dog here.
