College Football Game Lines – West Virginia vs LSU

Bill Stewart of West Virginia and Les Miles of LSU both need a win in the worst way on the college football game lines this Saturday. They will need to coach accordingly.  

West Virginia Mountaineers @ LSU Tigers 
Saturday, September 25th – 9:05 PM ET 
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA 
Broadcast: ESPN2 
College Football Lines: West Virginia +9 LSU -9 

Total: 42

Two of the most criticized coaches in the country, Bill Stewart of West Virginia and Les Miles of LSU, meet each other this weekend down on the Bayou. Stewart has never come close to replicating what Rich Rodriguez, his predecessor, accomplished at West Virginia. Stewart was incredibly fortunate to survive a week-two ambush at the hands of Marshall. A loss in that rivalry game would have put Stewart firmly on the hot seat in Appalachia. As it is, Stewart needs to bag the kinds of scalps which will make West Virginia a major national player once again. WVU needs to prop up the Big East Conference on Saturday, when the Mountaineers travel to Baton Rouge to take on the homestanding Tigers. 

The outlook for LSU is little different from West Virginia’s. The Tigers haven’t done anything of note since the 2007 season, just like the Mountaineers. Miles has endured one coaching debacle after another, and much like Stewart, he was extremely lucky to avoid an embarrassing loss this season. LSU led a depleted North Carolina team by a 30-10 score on Sept. 4, but came perilously close to losing. Only a dropped UNC pass in the end zone with two seconds left allowed LSU to prevail. The meat of LSU’s schedule starts now, so the restless natives in Louisiana need to see Miles deliver the goods once again. 

[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 55% bonus on your first deposit here at BetOnline? If so JOIN NOW.]

College Football Game Lines: What West Virginia Has To Do To Win 

The Mountaineers are fresh off of their best performance of the young season, a 31-17 victory over the Maryland Terrapins of the ACC last Saturday in Morgantown.  The much maligned offensive line manhandled the Maryland defensive front, as WVU raced out to a 21-0 halftime lead and never looked back.  Quarterback Geno Smith excelled, hitting 19-of-29 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns.   

The West Virginia Mountaineers defense was equally impressive against Maryland, holding the Terps to only 217 yards of total offense and a net loss of 10 yards on the ground.  The rushing statistic is heavily skewed by the most impressive defensive accomplishment of the afternoon for West Virginia: The Mountaineers recorded eight sacks of Maryland quarterbacks.  Prior to Saturday’s performance, WVU had not recorded a sack in two games versus Coastal Carolina and Marshall. 

This team shows signs of rounding into form. If all the qualities of the Maryland game are carried over to this LSU contest, West Virginia should be in very good shape. It will be essential for West Virginia to avoid turnovers, though; one year ago, WVU visited Auburn in another road game against an SEC foe. The Mountaineers bolted out to a multi-possession lead but dropped a 41-30 decision because of five turnovers. Last year, quarterback Jarrett Brown lost his poise at Auburn; this year, Smith has to come good at LSU. 

College Football Game Lines: What LSU Has To Do To Win 

The primary LSU strength is the Tigers’ defense, which is giving up an average of just over 11 points per game. Recent opponents Vanderbilt and Mississippi State managed a combined total of just 10 points against the Tigers.  Quarterback Jordan Jefferson leads the LSU offense, but the word "leads" must be placed in context: Jefferson has thrown for just 344 yards in the first three games of the season. Last Saturday against Mississippi State, LSU Tigers plucked five interceptions from MSU quarterbacks, yet failed to dent the end zone until the 5:16 mark of the third quarter. LSU has to continue to be a ball-hawking defense and use the home crowd to its advantage against West Virginia’s not-fully-proven offense. The Tigers must also find the spark on offense that’s so consistently eluded them since their national championship season in 2007. 

College Football Game Lines: Outlook & Pick 

Both of these teams –  like their coaches – are very flawed. West Virginia, though, is rounding into shape while LSU seems stuck in first gear. Whoever makes fewer huge mistakes at quarterback – Smith or Jefferson – will win the game for his team (or perhaps, “not lose the game” is a better way of putting it). The verdict here is that Smith will make fewer mistakes than Jefferson. Take West Virginia to not only cover the number, but win outright. 

College Football Game Lines Pick: West Virginia +9