Lines for college football too high as UNLV offense hangs with West Virginia

A rare East coast visit for UNLV as they leave the desert and travel to Morgantown, where West Virginia is a big favorite in non-conference action.

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UNLV Rebels vs. West Virginia Mountaineers

Game Date/Time: Saturday, October 9th, 3:30 ET

Game Location: Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, WV

TV/Radio Broadcast: Big East Network, Sirius

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NCAA Football Odds

UNLV Rebels (+27.5) –110

West Virginia Mountaineers (-27.5) -110

Over/Under 48.5

First year UNLV coach Bobby Hauck is making strides to rebuild the Rebels program after the previous coach lost game after game in non-competitive fashion. UNLV is playing much harder and Hauck’s discipline and defensive background should continue to show up in the box scores as the lines for college football betting go higher against the Rebels.

UNLV has played Wisconsin (+21) and Nevada (+20.5) to 41-21 and 44-26 scores at home. Both those teams are in the top-25 and better than West Virginia. Note that those two teams average over 6.75 yards per play this season while West Virginia averages just 5.07 yards per play.

Well aware of the road struggles for UNLV this season and last year. The Rebels were whipped at Utah (38-10) and Idaho (30-7) in non-covering fashion. Still, both those opponents have better yards per play averages than West Virginia. And while UNLV comes off their rivalry game and must travel across the country, the match-ups don’t indicate a four-touchdown win by the Mountaineers.

Now consider that West Virginia has their conference opener against South Florida on Thursday night ESPN on deck and you have a chance to cash a big ‘Dog ticket as the lines for college football continue to skyrocket for this match-up.

West Virginia continues to show a tendency to play to the level of their competition under head coach Bill Stewart. And while the Mountaineers run defense is allowing just 84 yards per game and the Rebels struggle to run, UNLV’s passing attack can keep them within this hefty pointspread.

The Rebels offense has come to life the past two games while averaging 8.7 and 7.5 yards per passing play. Senior quarterback Omar Clayton has a good rhythm passing to his top two returning wide receivers, and even if UNLV falls behind by more than four touchdowns the back door should be open for Clayton and company to cash for UNLV.

West Virginia does not possess the explosive ground assault we’ve seen out of past Mountaineers teams that dominated the lines for college football. Noel Devine is a speedy scatback senior that will get his yards, but the Mountaineers are still only averaging 3.66 yard per rush. Quarterback Geno Smith is a first year starter and having a pretty solid season completing 65 percent of his passes and 230 yards per game.

But West Virginia will likely try to get their ground game stronger and give their offensive line more confidence heading into conference play. Thus the clock will run and give the Rebels an even better chance to cover the spread.

NCAA Insider Tip: The Mountaineers are just 5-8 ATS in Morgantown under head coach Bill Stewart and 0-10 ATS at home against an opponent off a double-digit loss.

The lines for college football are often set to get even action and the linemake knows few will want to bet on UNLV this week. But while the situational analysis favors West Virginia off a bye and UNLV traveling long off a rivalry game, the match-ups don’t support a four touchdown win by West Virginia.

My NCAA Football Predictions: UNLV Rebels +27.5

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