Pittsburgh Panthers Failing To Overcome NCAAF Odds Thus Far

The Pittsburgh Panthers opened their season with a tough road game against the pesky Utah Utes, and failed to get their season off to the start they wanted. A 27-24 loss on the road dropped them out of the AP Top-25, and now they have a long road if they want to hurdle over their daunting NCAAF odds to become conference champions.

This doesn’t mean you should fear for Dave Wannstedt’s mustache at all. Since 2005, Wannstedt has gone 35-27 SU as head coach of the Panthers. A loss in the Sun Bowl at the end of 2008 was somewhat righted when the Panthers claimed victory over the UNC Tar Heels in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 60% bonus on your first deposit here at BetOnline? If so JOIN NOW.]

The guy it does hurt is Dion Lewis, who came on late as a fringe Heisman contender in 2009. Lewis is only 5-foot-8 and 195 pounds, but he’s one hell of a ball carrier. He managed 1,799 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns last season, and also added 25 catches with 189 yards.

Lewis may be just a sophomore, but he’s the main attraction in Pittsburgh for fans…and for recruits. If Wannstedt has any hopes of recruiting better talent, he can’t rely on his personal charm or the glistening metropolitan city of Pittsburgh to reign them in. He needs to win games.

Pittsburgh will likely get on the winning track when they face the New Hampshire Wildcats in what’s expected to be a rout. There isn’t that much interest on these kinds of matchups because the NCAA odds on them are so ridiculous.

New Hampshire beat Central Connecticut handedly but needed a lot of help from their defense and special teams to run the score. They opened the scoring with a 91-yard kickoff return and ended their day with a 30-yard interception return for a final score of 33-3. The offense chipped in a pair of rushing touchdowns on the back of Dontra Peters 197 yard day, and another touchdown through the air.

A loss to Utah hurts Pittsburgh on the board overall, but it doesn’t kill their chances in NCAAF odds for the conference championship. They’re still +450 to come out of the Big East over favored West Virginia and Connecticut, both of whom have +250 NCAAF odds to win the conference.

Further hamstringing their chances in the immediate future would be an unexpected loss to New Hampshire. Pittsburgh better damn well figure out what’s wrong in their game plan because they’re getting a shot at redemption in Week 3 against the Miami Hurricanes, who battle the Ohio State Buckeyes this week in the Game of the Week.

The passing game in Pittsburgh is suspect, and now the running attack isn’t producing the mega yards it needs to make up for it. A win over New Hampshire will boost the spirits of the Panthers, but if they have any hopes of returning to the bowl picture, they need to fix their problems against this weekend and prepare to upset the NCAAF odds when they host Miami in Week 3.

Bet on all the Conference Champion Odds here!