Who’s The College Football Line Pick in the Battle For West Virginia?

Coming off an embarrassing opening night loss, the Marshall Thundering Herd return home looking to cover this week’s college football line. They’ll get their chance, when they face their biggest rival, the West Virginia Mountaineers.

No. 23 West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0 SU, 0-1 ATS) at Marshall Thundering Herd (0-1 SU, 0-1 ATS)

Friday, September 10: 7:00 p.m. ESPN

NCAA Betting Odds:

West Virginia: -13
Marshall: +13

Last Thursday was supposed to be the start of a new era at Marshall, as new coach and West Virginia native Doc Holliday made his head coaching debut. Instead it turned into a disaster, as they lost 45-7 to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.

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If things are going to get better, the Thundering Herd will need a lot of improvement starting on defense, where they gave up a staggering 529 yards of total offense, with 280 of them coming on the ground. Offensively, struggled just as much, as they finished with just 199 yards on the game. There will need to be some improvement in the run game, as the Thundering Herd tallied just 44 yards on 21 carries a week ago.

Things weren’t nearly as bad for their cross-state rivals, West Virginia. While the Mountaineers didn’t cover the college football betting line, they were plenty good enough for the win. In beating Costal Carolina 31-0, West Virginia was able to put up 400 yards of total offense, including 111 on the ground from their stud running back Noel Devine.

Maybe more importantly for the Mountaineers was the stellar play of quarterback Geno Smith. Smith entered 2010 with barely any experience at all, as he missed spring practice and was limited in 2009 playing behind Jarrett Brown. However, in taking over as the full-time starter, Smith looked like a seasoned veteran last weekend, completing 20 of 27 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Senior All-Big East candidate Jock Sanders led the way with eight catches on the day.

When breaking down the college football line, it’s hard to know what to make of these two teams. On the one hand, you’ve got Marshall, who got dominated by one of the top teams in the country. On the other is West Virginia who barely broke a sweat in their opener.

Still, we’ll give the advantage to the Thundering Herd.

For starters, you’ve got to assume that their opener against Ohio State got them battle-tested for this one. West Virginia may be good, but at the same time, they can’t throw anything at Marshall that they didn’t see last weekend in Columbus.

More important, this one is personal for the Thundering Herd. Marshall is considered a second class citizen in their own state, and revel in beating the Mountaineers as much as anyone on their schedule. Nothing has changed this fall with the arrival of Holliday- a former West Virginia assistant- who knows this rival as well as anyone. He’s just as eager to play this game as his players are.

Expect West Virginia to win, but for the final score to be closer than many expect. Take Marshall to cover Friday night’s college football line.

The Pick: Marshall +13