Auburn vs. West Virginia Betting Odds & Picks: October 23rd 2008

Free Pick: Auburn @ West Virginia u38.5 Betting Odds - Thursday October 23rd ‘08 7:45p
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This is a play that I probably, no scratch that, definitely wouldn’t have made a year ago. But with Rich Rodriguez gone to Michigan, the Mountaineers look lost offensively. I don’t think Auburn HAS an offense so if you’re looking for a” score-a-thon” this won’t be it.

Speaking of Rich Rodriguez, (I know I’m off “message”) his leaving for Michigan is a classic example of this being a move that’s BAD for both teams. Rodriguez would disagree given the nice, fat contract. But West Virginia is not as good and I don’t think Michigan is good at all. That’s just an opinion I felt compelled to drop in. Now back to tonight’s game.

WV QB Pat White was a Heisman favorite before the season. His numbers are okay, but not great. On the year, White has thrown for 590 yards with nine touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 428 yards and two touchdowns. But he isn’t the game changer under Bill Stewart that he was under Rodriguez. In fact the Mountaineers are averaging just 22 PPG and 342 yard per game this season compared to 456 yards per game under Rodriguez last season. And lost in all the negative talk about the offense and the dissapointing start, the Mountaineers defense has been a huge surprise. West Virginia is first in the Big East and 14th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 14.7 points per game. Thru the years Auburn has been one of those “screw you” teams. They’ve cost me more money than I care to add up. But after seeing them play every week this season, maybe it’s my turn to “screw you” Tommy Tuberville!

Seriously you pretty much know what to expect from a Tuberville coached team. You’ll get a great defensive effort and (usually) just enough offense to get the job done. The Tigers are 103rd in the country in scoring, 104th in total offense and 103rd in pass offense. Far be it for me to explain this scoring challenged team. Not when Coach T can boil it down for you:

‘We just have to find a way to make plays. It is pretty obvious. You can run passing plays, and you can run running plays and you can do all of those things but unless you execute and get it done, it is not a mystery. It is 11 guys executing. I thought for a couple of weeks back a few weeks ago we looked pretty good. For the last three weeks now, we just don’t have any consistency at all.’
Thank goodness there’s the defense which is an absolutely holy terror. The Tigers are third in the SEC in scoring defense (13.7 ppg) and first in third down conversion percentage (22.7 percent).

Unlike Auburn, though, West Virginia has at least some cause for optimism on the offensive side of the ball. Besides White, there’s running back Noel Devine who ran for 188 yards against Syracuse (I could run for 188 against the ‘Cuse”). He is second in Big East rushing and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

Here are some other TASTY morsels for tonight’s game:
WVU hasn’t lost on a Thursday night at home in 82 years! ( I think John McCain was beginning his career in the senate about then). Auburn is 6-1 all-time in Thursday night games, including a 3-0 mark under Tuberville. And did I mention that the two teams are a combined 2-10 to the UNDER? Auburn is also 7-2 to the low side in their last nine games, 6-2 to the UNDER in their last eight road games while West Virginia is 5-0 to the UNDER at home this season. So forget Joe the plumber. Let’s enjoy Tommy the football coach and Pat the Quarterback. No Hockey mom’s allowed here. This is going to be smash mouth football at it’s finest. Just don’t expect a lot of points.