Fargo's CFB Rivalry Rout Pt1 (22-13 Run)

This is a play on the WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS for our CFB Rivalry Rout Pt1. West Virginia came up small for us two weeks ago against Penn St. as it could not take advantage of a lengthy weather delay that could have changed the momentum that Penn St. had in its favor but the Nittany Lions were able to pull away for the easy win. The Mountaineers rebounded last week in a 49-14 win over a good Albany team from the FCS as they regained some confidence, notably quarterback Garrett Greene who tossed his first three touchdowns of the season. This is just the third meeting of the Backyard Brawl after an 11-year hiatus but this is still a bitter rivalry and this is the best West Virginia team since its revival. The Mountaineers come in as the favorite as they should be but they come in as a short favorite as our two sets of ratings have them at -5.5 and -10.5 so catching anything under a field goal is great. While it is a big rivalry, Pittsburgh does not have a big home field edge playing all of its home games at an NFL stadium. Things were looking good for Cincinnati last week as it had a 12-point lead late in the third quarter but decided to play some prevent football and allowed the Panthers to come all the way back for the victory. That was a huge momentum win for Pittsburgh as it is now 2-0 and their offensive attack, led by quarterback Eli Holstein and running back Desmond Reid, is averaging 41.5 ppg through two weeks. We are not sold on this offense however as the Panthers averaged 20.2 ppg last season and their early numbers are skewed by playing Kent St. in the first game. The defensive numbers are also skewed based on that opponent and also the fact the Bearcats decided to take their foot off the gas and go vanilla. The defense was bad in their 3-9 season in 2023 and now they will be facing their toughest offense that has scored 30 or more points in eight of their last 10 games going back to last season, the only exceptions coming against Oklahoma St. and Penn St. 10* (141) West Virginia Mountaineers