Northwestern +4.5 against Pitt in NYC
Pitt has put together an impressive season with two major skins on the wall against Clemson and Penn State. Despite all that the finished fourth in a pedestrian ACC Coastal.
They have a run heavy offense ranked 26. Unfortunately for them, Northwestern brings the 31 ranked run D. When they are forced to pass they have to rely on a QB who, while not turning the ball over much, is not very efficient in completing passes at 59%.
Northwestern is pretty balanced offensively. They are ranked poorly as a running offense but do present an NFL level running back in Jackson. I don' expect them to be very efficient with the run but Fitzgerald rarely loses his devotion to it. The teams kind of mirror each other in that NU also has a QB who can be erratic, not in giving up the ball but in accuracy. However, as a sophomore, Thorson is on the come and I expect the month of practice to have made an impact on him.
This looks like a very balanced game. Two good run D and two bad pass D. Two good running backs and two inaccurate QB. This leaves me wondering why there is so much love for Pitt in this one. I don't expect them to have an overwhelming home field advantage as there are plenty of NU grads repatriated in NYC. They certainly won't have a motivational advantage as NU coach Fitzgerald is the rah-rahriest of rah-rah coaches. I have to believe the public is just wrong. This should be a pickem type game from my perspective and so, I will take the Cats and the 4.5.
Give it a little time and you might be able to get even better than that.
Pitt has put together an impressive season with two major skins on the wall against Clemson and Penn State. Despite all that the finished fourth in a pedestrian ACC Coastal.
They have a run heavy offense ranked 26. Unfortunately for them, Northwestern brings the 31 ranked run D. When they are forced to pass they have to rely on a QB who, while not turning the ball over much, is not very efficient in completing passes at 59%.
Northwestern is pretty balanced offensively. They are ranked poorly as a running offense but do present an NFL level running back in Jackson. I don' expect them to be very efficient with the run but Fitzgerald rarely loses his devotion to it. The teams kind of mirror each other in that NU also has a QB who can be erratic, not in giving up the ball but in accuracy. However, as a sophomore, Thorson is on the come and I expect the month of practice to have made an impact on him.
This looks like a very balanced game. Two good run D and two bad pass D. Two good running backs and two inaccurate QB. This leaves me wondering why there is so much love for Pitt in this one. I don't expect them to have an overwhelming home field advantage as there are plenty of NU grads repatriated in NYC. They certainly won't have a motivational advantage as NU coach Fitzgerald is the rah-rahriest of rah-rah coaches. I have to believe the public is just wrong. This should be a pickem type game from my perspective and so, I will take the Cats and the 4.5.
Give it a little time and you might be able to get even better than that.
