Huskies-Panthers Line at Pittsburgh -10
The Huskies-Panthers line was coming in at -10 after opening at -9.5 in favor of Pittsburgh.
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Pittsburgh -10 & 41.5
Opening Line & Total: Pitt -9.5 & 42.5
A pair of sub-.500 teams meet in a rare Wednesday night tilt, when Pittsburgh hosts Connecticut in what will be the last Big East meeting between the teams before the Panthers leave for the ACC.
After giving up 81 points in losses to Western Michigan and West Virginia, UConn posted a 16-10 win over USF before last week’s bye. Pittsburgh has lost four of five, scoring 12, 10 and 14 points in its past three defeats. UConn is 4-1 ATS in the past five meetings with Pitt, including three SU wins as the underdog. The Panthers have allowed the most sacks in the nation (34) and have a minus-6 TO margin in the past two games. Since 2007, the Huskies are a stellar 20-10 ATS in Big East play. They also love being the underdogs, posting a 12-5 ATS mark (71%) over the past three seasons when getting points.
Although UConn has four losses already, three of those defeats have come by a touchdown or less. Junior QB Johnny McEntee isn’t going to remind people of Andrew Luck, but he is riding a string of four straight games without an interception in 120 pass attempts. Freshman RB Lyle McCombs has been the star of the Huskies, racking up his third 130-yard rushing game of his brief career in UConn’s 16-10 upset of South Florida in the last game. The Huskies defense has been pretty sound all year, holding five of seven opponents to less than 350 total yards. They rank ninth in the country in rushing defense (89 YPG), but 99th against the pass (262 YPG). However, Pittsburgh’s strength is rushing the football, so UConn should be able to keep the Panthers struggling offense at bay.
Pittsburgh ranks just 59th amongst FBS teams in rushing offense (158 YPG), but it has the nation’s No. 2 rusher in Ray Graham (134 rushing YPG). Graham has been effective in two career games against UConn, rushing for 128 yards on 24 carries (5.3 YPC), but he needs a lot more help from his teammates to get back in the win column. Pitt’s quarterbacks combined to complete 9-of-30 passes for 50 yards and 2 INT in the 26-14 to Utah in its last game. The Utes were ranked 100th in passing defense (268 YPG) entering that matchup. Panthers junior QB Tino Sunseri (5 TD, 7 INT) will likely remain the starter, but he has regressed in a big way after a solid 2010 campaign (16 TD, 9 INT). Sunseri is 18-of-39 for 165 yards, 0 TD and 3 INT in the past two games. On defense, the Panthers rank 95th against the pass (250 YPG), but have held their past four opponents to just 185 passing YPG.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
