College football odds handicappers have an attractive Thursday Night Football matchup to consider as the Pitt Panthers host the Miami-FL Hurricanes. Kickoff on ESPN is set for 7:50 PM Eastern and Sbg sportsbook opened with #19 Miami as a 3-point road favorite with an over/under of 50.
Canes Coming off an Embarrassing Letdown
The Miami Hurricanes have had almost two weeks to stew after their embarrassing 36-24 loss at Ohio State in which they failed to cover as 8-point road dogs. Miami enters action at Pitt with a record of 1-1 both straight up and against the spread as both of their games have gone over the total.
Miami was pointing towards the Ohio State game as a measuring stick to prove how far they have come under 4th year coach Randy Shannon but instead lost the game based in large part to their own mistakes as they committed 8 penalties and quarterback Jacory Harris had a bad day with 4 interceptions. Shannon is normally cool and calm but let his team have it after the game with a tirade about their poor performance. Miami will now try and regain “street cred” with fans and gamblers on the national stage at Heinz Field.
Young Pitt in Transition
The Pitt Panthers are also 1-1 straight up but are yet to cover the college football betting odds. They are also coming off a bye week after beating New Hampshire 38-16 as 29.5-point home favorites. Pitt has gone over the total in both of their games. Sophomore quarterback Tino Sunseri has been up and down in his first two games as the starter with a 64% completion rate good for 459 yards and a 3/2 touchdown to interception ratio.
Miami and Harris want Redemption
Harris is a highly touted quarterback on a Miami team with ACC title aspirations. A win over Pitt would help ease the sting of their bad performance at Ohio State and regain Miami’s stature before conference play heats up. Harris continues to have a problem with interceptions but should find Pitt’s 94th ranked pass defense beatable.
Trends
Miami has gotten the money in 7 out of their last 10 non-conference games but is just 3-13 with the college football odds after a bye week. Pitt has covered 7 out of their last 10 games at home.