GAME PREVIEW: SOUTH FLORIDA AT WEST VIRGINIA

The Big East conference cranks up a notch this weekend, and we will have a much clearer picture of who the real contenders are come Saturday night. The conference takes center stage this Thursday night as West Virginia opens up conference play. It is pretty amazing, here we are Week 7 and West Virginia is about to play their first conference game of the year. With the game just a couple days away let's take a closer look.


South Florida @ West Virginia
7:30 PM - ESPN

West Virginia is defending their home turf again this week as South Florida comes to Morgantown. WVU is coming off a win over UNLV, where they beat up on the Rebels with a 39 point victory. The only loss West Virginia has seen this year came at the hands of LSU, as the Mountaineers lost by 6. WVU really had a chance in pulling out the win, but they ran into the current luckiest man in college football, Les Miles, and the extremely talented LSU Tigers. As mentioned earlier this is West Virginia's first sight of conference action, so look for them to come out ready.

West Virginia's Team Defense is stout, and they should be pretty inclined at the stopping the Bulls' 103rd Passing attack in the country. WVU is led by the likes of Robert Sands (Safety), Brandon Hogan (CB), JT Thomas (LB), and Chris Neild (DT). Overall, one of the best defensive units in the Big East.

West Virginia's QB, Geno Smith, hovers around 66% completion percentage on the year and his career. He's put up almost 1200 yards on the season and 12 TDs. Geno's two main targets at WR are Tavon Austin and Jock Sanders. The duo has combined for 53 receptions, 652 yards, and 4 TDs .  WVU's main option out of the backfield, Noel Devine is averaging 5.3 a carry with 475 yards on the year with 4 TDs. Needless to say this team can light up when given a crease.

So far the Skip Holtz led Bulls have dropped two games. They lost to Florida (Week 2) 14-38. But watching that game, they really blew it at the close of the first half as USF saw their lead evaporate as Florida clawed back in right as the 1st half came to a close. It was really the first noticeable chink in the Florida armor this year, but the The Gators still pulled out the victory as the team is young and in the midst of a reloading period. Bottom line The Gators are still better than USF at every position. The Bulls also missed a great opportunity when the lost a key home game last week when Syracuse came to town. The Cuse is 4-1 this year, matching Doug Marrone's wins from last year where they went 4-8.

The South Florida tailbacks have been productive. Together they have amassed 542 yards and 5 TDs on 108 carries. They will have to step big against the West Virginia defense. As for South Florida's receiving unit, well, it has been pretty disappointing this year. The bright spots have come via Bogan and Landy. They have combined for 24 receptions, 2 TDs, and 434 yards on the season.

South Florida is led by B.J. Daniels, who is having a pretty good year, but his 52% completion percentage has to improve if he wants to win on the road in Morgantown. In the end I like the Mountaineer's defense, offensive weapons, and Bill Stewart's staff. In the end, WVU at home will prove too much for South Florida. I like WVU by 14.


Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cfdaily