West Virginia Mountaineers at East Carolina Pirates

The Pirates of East Carolina (1-0 SU & ATS), brimming with confidence after a major upset, will try to avoid the letdown as they host the West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0 SU, 0-0 ATS) in NCAA football action that is scheduled for a 4:30 PM ET kickoff on Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (natural turf) in Greenville, NC.

Saturday, September 6

BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: WEST VIRGINIA -8

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* WV has won eight of its last nine games SU

* WV has covered five of its last six road games

* WV has won 16 of its last 18 road games SU

* WV has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total

* ECU has won and covered five of its last six games

* ECU has won and covered four of its last five home games

* ECU has played six of its last nine home games OVER the total

* WV has covered five of the last seven meetings

* WV has won the last seven meetings SU

* The last three meetings have gone UNDER the total

It may be tricky to get too euphoric about West Virginia's performance in its first game without Rich Rodriguez at the controls, because the Mountaineers looked somewhat out of character, with Patrick White throwing the ball 33 times and Noel Devine getting just nine carries out of the backfield. Then again, it was a pretty good "Championship Subdivision" opponent they were facing last weekend in Villanova, possibly better than a few of the Division I teams on their schedule.

White threw for five touchdowns, bettering his previous career high by three, in the 48-21 win that marked the official beginning of the "Bill Stewart era."

Still, one has to wonder whether WVU is going to be able to live by the pass in many games, especially with teams who have a well-drilled defense like that possessed by East Carolina, which held Virginia Tech to just 243 total yards and feels it may be moving to a new level under coach Skip Holtz. In a bizarre game, ECU had an extra point blocked and returned for a two-pointer, and saw two of its turnovers lead to Hokie touchdowns. However, a blocked punt in the waning moments was run in for a TD and the win.

Patrick Pinkney demonstrated he was someone to be reckoned with, as he completed 19 of 23 passes and scored on a touchdown run. Perhaps more significantly for our purposes, the Pirates ran their pointspread record to 27-11 since Holtz, son of former Notre Dame, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Arkansas, etc., etc. coach Lou Holtz assumed the reins of the program.

Getting up twice in a row is tough to do in college football. But maybe Holtz will remind his troops of last year's debacle, where West Virginia rolled to an easy 49-7 win where it gained 397 yards on the ground, with White completing 18 of 20 passes.

As for this year's WVU edition, Devine is, well, devine, but the Mountaineers will have to readjust not only to the loss of Rodriguez but also workhorse running back Steve Slaton, who is in Houston with the Texans. Let's go with high-spirited, overachieving ECU to get at least reasonably close to extracting some revenge at home, as we take the points with the Pirates, the eight-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: EAST CAROLINA +8 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay of www.ebookies.com gives it more than the old college try as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)