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It's an intriguing match-up this week in college football for ESPN's Thursday night game as No. 21 West Virginia tries to salvage some credibility when it visits Colorado at 8:30 p.m. EST, with the Colorado Buffaloes set as 3-point underdogs on Sportsbook.com. The Mountaineers (1-1) were Big East favorites before the season and certainly still could win that conference, but WVU's ugly 24-3 loss on Sept. 6 at East Carolina was a blow to all of the Big East. ECU stifled that potent West Virginia offense, sacking QB Pat White three times and limiting the Mountaineers to only 143 yards rushing. No wonder WVU failed to score a touchdown for the first time in 82 games.
 Note: The opinions in this free college football predictions article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Doc's Sports Advisory Board. One of the nation's best rushing teams this decade, West Virginia is averaging only 164 yards on the ground this season, which ranks 50th in Division I-A. And WVU hasn't even played a BCS conference team yet.
"We definitely have to establish the run," White said. "If you can't run the ball, people are just going to sit out in coverage and stop everything. You've got to balance it out and have both."
Look for WVU to get the ball in the hands of sophomore sensation Noel Devine more, beginning on Thursday night against the Buffs.
While White has thrown the football 51 times in the first two games, easily the highest two-game total of his career, Devine is averaging just 10.5 carries a game and 4.5 pass receptions. Including a couple of kickoff returns, he's touched the ball 32 times, or 16 per game. That's not enough for a guy with his game-changing talent.
"He needs to get the ball more,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said, adding that means 18-22 carries out of the backfield, five to seven passes and maybe a kickoff return or two. "He's strong enough, good enough and durable enough to do that."
WVU is 10-8 career against Big 12 teams, with that last win a memorable one: The 48-28 demolition of Oklahoma in last season's Orange Bowl. But West Virginia has never played against Colorado.
The Buffaloes are 2-0 and have yet to play a road game. They handled rival Colorado State in the opener but had to rally against Division I-AA Eastern Washington on Sept. 6. CU trailed 24-17 with four minutes remaining before pulling out a 31-24 victory.
Colorado has been good against the run, allowing an average of 59 yards per game on the ground over its first two games, but neither Colorado State nor Eastern Washington comes close to what West Virginia will bring.
In addition, the Buffs have struggled running the ball themselves despite the presence of one of the nation's top freshman recruits in running back Darrell Scott. CU is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, only 90th in the nation.
Scott said the Buffs have gone back to basics and that the backs and offensive linemen have spent extra time before and after practices.
"We've been working on our timing and how everything is supposed to develop," Scott said this week. "We're trying to get our steps down and get fluid with everything. I think everything is in sync now."
With both teams struggling on the ground, an under bet on the total of 57 on Sportsbook.com seems like a wise move. CU could get an advantage in that the official elevation of Morgantown, W.Va., is 960 feet above sea level, compared to 5,345 for Boulder. So the Mountaineers could take some time to adjust to the thin air.
However, Colorado has been a home underdog six times since the 2006 season and is only 2-4 straight up and ATS in that stretch. This will be the first Thursday night regular season game for CU since 1992.
Free College Football Predictions: Look for the game to be sluggish at the start but for Devine to be the difference here. WVU covers the 3-point spread on Sportsbook.com.
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