Thursday Night Throwdown: Colorado @ West Virginia & Southern Miss @ UAB

Two games on the schedule for tonight (3 if you count Alcorn St. @ Arkansas-Pine Bluff which will be on ESPNU at 6:30 PM tonight) to preview for you.  Here it goes.


1.  Colorado @ West Virginia 6:30 PM CDT ESPN

I've had a chance to watch Colorado twice this season, and neither time have they looked very good.  After losing opening weekend to Colorado State 23-17, the Buffs were just destroyed on national television @ Toledo 54-38.  The game wasn't even that close with Toledo taking a 30-3 lead early in the 3rd quarter.  They did right the ship somewhat two weeks ago with a 24-0 win over Wyoming.  Coach's son QB Cody Hawkins leads the offense with 755 pass yards on the year.  He has just a 5/4 TD/INT ratio however and only a 52% completion percentage.  Rodney Stewart gets most of the carries at running back, but sopomore Darrell Scott has a lot of upside as a prep All-American in high school.

The Mountaineers come into the game with a 2-1 record defeating Liberty and East Carolina and losing only to Auburn.  Although they should have beaten the Tigers were it not for some bad turnovers late in the game.  QB Jarrett Brown has had the unenviable task of attempting to replace All-Everything quarterback Pat White.  White is now in the NFL, and Brown hasn't exactly played spectacular .  He does sport a 69% completion percentage with a nearly 9 yard per attempt average, but 5 TDs to go with 5 INTs isn't going to cut it.  On the ground, Noel Devine is a super stud.  He is listed at 5'8'', 176lbs  but that must be on stilts holding rocks.  The kid is 5'5'' at best and can't be more than 150 soaking wet.  But kid can move and has been a YouTube sensation since his freshman year of high school. 

I expect a hard fought low scoring ground battle in this contest.  Vegas has WVU as 17 point favorites in the game, but thats probably not enough.  I say 23-3 West Virginia tonight.


2.  Southern Mississippi @ UAB 7:00 PM CBS College Sports

The Golden Eagles come into the ae with a 3-1 record with wins over Alcorn State, UCF, and Virginia with the only loss against Kansas.  Some considered the Eagles a dark horse BCS Buster.  UAB's record is a flipped 1-3 with a win over Rice, but losses to SMU, Troy, and Texas A&M.  And some of those losses were pretty ugly.  Eagle quarterback Austin Davis has nearly 1,000 yards passing on the young season already with an 8/1 TD/INT ratio.  On the ground, Damion Fletcher is a likely NFL draft pick this April and as 76 carries already this season.  DeAndre Brown leads the team in receptions after coming off of a horrible injury in last season's bowl game.  I couldn't find any Vegas odds on this game, but I would have to assume they favor the Golden Eagles by 12 or 13.  I like Southern Miss to dominate and get a pretty large victory tonight 35-10.