Tennessee at Pittsburgh – College Football Predictions
Posted September 8, 2022
The Game
Revenge time, yo.
The Vols strut into town feeling pretty good after drilling Ball St in their opener. They’d love to issue some payback to a Pitt team that beat them on their home field in 2021. Pitt took care of West Virginia in a very exciting edition of the Backyard Brawl last week (W 38-31) and will look to show their CLAWS once again vs Tennessee, this time as a home dog.
Let’s go!
The Details
Tennessee -6.5 Pittsburgh (66.5)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Tennessee -5.5
MEGALOCKS market consensus – Tennessee -2.9
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Tennessee 36.5 Pittsburgh 30
The Match-Up:
Tennessee offense vs Pittsburgh defense
The high-flying Vols offense rolls into enemy territory after putting up 59 points in their opener vs Ball St (W 59-10)…….They rolled for 218 yards on the ground and threw for 351 yards so it’ll be a major test for a Pitt D that got worked by the Mountaineers last week (190 rush, 214 pass). Pitt allowed 34 points to the Vols in last year’s win (an 88 STAR MEGALOCKS SAFE AND EFFECTIVE LOCK winner) but note that the abomination that is Joe Milton started at QB for Tennessee LY. They were much more dangerous once Hendon Hooker took over. We expect the Panthers to force some negative plays here and there, but also expect them to get ROASTED on the regular.
Pittsburgh offense vs Tennessee defense
For all the talk about Pitt transforming into Army or Navy this season, it sure didn’t look like it vs West Virginia last week as they only managed 76 yards on the ground. QB Kedon Slovis played well overall but the WR group is definitely down a notch and Slovis is good for taking a 21-yard sack once every few quarters as he runs backwards and turtles. Tennessee is pretty solid vs the run so it’ll be up to Slovis to win this game with his arm and that won’t be an easy task. Kenny Pickett did it last season, but Pitt will need to find a way to be more balanced if they wanna pull the upset.
Trends, Intangibles and More!
Tennessee looks for revenge after losing an entertaining game last year in Knoxville (L 41-34)….It’s no longer called HEINZ FIELD as ketchup is fostering deadly climate change and is a beacon of cultural appropriation….It’s now called Acrisure Stadium, which is very catchy.
Summary
The Panthers appear to be a solid play according to the numbers but we lean to the road team based on their ability to score at will vs anything other than top-tier defenses.
Conclusion
Lean – Tennessee -6.5
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we’ve played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we’re comfortable suggesting a ‘small potatoes’ wager if you want to get some sweet action down on the game. ‘Leans’ are eligible for upgrade to ‘official’ status during the week.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved from a wagering standpoint.