Pittsburgh Panthers at Connecticut Huskies 2010 NCAAF Week 11 Odds, Preview, and Predictions: Head football coach Dave Wannstedt will lead his Pittsburgh Panther team on the road to Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Thursday night to take on the Connecticut Huskies at 7:45 PM ET on ESPN. The Huskies enter the game at 4-4, 1-2 5th in the Big East Conference but are a more dangerous team than their record would seem, while the Panthers are 5-3, 3-0 1st in the Big East and control their own destiny over their final four games to make a BCS Bowl. Pitt has been off for a bye week and has been working on its proficiency in the Red Zone. “When you see they are No. 1 in the conference in red zone offense, it gets your attention,” Wannstedt said. “I think even when you look at the games that we won, we weren’t as efficient as we want to be and then when you look at the games — like Utah and Notre Dame — we got down there a few times and came away with only three or even zero points. That is the difference in some games.” Vegas odds makers have the Pittsburgh Panthers a -5 1/2 point favorite on the road against the Connecticut Huskies.
The Panthers were off last week but previously won 20-3 at home against the Louisville Cardinals to move to 4-1-2 against the spread for the season. Quarterback Tino Sunseri completed 13 of 24 passes for 123 yards and also carried the ball 4 times for an additional 23 yards. Running back Dion Lewis carried the ball 18 times for just 65 yards and a touchdown and Ray Graham carried 9 times for 40 yards and a score. Pittsburgh is 4-0-1 ATS in its last 5 games. Lewis was touted as an early Heisman Trophy Candidate but has not followed up as well from his stellar freshman season.
UConn is coming off an impressive 16-13 win over Big East foe the West Virginia Mountaineers at home to move to 3-4 against the spread for the season. Quarterback Zack Frazier completed 18 of 29 passes for 166 yards but running back Jordan Todman carried the offense on 33 runs for 113 yards and a touchdown. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Connecticut’s last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh. Odds makers at JustBet have the over/under for the total score at 46 1/2 points combined of the Pittsburgh Panthers and Connecticut Huskies.