A Gambler's Guide to UNLV at WVU: The Recap

Well, that was fun.  Two things I learned on Saturday:  WVU's offense can look pretty darned good when all the parts are working together (and we're playing UNLV), and I'm really not a very good gambler.  As you may remember, in a post last week I set out the odds and lines for certain random events I thought may occur at Saturday's game.  I even threw out a challenge that I'd buy a beer for anyone who could beat me at my own game.  Two of you actually accepted.  Let's see how we fared:

The line:   WVU OVER/UNDER 40 points:

The pick:  UNDER.

The result:  OVER.  WVU's offense almost got 40 in in the first half alone thanks to Brad Starks' first four catches this season, three of which went for touchdowns.  The only time there was a letup was after we put in our backups.  We have a much more difficult opponent this week, but hopefully this result bodes well for the rest of the season.

The line:  Noel Devine OVER/UNDER 15 touches:

The pick: OVER.  Not only did I miss badly on setting the line, I missed badly on my reasoning.  At least Noel made the most of his 3 carries, going off for 84 yards and 2 TDs.  It was good to see the backups get some work, but I'm not overly impressed with any of them.

The line:  First player to score a TD:

Noel Devine: 8 to 1

Tyler Bitancurt: 10 to 1

Jock Sanders: 12 to 1

Geno Smith: 15 to 1

Tavon Austin: 15 to 1

UNLV: 20 to 1

Another WVU player: 25 to 1

The pick: UNLV.

The result:  Another WVU player.  Raise your hand if you got the invitation to Brad Starks' coming out party.  Because I sure didn't.  But I'm glad I was there.  A quality (average? serviceable? living, breathing?) deep threat could really open up things underneath for the rest of our offense.

The line:  Attendance OVER/UNDER 57,500.

The pick: OVER (but barely). 

The result:  OVER (58,234).  About what I expected.  I was really impressed with the 350 students who stuck it out through the brutal temperatures and severe weather to watch Matt Lindamood score his first career TD.

The line:  5th Year Senior (-3.5 beers) @ Charley West.

The pick:  Take 5YS and the beers.

The result:  5YS.  Charley ended up forfeiting this because he was unable to make it, but 5YS would have won anyway.

The line:  Who will be in the staidum first:

Country Roads: 3 to 2

5th Year Senior: 5 to 1

WVUIE97: 5 to 1

Charley West: 10 to 1

The 25314: 28 to 1

The pick:  "In my stone-cold lock of the week, bet the house on Country Roads."

The result:  In the upset of the century, WVUIE97.  Thanks to some unforseen delays that were in no way any fault of my own, I didn't even get to the Boston Beanery until 2:00.  By the time I finished my Ranch Roast Beef and my Dominion Hop Mountain Pale Ale, it was 2:45 and both WVUIE97 (2:40) and 5YS (2:45) had already beat me into the stadium. 

The line:  WVU record on 10/10/10 OVER/UNDER 3.5-1.

The pick:  OVER.

The result:  OVER.

My final result?  3-4 with one colossal gaffe in picking myself to get in the stadium first.  I was glad to have lost on the point total and Devine's total touches, though.  Other than my record here and my delay getting to the stadium, there was really not much to complain about.  Hopefully WVU can put together a repeat performance on Thursday.  Oh, and congrats to EatSchmittPitt35 (5-2) and JPFanshawe (4-3) for beating me on the picks.