It\u2019s pretty clear that the No. 2 LSU Tigers are national title contenders. The question this week is whether or not No. 16 West Virginia throws its name into the hat, too. A road win over Maryland was impressive for the Mountaineers but beating LSU this week, even at home, would mean much more. <\/p>\n
NCAAF Week 4: LSU vs West Virginia<\/strong> (2) LSU Tigers (3-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n Is LSU the country\u2019s best team? Let\u2019s rephrase. Is LSU the country\u2019s best defensive team? I think yes. The Tigers rank sixth in the nation in total defense despite facing Oregon in Week 1 and Mississippi State in Week 3. If they had faced some remotely average offenses, they\u2019d be first in total \u201cD\u201d easily.<\/p>\n The Tigers\u2019 run defense has been particularly impressive, holding opponents to just 47.7 yards per game, but the pass defense is no slouch either, allowing just 160 yards per contest.<\/p>\n Offensively, LSU has found something that works. For the most part, the Tigers have pounded the ball in the running game using Spencer Ware and Michael Ford. In the passing game, they\u2019ve given Jarrett Lee the quarterback reins, finally, and they\u2019re a better team for it. He\u2019s played a solid caretaker role so far, completing 67.8 of his passes for 444 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.<\/p>\n (16) West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n Watching West Virginia dominate in the passing game this season, it\u2019s enough to wonder if Noel Devine was holding the Mountaineers back before he graduated. Maybe they felt they were supposed to give him the rock and run more? [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Now, this is quarterback Geno Smith\u2019s offense. Through three games, he looks like a Heisman Trophy candidate, throwing for 1,008 yards, seven touchdowns and one pick.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to gauge how good or bad West Virginia\u2019s defense is so far. Maryland was the first above-average attack it faced and, while the Mountaineers won, it wasn\u2019t because they stopped Maryland from moving the ball. They allowed 477 total yards, 188 rushing and 289 passing, getting beaten either way.<\/p>\n The pick:<\/strong><\/p>\n Smith looks great but, overall, I\u2019m not a believer in West Virginia just yet. The Mountaineers have battled Marshall, Norfolk State and Maryland, not exactly a who\u2019s who of stingy defenses. LSU will be an astronomical step up and I\u2019m not sure if West Virginia will be prepared.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think LSU will romp, as its offense isn\u2019t dominant, but it\u2019s efficient enough to minimize mistakes and do enough to win.<\/p>\n Look for LSU to give West Virginia a wakeup call in Week 4.<\/p>\n LSU vs West Virginia prediction: <\/strong>LSU 24, West Virginia 13<\/p>\n Money Line: LSU -220 The 2011 CFB Season is finally here. Welcome to the CappersPicks.com college football weekly predictions pages! We KNOW you will find our FREE weekly college football picks<\/strong><\/a>, tips, betting advice, strategies, CFB gambling articles and more to help you become the best College football bettor on your block!! <\/p>\n LSU Tigers vs. West Virginia Mountaineers this week. LSU is a 6 point favorite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":24479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43806,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43792\/revisions\/43806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDate: <\/strong>Saturday, September 24, 2011
\nVenue: <\/strong>Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, West Virginia
\nBroadcast: <\/strong>ABC HD
\nLouisiana State Tigers at West Virginia Mountaineers Betting Lines from BetOnline.com<\/strong>
\nMoney Line: <\/strong>LSU -220, West Virginia +190
\nSpread: <\/strong>LSU -6
\nOver\/Under: <\/strong>48<\/p>\n
\nSpread: LSU -6
\nOver\/Under: UNDER 48<\/strong><\/p>\nCLICK HERE FOR THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS ALL SEASON LONG —–><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"