ShareThisCapsule previews of Thursday and Friday's top college games. All times Eastern and all rankings Scripps Legends Poll.
THURSDAY:
No. 16 SOUTH FLORIDA (4-0) at PITTSBURGH (2-2), 8, ESPN.
Favorite: South Florida by 2.
Coaches: Skip Holtz (12-5 in second year at South Florida) and Todd Graham (first year at Pitt).
Last Week: South Florida beat Texas-El Paso, 52-24. Pitt lost at home to Notre Dame, 15-12.
Series History: Pitt leads, 5-3.
Last Meeting: Pitt won, 17-10, last year.
Stat That Matters: Panthers are 1-4 in last five Thursday night games.
Game Facts: Bulls have shown some bite on road lately (four straight wins including Miami, Cincinnati, Notre Dame). A year after throwing 11 TD passes, 13 ints., junior QB B.J. Daniels now leads Big East in passing (82-of-124, 1,071 yards passing, 8 TDs, int.) and still has his nimble feet (215 yards rushing, 2 TDs). DEs Julius Forte, Claude Davis have combined for 6 sacks. Excellent kicking game features K Maikan Bonani (24 FGs since start of last season including last-second game-winners over Miami, Louisville). Panthers have won three straight over Bulls including last year in Tampa where they held USF to 285 total yards, often harassing Daniels, who finished 15-of-29 for 132 yards with int. That was one of few close games Pitt has won lately (6 straight losses in games decided by 6 points or less). For second straight week, Panthers coughed up final-quarter lead last week as Pitt finished with just 268 total yards -- almost half belonging to RB Ray Graham (89 yards rushing, 8 catches, 43 yards). QB Tino Sunseri (22-of-30, 165 passing, TD) didn't complete pass longer than 18 yards. LB Max Gruder leads team with 35 tackles on season.
FRIDAY:
UTAH STATE (1-2) at BRIGHAM YOUNG (2-2), 8, ESPN.
Favorite: BYU by 7-1/2.
Coaches: Gary Andersen (9-18 in third year at Utah State) and Bronco Mendenhall (58-23 in 7th year at BYU).
Last Week: Utah State lost at home to Colorado State, 35-34, in overtime. BYU beat Central Florida, 24-17.
Series History: BYU leads, 43-34-3.
Last Meeting: Utah State won, 31-16, last year.
Stat That Matters: Cougars haven't lost to Aggies in Provo since 1982, winning 11 straight by average score of 40-13.
Game Facts: Battle for Beehive Boot saw upset last year when Aggies toppled Cougars for first win over BYU since 1993. But USU is 3-7 since that raucous night in Logan including pair of heartbreakers this year (42-38 loss at Auburn Sept. 3, last week's loss when RB Robert Turbin was stopped on 2-point run in OT). Aside from that carry, Turbin (10th in nation with 365 rushing, third with 8 TDs) has been impressive, as has freshman QB Chuckie Keeton (593 total offense, 3 TD runs, 2 TD passes, 0 ints. in 60 passes). But defense (97th in nation in scoring, 31.3 ppg) remains big problem. Coming off 54-10 humiliation at home vs. Utah on Sept. 17, Cougars were teetering on brink last week trailing 14-3 in second quarter before rallying for needed win with WR Cody Hoffman's 93-yard TD kickoff return the big play of game. But its getting harder to ignore continued struggles of sophomore QB Jake Heaps (16-of-34, 133 passing, int. last week, 3 TD passes, 5 ints. on season). Offensive coordinator Brandon Doman, former BYU QB, moved to coaches box last week but team still managed only 260 total yards.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
