A teaser is also very tempting in this spot, but I like Pitt and the under for the most part. I think Florida State has a ton of potential again this year, but they have a lot of work to do and I think Pitt is facing them at the right time. Pitt is an under rated program that finally has some stability at coaching in Paul Chryst who took two top 10 teams to the wire last year in Louisville and Notre Dame so don't be shocked to find Pitt in this game. Florida State's head coach Jimbo Fisher had to replace both of his coordinators and his top play maker in QB E.J. Manuel. Red shirt freshman Jameis Winston is getting a lot of hype, but the receiving corps is depleted by injuries and he's going on the road for the first time in a hostile environment against PItt's secondary that ranked 21st in pass efficiency defense last year which returns 3 of their 4 starters. I expect Florida State to run the ball a lot behind that offensive line that brings back 4 of the 5 starters.
Running on Pitt has never been easy on the road and they return 3 of their top 4 defensive linemen inclfffuding Aaron Donald who is NFL worthy. Pitt was int he top 25 in yards per carry allowed at home and the Seminoles running game was hit or miss a year ago. I see Pitt really being able to rely on their veteran secondary and stack the box and play against the run setting up some long third downs. Pittsburgh's offense is intriguing as they bring over Tom Savage who has not started for a few years, but once was a 4 star recruit with a big arm. I expect he has a chip on his shoulder and he's got an NFL target in Devin Street at 6'4. I think Pitt can find some room with their offensive line that averages about 315 lbs against a Florida State defense that has to replace all 4 starters up front. Make no mistake this unit will still be great especially with experience returning in the secondary, but Pitt should be competitive in this game. At the end of the day I see a lot of third down stops and a lot of field goals in a tight battle. Neither team seems to have an ability to pass the ball consistently which has me favoring the under which is 7-2 in Florida State's last 9 road games.
