South Florida Bulls @ Florida State Seminoles (#18)
Football: United States, NCAA Football 2009/2010
Saturday, 26th September 2009 - Kickoff 12:00 PM ET

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South Florida (3-0)

South Florida is trying to establish itself as one of the powers in Florida and they have finally gotten a game against Florida State. South Florida fans will say Florida State has been scared of them.

They have been a decent team the past few years. Although they are 3-0 so far this year, you would have a hard time finding 3 worse opponents (2 of the opponents play in a lower division). So their impressive numbers so far this year should not really be considered.

Another factor is that their starting QB Matt Grothe was lost for the season last week. Although he wasn’t very good, he has been their only QB for the past 3 years and South Florida will have to turn to an inexperienced QB for this huge game.

Florida State (2-1)

Florida State, on the other hand, is coming off a huge win last week, beating BYU (ranked #7 at the time) 54-28 in Utah. They were 8.5 point underdogs at kickoff. But Florida State dominated the game, gaining over 500 yards on offense. They forced 5 turnovers and held the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes.

Florida State had looked lackluster in their second game, narrowly beating tiny Jacksonville State.

Their first game of the year was an exciting game with Miami that they ended up losing 38-34. However, Miami has risen to #9 in the latest rankings so this loss doesn’t seem too bad now.

THe Betting Verdict

Typically, this game might be one that Florida State would struggle with. They have had some tough games with smaller schools as they do not seem to always take them seriously.

However, South Florida has been begging for this game to prove themselves and Florida State will want to knock them back down a notch.

With an inexperienced QB playing in front of a full, hostile stadium, things could turn ugly for South Florida. It should also be noted that South Florida are 2-9 against the point spread in their last 11 games against teams with a winning record.

The Pick :

Florida State 41, South Florida 17

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Florida State and give the 14 points.