College Football Betting Online: For the first time in five seasons, the Panthers got to eight wins in 2015 and there is a cautious optimism in Pittsburgh. Panthers’ fans have been burned before though, having seen six different coaches since that last eight win season. Pat Narduzzi is back for his second season though and has a shot to take this team to an ACC Coastal Division title.
Pittsburgh Panthers Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Panthers Over 8 +135
Panthers Under 8 -175
2015 PITTSBURGH PANTHERS SEASON REVIEW
Nathan Peterman came over from Tennessee and unseated Chad Voytik as the starter in his first season at Pitt. He was solid in his first season as the starter, completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 2287 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Peterman was a fantastic game manager in ACC play and a big part of the team’s success, only throwing one interception in eight games.
The running game suffered an unexpected loss when James Conner tore his MCL in the opening game of the season. Conner was the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year coming into the season, but the loss didn’t sting as badly as it could have thanks to the emergence of Qadree Ollison. Ollison was the ACC Rookie Player of the Year as a freshman, running for 1121 yards and 11 touchdowns and averaged 5.3 yards per play.
Pitt demonstrably improved last season, winning eight games and looking sharp in its four regular season losses. The Panthers scored five road wins and beat quality teams like Virginia Tech, Duke, and Louisville, and lost by just one score to Iowa, North Carolina, and Miami.
WHAT CHANGED
Conner received awful news in December when he announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer. It seemed an extremely cruel blow for a player who had already lost his season to injury, but Conner never lost hope. He battled back and aggressively pursued treatment while maintaining his trademark positive attitude and work ethic. In May, the story came full circle as Conner announced that he was cancer free and ready to play this upcoming season. Although he probably won’t be the specimen he once was as he fully works his way back into shape, it’s still a fantastic story.
The Panthers will have a new offensive coordinator this season in Matt Canada after Jim Chaney left for Georgia this offseason. Canada led some good offenses at NC State and the Panthers should have solid numbers in 2016.
2016 PITTSBURGH PANTHERS SEASON PREVIEW
Pittsburgh traditionally tries to win games running the ball and will have a solid duo in Ollison and Conner. Ollison is a bull of a running back and can bowl over defenders on a whim and Conner will be a beast if he can recover quickly. Those running backs help complement Nathan Peterman well and won’t turn the ball over.
The Panthers ratcheted up the pressure last year and almost doubled their 2014 sack total. Almost all of those sacks are back this season and Pittsburgh should again be one of the best in the conference at getting to the quarterback. Ejuan Price will be a force of a nature in his senior season after amounting 11.5 sacks and winning First Team All-ACC honors in 2015.
Narduzzi and Pitt should be much better this season, but the schedule does them no favors. The Panthers have two tough stretches that will determine their fate. In the first month of the season, they host Penn State, before traveling to Oklahoma State and North Carolina in consecutive weeks and in November Pitt travels to Miami and Clemson in back-to-back weeks. Eight wins is most likely for this squad, but seven is far more likely than nine.
College Football Odds: Pittsburgh Panthers Under 8 Wins -175
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