From ScoresOddsPicks.com is a preview of Pittsburgh and Utah. The big play on this game is from Big Red. It’s the strongest game on college football schedule tonight for sure.

The No. 15 Pittsburgh Panthers are hoping for a big season—possibly even a BCS Bowl appearance if all goes according to plan. The schedule certainly doesn’t have any breaks early on, though, as the Panthers are underdogs on college football odds to open the season; Utah is favored by 2.5 points in this match up.

No. 15 Pittsburgh at Utah (-2.5) – Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET (Versus)

Despite winning 10 games last year, it was a large disappointment for Pittsburgh; the team settled for a victory over North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Everything fell apart in the season finale, when Pitt blew a 21-point lead to Cincinnati. Now, though, the Panthers are optimistic they have what it takes to get it done.

Dion Lewis is the centerpiece of the offense. He exploded for 1799 yards and 17 touchdowns as a freshman, and he’ll be the bell cow once again. The big-play threat might have to do a lot of the work by himself, though, as the line is inexperienced. The quarterback situation also isn’t particularly sound, with both Tino Sunseri and Pat Bostick vying for time. Lewis and receiver Jonathan Baldwin are being counted on to have massive seasons.

Pittsburgh’s defense features two dynamite ends in Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard. Their play will be crucial against Utah’s spread offense. The line is breaking in two new defensive tackles but there’s enough depth here to get the job done.

Quarterback Jordan Wynn didn’t start a ton of games for Utah last season but, when he did, he was fantastic, averaging about 250 yards per game. Now a sophomore, he’s poised to lead Utah’s spread offense to the next level. The Utes have a fine power running game to compliment the pass, led by Eddie Wide (1069 yards last year). Matt Asiata, who was penciled in as the starter ahead of Wide last season, is also back in the mix.

Utah has two solid defensive tackles in Sealver Siliga and Dave Kruger, which should help at least slow Dion Lewis. The ends are solid too, making for a formidable front. The defensive backs are the real weak spot, though Pitt probably won’t throw the ball a ton on Thursday.

Both teams are gearing up for what they hope are breakthrough seasons. Lewis is a superstar in the making and, while Utah has a great line to slow him down, the running back will still draw plenty of attention. That will allow Baldwin to run free, much like he did last year en route to 1111 yards and eight scores.

Top expert pick on this game: The biggest outlaw book in the southeast is “Catfish Parker”. He also is in constant contact with his colleagues from around the nation. Nobody has a better pulse on where “outlaw money” is going. At 4:03 ET he says there is big, big time local strong “local” money (not tracked by offshore or Vegas books) on the Pittsburgh-Utah national TV side.

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