No. 2 Baylor maintained its perfect record this season with an emphatic 59-point victory over Kansas on Saturday. The Bears will look to stretch their unbeaten run even further when they take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in a marquee Big 12 clash this coming Saturday.
Who will grab the edge in this blockbuster showdown? Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this college football matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Michigan and No. 8 Florida vs. No. 6 LSU.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Baylor Bears Preview
Where: McLane Stadium, Waco, Texas
When: Saturday, October 17, 12:00 PM ET
Line: West Virginia Mountaineers (+21.5) at Baylor Bears (-21.5) – view all NCAA Football lines
Betting on the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-2)
West Virginia’s playoff hopes were dealt a major blow on Saturday night when it suffered a gut-wrenching 33-26 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in Morgantown. Backup quarterback J.W. Walsh scored on a two-yard run on fourth down in overtime to send the Mountaineers crashing to their second consecutive defeat.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]It was a disappointing result for West Virginia, who had won its previous two games against Oklahoma State. The main reason behind the Mountaineers’ meek performance was their unforgivable sloppy play. West Virginia turned the ball over four times against Oklahoma State and the Cowboys turned them into 17 huge points.
They will look to get their season back on track when they take on the streaking Baylor Bears this coming Saturday. For the Mountaineers to record the massive upset, they need to get a much better performance from quarterback Skyler Howard. He completed just 18 of 35 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown with one interception in the loss to the Cowboys.
Howard also fumbled twice and threw a pick in his second-straight lackluster game. A week ago against Oklahoma, he threw three interceptions and also fumbled twice, with one of those fumbles having been returned for a score. It’s crucial that Howard gets his game going against a Baylor defense that’s allowing 363.6 total yards per game this season, 49th in the FBS.
The Mountaineers are 4-3 SU and 3-4 ATS in their last seven road games.
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Betting on the Baylor Bears (5-0)
Baylor will head to its Big 12 showdown against West Virginia with momentum on its side after thrashing Kansas, 66-7, on Saturday. It was another impressive victory for the Bears, who improved their overall season-record to 5-0. The team has won its first five games by an average of 42 points.
Providing the impetus for Baylor’s sizzling start has been their phenomenal offense. The Bears lead the FBS in scoring this season, averaging a whopping 64.2 points per game. Just like in their previous four games, it was Seth Russell who stole the show for the Bears in this win. He completed 18 of 27 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns against the Jayhawks. Corey Coleman was Russell’s favorite target in this one-sided contest, catching seven passes for 108 yards. He also had two touchdowns on the night.
To further illustrate the Bears’ efficiency on the offensive end, they scored on every possession of the first half except their last, and that was only because they ran out of time. Baylor’s first three touchdown drives all went for more than 70 yards, yet none of those scoring drives required more than three minutes and 14 seconds.
The Bears gained a whopping 644 yards against the Jayhawks on Saturday. That being said, they will have their work cut out for them this coming weekend against a solid West Virginia defense. The Mountaineers are 34th in the FBS in scoring defense, allowing just 20.0 points per game this season.
The Bears are 8-1 SU and 5-4 ATS in their last nine home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Baylor (-21.5) coasts to an easy 42-20 win.
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