The West Virginia Mountaineers are coming off a statement win after storming back to beat Texas Tech 46-35 last weekend. The Mountaineers improved to 4-2 and suddenly look like they have the potential to be a force in the Big 12 this season. West Virginia will get an excellent opportunity to improve their position in the conference standings when they visit the Baylor Bears this weekend. Baylor fell to 0-6 with a 59-16 loss at Oklahoma State last week and it’s hard to imagine them turning things around enough to offer much resistance versus the Mountaineers when they clash this Saturday night.
Details
Odds: West Virginia -9
Date & Time: Saturday October 21st, 2017 – 8:00 PM ET
Location: McLane Stadium, Waco, Texas
Broadcast: Big 12
Reasons To Bet On The West Virginia Mountaineers
Florida transfer quarterback Will Grier has been absolutely outstanding in the Mountaineers offense this season. Grier has thrown for over 2,000 passing yards and 21 touchdowns with just five interceptions. After a close loss to TCU it appeared as though West Virginia would be in trouble but they bounce back with a 22-0 fourth quarter run to steal a victory against Texas Tech last week and should have all of the confidence in the world heading in to this week’s matchup. Grier was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after he threw for 351 yards and five touchdowns in that comeback win. All eyes will be on the young passer to see what he has in store for an encore performance this Saturday. The Mountaineers enter Week 8 on the fringe of the playoff picture in the Big 12. A lopsided win over Baylor on the road should keep them in the mix this weekend.
Reasons To Bet On The Baylor Bears
Anybody expecting a letdown from West Virginia following last week’s dramatic comeback win might elect to take the points and bet on the Bears as a 10.5-point underdog at home. However, Baylor has looked absolutely awful while opening the year with six straight losses. Running back Terence Williams averaged 9.5 yards per carry while rushing for 95 yards in last week’s game against Oklahoma State but the Bears still lost by 43 points. Williams is still not 100-percent as he continues his recover from a shoulder injury and even if he does produce at a high level it won’t guarantee that Baylor keeps this game close.
Outlook
The Mountaineers opened as the clear-cut favorite in this game but the betting line has moved around quite a bit since it popped up. We saw the Mountaineers open as a 9.5-point favorite for this game but that line has moved both ways. It climbed as high as -10.5 as the early piled in on West Virginia but all of the money since has been on Baylor. At last check, the Mountaineers are now just a nine-point favorite for this game. We’ve seen similar indecision on the total too as the line opened at 69.5 but has moved up to 71 before coming back down to 69.5. Clearly, there are some differing opinions on this contest among the betting public.
The Mountaineers have put themselves in an excellent position heading in to this date with the winless Bears. Now they need to capitalize and improve their position in the Big 12 with another important win on the road. West Virginia is capable of scoring points in bunches with Grier under center and there isn’t any reason to expect Baylor to slow them down. The Bears have allowed an average of 46.0 points over their last two losses and the Mountaineers offense is just as capable as the attacks they faced when they played Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Look for West Virginia to extend its win streak and hand Baylor another lopsided loss at home. We like the fact that the line has dropped as now a 10-point win gets us a cover. When the line was higher – at 10.5 – it made it a bit more challenging but with it where it is now, we’ll lay the points with the Mountaineers.
Prediction: West Virginia -9
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