Mountaineers vs Red Raiders NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The final score made it look closer than it really was for West Virginia at Texas last week. It was their first road contest as a member of the BIg 12 and they passed, continuing their ascent up the national rankings.
#4 West Virginia Mountaineers (5-0) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-1)
Saturday October 13
Jones AT&T Stadium – Lubbock, TX
3:30PM
Moneyline: West Virginia -175, Texas Tech +155
Spread: West Virginia -4
O/U: 77
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight! | Buy Ray’s Picks!
West Virginia
Their reward: another road trip to an unfamiliar spot hosted by a team that should be smarting from their loss last week. This is a rare case where an opponent visits Lubbock with the better passing attack.
That is due to Heisman favourite Geno Smith, who was just average by his standard last week, passing for under 300 yards with 4 more TDs. Smith is making an assault on the record book having completed better than 81% of his passed with zero interceptions. Worst of all for opponents WVU might finally be developing some balance running back Andrew Buie ripping through Texas for more than 200 yards last week.
GRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2012 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting!
At its current number this is one of my favourite lines of the week. West Virginia at -4 sounds good to me against almost any opponent but especially so against a Texas Tech squad that was unproven until falling apart against a quality opponent last week. Bet this one with confidence as WVU lines in the future might not be as friendly if they keep winning.
Texas Tech
It is always interesting when programs get to prove their worth (or lack thereof). Texas Tech had one of those chances last week squaring off against Oklahoma as an undefeated team. They performed poorly with their “vaunted” defense surrendering 41 points to the Sooners. Now they face an even more prolific and hot opponent. It is a great opportunity. Win and you are in the conference title picture, lose and confirm you are decidedly second tier, or worse. Your move Tuberville. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
It was no surprise to me that the defense wound up being fraudulent but I was disappointed with the way the offense dried up too last week. Tuberville has not been as pass happy as Mike Leach but Seth Doege usually still puts up numbers. TT was about 100 yards below seasonal averages throwing the ball even though they were playing catchup nearly all game – something that is likely to occur again. The QB will have to shake it off for the Red Raiders to have a chance this weekend.
The only way Texas Tech has a chance in this one is if they do something nobody has done yet this season – slow down the Mountaineers offense. I wouldn’t put a lot that happening. Alternately WVU waltzed in Texas and beat them by 3 after a late score by the Longhorns. Do you think the Red Raiders and going to be able to keep it that tight?
Spread Pick: West Virginia -4
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: West Virginia 45 – Texas Tech 21
