Boise St vs BYU NCAA Football Odds
The Boise State Broncos haven’t been a dominant force this season, but they do have a respectable 5-2 record entering their contest with the BYU Cougars. The problem is that their starting quarterback will be out with a broken ankle, giving the job to Grant Hedrick.
Boise State (5-2, 3-1 MWC) @ BYU (5-2)
Friday, Oct. 25 8:000 PM ET @ LaVell Edwards Stadium
Moneyline: N/A
Spread: BYU -7.5
O/U: 58
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The backup has just 399 yards in his three years playing quarterback, and he has only one touchdown to show for it. This is a great opportunity to see what the kid has to offer, but the question is whether or not he has it in him to take down the Cougars in his first start.
Boise State
The Boise State Broncos may have two losses on the year, but they’ve won five of their last six, including three in a row entering this contest. Most recently, the Broncos took down the Nevada Wolf Pack 34-17.
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They played well enough to win by 17 points, but they didn’t play well enough to cover the 22-point spread.
In this one, it’s BYU with the edge. We have a battle between Boise State’s offense and BYU’s defense, and at this point, odds makers believe that it’s the defense that will have the edge. On the year, Boise State is averaging 39.9 points per game.
That’s good enough for 19th in the country, and the success has largely been due to the rushing attack (20th in the nation).
Defensively, the Broncos have been respectable, but not good enough to earn much attention. They’re holding opponents to almost 23 points per contest (40th in the country), but their strength of schedule suggests that the number should be a bit lower.
BYU
BYU may not be an elite defensive team, but they are holding their opponents to 21.4 points per game. Just as importantly, they are 37th in the nation in yards allowed per game—a category in which the Broncos allow nearly 400 yards. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
BYU has two big advantages in this game. First and foremost, home-field advantage. Boise State’s two losses this season have both come on the road, and while the Cougars did lose to the Utah Utes at home, they’ve been good enough to take downs teams such as Georgia Tech, Houston and the then-No. 15 Texas Longhorns.
The other big advantage, which we’ve already hit on—but still can’t be ignored—is the insertion of Boise State’s backup quarterback into the starting spot.
Hedrick has virtually no experience at the collegiate level, and the time he has seen has been less than inspiring for fans.
The encouraging sign for the Boise State faithful is that the kid stepped in unexpectedly last week and performed valiantly. He recorded 150 yards through the air, but more impressively, he collected an additional 115 yards on the ground. That type of versatility is crucial in Boise State’s offense, and it will lead the coaching staff to have faith when he’s behind center.
The problem for the Broncos is that while his emergence was unexpected for their own team, it was even more unexpected for the opponent.
Now, BYU has had a chance to prepare for a new guy behind center, and it will have had the time to come up with a fresh game plan entering Friday’s contest.
Score Prediction: BYU 33 – Boise State 23
