Why is no one talking about No. 6 West Virginia as a national championship contender? The Mountaineers are unbeaten and have one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Will Grier. They are less than TD favorites, though, on Saturday at Iowa State.
West Virginia at Iowa State NCAA Football Week 7 Lines
West Virginia is the only FBS school that has not trailed in 2018❗ pic.twitter.com/fRyqXQQa0h
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) 10 de octubre de 2018
- When: Saturday, 7 PM ET
- Where: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames
- TV: Fox Sports 1
- Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
- Radio: TuneIn
- NCAA Football Week 7: WVU -6 (Total 57.5)
Weather Forecast
- Overcast: 11°C/51°F
- Humidity: 71%
- Precipitation: 9%
- Cloud Cover: 87%
- Wind: 9 mph SW
- Stadium Type: Open
Last Season
The Mountaineers edged the Cyclones 20-16 in 2017. Iowa State trailed 20-0 late in the second quarter and never recovered. Will Grier threw two touchdown passes, and Justin Crawford rushed for 102 yards. WVU penalties extended three scoring drives for the Cyclones in the second half, but Iowa State twice settled for field goals inside the 10-yard line to pull within 20-16. The Cyclones got the ball back with five minutes left but West Virginia’s Kenny Robinson broke up Kyle Kempt’s fourth-down pass to Marchie Murdock at the Iowa State 37.
West Virginia has also had success in Ames, winning all three times it has ventured out to Iowa, but all three games have been hotly contested affairs.
Why Bet on West Virginia?
WVU is the only overall unbeaten in the Big 12 – Texas also has no conference losses but does have a non-conference loss. If West Virginia finishes as a one-loss Big 12 champ, with its lone loss coming to Oklahoma in the regular-season finale, its College Football Playoff chances would be around 43.5 percent. The Mountaineers’ problem is they haven’t always looked like a top-four team. West Virginia had four turnovers on Saturday against Kansas, including three interceptions in the red zone.
WVU beat the Jayhawks 38-22. Will Grier recovered from a rocky first half to throw four touchdown passes. Grier’s touchdown tosses were to running back Leddie Brown for 15 yards, tight end Jovani Haskins for 14 yards, running back Martell Pettaway for 12 yards and a late 17-yarder to David Sills V when the outcome was already decided. In between, he threw three first-half red-zone interceptions that took at least nine points off the scoreboard and potentially as many as 21 that would have turned the game into a blowout.
Grier finished the game completing 28-of-41 for 332 yards, his 14th career 300-yard passing performance and the fifth this season. Sills V led all receivers with seven catches for 74 yards; 10 different players caught passes for West Virginia. The Mountaineers finished 509 yards of total offense, the 37th time they have gained at least 500 yards in a game under Dana Holgorsen. WVU has gained 450 or more yards of total offense 22 times in its last 32 games.
West Virginia has won 19 consecutive games when leading at halftime and improved to 46-6 under Holgorsen when holding a halftime lead. WVU improved to 27-1 when holding opponents to under 25 points under defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. Since 2000, West Virginia is 117-15 when scoring 30 points or more in a game.
Defensively, the Mountaineers lead the Big 12 in points allowed (18.6) and are second in rushing defense (120.8), pass defense (211.4) and total defense (332.2).
Why Bet on Iowa State?
Iowa State upset No. 25 Oklahoma State 48-42 last week, the third-straight win over a ranked opponent on the road for the Cyclones. It was ISU’s fourth victory over a ranked foe in the last two years. It was the fourth-most points scored by an ISU team vs. a conference opponent on the road. Three of ISU’s nine all-time wins vs. ranked opponents on the road have occurred the last two seasons.
Iowa State is 5-0 vs. Big 12 opponents in October the last two seasons, including three wins over ranked foes. ISU broke its school record for TFL in a game (since 1985) with 16.0 and tied its school mark in sacks (since 1985) with 7.0 vs. OSU. Seven different players recorded a sack and 13 different players had a TFL. ISU ranks ninth nationally in TFL per game (8.8) and is averaging 10.0 TFL in its last four games.
Freshman QB Brock Purdy entered on the second series to produce 402 yards of total offense (318 passing yards, 84 rushing yards) with four passing TDs and one rushing TD. Purdy’s 402 yards of total offense is the eighth-best effort in school history and his 318 passing yards ranks fourth among ISU freshman QBs.
Iowa State began the season with sixth-year senior Kyle Kempt under center, but the senior injured his knee during the Iowa loss and has missed the Cyclones’ last four games. Kempt is not expected to play in this one so Purdy will go.
Last week, ISU was also minus its leading rusher David Montgomery, who left the previous game with an arm injury.
Montgomery is averaging 83.5 yards per game this year and recently eclipsed 2,000 career yards — 256 of those coming in two career games against West Virginia, topping 100 yards both times. Montgomery might play this week.
West Virginia at Iowa State College Football Week 7 Betting Trends
- Mountaineers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 meetings
- Road team is 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings
- Mountaineers are 14-3 ATS in their last 17 road games vs. a team with a losing home record
- Cyclones are 13-3-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record
- West Virginia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of West Virginia’s last 10 games
- Iowa State is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing West Virginia
- The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Iowa State’s last 13 games
Expert NCAA Football Prediction for West Virginia at Iowa
Love this under a TD – go WVU.
