EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, September 29^th, the (3-0) West Virginia Mountaineers will be on the road to take on the (3-1) Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of West Virginia 37.4 – Texas Tech 30.5 with an over/under of 67.9.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of West Virginia 42 – Texas Tech 41.

Mark is predicting a final score of West Virginia 49 – Texas Tech 42.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Texas Tech 435.8 YPG > West Virginia 373.7 YPG

Rushing offense: Texas Tech 187.8 YPG > West Virginia 171.7 YPG

Scoring offense: Texas Tech 52.0 PPG > West Virginia 42.3 PPG

Scoring defense: West Virginia 12.3 PPG > Texas Tech 28.3 PPG

Passing defense: West Virginia 185.3 YPG > Texas Tech 284.0 YPG

Rushing defense: West Virginia 118.7 YPG > Texas Tech 153.3 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Texas Tech 0.0 > West Virginia -2.0

Summary:

West Virginia is (3-0) to start the season with wins over Tennessee, Youngstown State, and Kansas State.  The Mountaineers rank 21^st in points per game (42.3) and 1^st in scoring defense (12.3). PPG).  Quarterback Will Grier is arguably the best in the nation and should be a high selection in next April’s NFL Draft.  For the season Grier is completing 74% of his passes for 1,117 yards with 14 touchdowns to 3 interceptions.  Grier has no shortage of weapons as Marcus Simms, David Sills V, and Gary Jennings Jr., all have at least 15 receptions and over 200 yards.  Fumbles have been a problem for West Virginia as their turnover margin (-2.0) ranks 124^th out of 130 teams.  The Mountaineers have been awesome on defense leading the nation in fewest points allowed but they haven’t had a lot of takeaways.

Texas Tech is (3-1) with victories over Lamar, Houston, and then ranked #15 Oklahoma State.  Their lone defeat was a 20-point loss to Ole Miss in week one.  The Red Raiders rank 5^th in points per game (51.7) and 83^rd in scoring defense (28.3). PPG).  The high-powered Texas Tech offense leads the nation in passing yards per game (435.8 YPG).  Quarterback Alan Bowman has completed 72% of his passes for 1,557 yards with 10 touchdowns to 2 interceptions.  Ta’Zhawn Henry and Demarcus Felton are both averaging over 5.0 yards per carry and have combined for 10 rushing touchdowns.  Antoine Wesley is a gamebreaker with 511 receiving yards already and 4 touchdowns.  The Red Raiders have done nothing to stop the notion that not much defense is played in the Big-12 Conference.

Bottom Line:

Turnovers have been a problem for West Virginia but if they take care of the ball they are clearly the more talented team.  Will Grier should have a field day against a suspect Texas Tech secondary that is allowing nearly 300 passing yards per game.  This game will become a shootout but the Mountaineers are likely to get more stops.

Contest Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize in any contest at The Crowd’s Line, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or Canada. You must also submit your score prediction on our official prediction tool (blog widget), and include a valid email address. Contest winners are determined according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology. If more than one entrant has the same winning score, final contest rankings and prize winners are selected by random draw. Only one entry per person is allowed for each contest; multiple entries from a single player will be deemed invalid. There are no prize substitutions or exchanges available from The Crowd’s Line.

All prizes will be sent by e-mail within two weeks after the conclusion of each contest.