EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, November 3^rd, the (6-1) West Virginia Mountaineers will be on the road to take on the (6-2) Texas Longhorns.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Texas 32.1 – West Virginia 30.3 with an over/under of 62.4.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Texas 31 – West Virginia 30.

Mark is predicting a final score of West Virginia 37 – Texas 30.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: West Virginia 331.3 YPG > Texas 255.4 YPG

Rushing offense: Texas 154.0 YPG > West Virginia 147.9 YPG

Scoring offense: West Virginia 39.9 PPG > Texas 31.3 PPG

Scoring defense: West Virginia 19.6 PPG > Texas 24.9 PPG

Passing defense: West Virginia 216.6 YPG > Texas 245.3 YPG

Rushing defense: West Virginia 132.9 YPG > Texas 133.3 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Texas +0.6 > West Virginia +0.3

Summary:

Texas is (6-2) with wins over Tulsa, #22 USC, #17 TCU, Kansas, #7 Oklahoma, and Baylor.  They were upset by Maryland in week one and suffered a 38-35 road loss to Oklahoma State last week.  The Longhorns rank 56^th in points per game (31.3) and 53^rd in scoring defense (24.9 PPG).  Quarterback Sam Ehilnger has completed 63% of his passes for 1,817 yards with 13 touchdowns to 2 interceptions.  Ehlinger is also a threat on the ground with 8 rushing touchdowns.  Keaontay Ingram leads the team in rushing with 455 yards and 2 touchdowns but Texas, as a team, is only averaging 3.9 yards per carry.  Texas may have the best duo of receivers in the country in Lil’Jordan Humphrey (645 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Collin Johnson (628 yards, 5 touchdowns).  The Longhorns’ defense ranks 90^th against the pass (245.3 YPG) and 36^th against the run (133.3 YPG).  Texas ranks 23^rd in turnover margin (+0.6).

West Virginia is (6-1) with victories over Tennessee, Youngstown State, Kansas State, #25 Texas Tech, Kansas, and Baylor.  Their lone defeat was a 30-14 road loss to Iowa State in week seven.  West Virginia destroyed Baylor 58-14 last week.  They compiled nearly 600 yards of total offense and forced four Baylor turnovers in the victory.  The Mountaineers rank 16^th in points per game (39.9) and 23^rd in scoring defense (19.6 PPG).  Quarterback Will Grier has completed 70% of his passes for 2,272 yards with 25 touchdowns to 7 interceptions.  Grier has no shortage of weapons as David Sills V (529 yards, 9 touchdowns), Marcus Simms (511 yards, 2 touchdowns), and Gary Jennings Jr. (502 yards, 8 touchdowns) are all dangerous threats at the receiver position.  The Mountaineers’ defense ranks 57^th against the pass (216.6 YPG) and 34^th against the run (132.9 YPG).

Bottom Line:

West Virginia is coming off a throttling of Baylor and have an NFL talent in quarterback Will Grier.  Grier and his plethora of weapons should be able to expose a weak Texas secondary.  Neither team has had much success running the football so I’ll roll with the Mountaineers and their prolific passing attack.

West Virginia wins 31-28

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