West Virginia @ Baylor preview
McLane Stadium
Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2016 ) Baylor 21, West Virginia 24
Situated in between a stirring comeback win over Texas Tech and an Oct. 28 home showdown against No. 11 Oklahoma State is a classic trap game for West Virginia. The 23rd-ranked Mountaineers visit winless Baylor on Saturday night, and West Virginia – well at least coach Dana Holgorsen – seemingly is well aware of the potential pratfall that awaits in Waco.
“I don’t care who you’re playing in the Big 12,” Holgorsen was quoted Monday on the West Virginia Diehards web site. “You can’t look past anybody.” At 2-1 in the Big 12, the Mountaineers are one of five one-loss teams chasing undefeated TCU in the conference, and the top two teams will play in the reinstituted Big 12 Championship Game in December. In addition to 0-3 Baylor and 2-1 Oklahoma State, West Virginia still has games remaining against 2-1 Iowa State, 1-2 Kansas State, 2-1 Texas and 2-1 Oklahoma. First up, though, are the Bears, who at 0-6 overall, are the only winless Power Five conference team.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS1/FS2. LINE: West Virginia -9
ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (4-2, 2-1 Big 12): Quarterback Will Grier completed 32-of-41 passes for 352 yards and five touchdowns last Saturday in helping the Mountaineers overcome a 35-17 third quarter deficit and beat the visiting Red Raiders. The performance earned Grier the nod as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and placed him in a tie with Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett atop the FBS passing-TD leaders list at 21. On the other side of the ball, senior linebacker Al Benton ranks among the conference leaders in total tackles (8.7 per game) and tackles for loss (1.7) to lead a defense that ranks in the Big 12’s bottom four in both points (27.8) and yards (453.8) allowed.
ABOUT BAYLOR (0-6, 0-3): The Bears did open conference play with respectable efforts against Oklahoma (a 49-41 loss) and Kansas State (33-20), but were blitzed 59-16 last Saturday by host Oklahoma State, which rolled up a school-record 747 total yards. Sophomore quarterback Zach Smith ranks eighth in Big 12 total offense (187.2 yards), while John Lovett (63.8 yards) and Terence Williams (49.3) are the leading rushers. Defensively, Baylor ranks last in the Big 12 and 125th out of 129 teams nationally in surrendering 517.7 total yards per game and has allowed at least 33 points in five of its six outings.
EXTRA POINTS
1. West Virginia holds a 3-2 edge in the series which began in 2012, but Baylor posted 62-38 and 73-41 wins in the two previous meetings in Waco.
2. The Mountaineers’ Gary Jennings leads the Big 12 with his average of 8.0 receptions per game while teammate David Sills V is averaging 100.2 receiving yards to rank third in the conference.
3. Baylor has lost five straight home games, including nonconference defeats against Liberty (48-45) and UTSA (17-10) to open this season.
PREDICTION: West Virginia 42, Baylor 31