The West Virginia Mountaineers will look for another impressive victory when traveling to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday. Here is everything you need to know about this weekends game.
With no clear leader in the Big 12, West Virginia and Texas Tech look to establish who will challenge Oklahoma for the title this year.
Texas Tech opened the season up with a loss to Ole Miss but has silenced the critics since that disappointing performance. The Red Raiders come into the game with a 3-1 record after rolling past Oklahoma State 41-17 last weekend. Freshman quarterback Alan Bowman has thrown for 1557 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season and has developed great chemistry with wide receiver Antoine Wesley.
West Virginia is led by star quarterback Will Grier, who continues to show why he is considered a Heisman candidate. Last Weekend, the Mountaineers dismantled Kansas State 35-6 and Grier finished the game with five passing touchdowns, which took his total to 14 over three games this season.
The tortillas will be flying in Lubbock this Saturday and so should both high-powered offenses. Here is everything you need to know about Saturday’s game.
How to watch and bet on West Virginia vs. Texas Tech
Date: Saturday, Sept. 29
Start Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Lubbock, TX
Stadium: Jones AT&T Stadium
TV Info: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN, FuboTV
Betting Odds
Points Spread: West Virginia -3.5
Money Line: WVU -185, TTU +160
O/U: 77
Keys to Victory
West Virginia – While everyone knows Will Grier and the West Virginia offense is one of the most prolific units in the nation, it’s the defense that has helped the Mountaineers get off to such a great start. Over the first three games, the Mountaineers have held opponents to 12.3 points and 312 yards per game, but it’s how they have done this that impresses most. The defense is playing angry and extremely fast, they’ve been aggressive and swarmed the football against every opponent this year, but while many aggressive teams get beat on big plays, the Mountaineers have not. If West Virginia plans to improve to 4-0 this weekend, the defense must continue to get in the backfield, but not allow this powerful Texas Tech offense to beat them with big plays over the top.
Texas Tech – The Red Raiders will find out if they are a legit Big 12 title contender this weekend and the pressure will be on young quarterback Alan Bowman to prove it. West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson looks to confuse quarterbacks with different looks in his hybrid 3-3-5 defense, which will be a big challenge for Bowman to decipher. Texas Tech knows it won’t be able to completely slow-down the West Virginia offense and head coach Kliff Kingsbury has never been one to shy away from a shootout, so if the Red Raiders expect to knock off the Mountaineers this weekend, they will need their young quarterback to stay composed and not allow the unique defensive looks to get him out of rhythm.
Prediction
The Texas Tech fans shouldn’t plan to sling many tortillas this weekend. Expect the West Virginia defense to have Freshman Alan Bowman confused all afternoon, while Will Grier and company light up the scoreboard in Lubbock.
Final Score – West Virginia 41 – Texas Tech 27