BYU vs. Texas Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 9
By Reed Wallach
Texas' path to the Big 12 Championship Game, and possibly the College Football Playoff, got that much harder with news that Quinn Ewers may miss extended time with a shoulder injury.
The Longhorns came out of its BYE week and escaped against Houston, and now are likely going to be without its starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. The team hosts BYU, a team that has benefitted from playing backup quarterbacks all season long. Will this lead to a Cougars stunning upset? Or can Texas' defense step up for its wounded offense?
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BYU vs. Texas Odds, Spread and Total
Texas vs. BYU Betting Trends
- BYU is 3-4 against the spread (ATS) this season
- Texas is 3-4 ATS this season
- BYU has gone OVER in five of seven games this season
- Texas has gone UNDER in six of seven games this season
BYU vs. Texas How to Watch
- Date: Saturday, October 28th
- Game Time: 3:30 PM EST
- Venue: DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium
- How to Watch (TV): ABC
- BYU Record: 5-2
- Texas Record: 6-1
BYU vs. Texas Key Players to Watch
BYU
Kedon Slovis: BYU's quarterback has had a pedestrian season, completing only 57% of his passes with 1,503 passing yards with a 12-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. However, Slovis has 12 big-time throws to nine turnover-worthy plays with average yards per pass attempt below seven according to Pro Football Focus.
Texas
Maalik Murphy: Freshman Arch Manning could draw the start for the Longhorns, but it'll likely be the dual-threat Murphy navigating this one with Ewers set to miss time with a Grade 2 sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. Texas does have a potent ground game around Jonathan Brooks and freshman CJ Baxter to help ease Murphy into the role.
BYU vs. Texas Prediction and Pick
Despite being a well-regarded playcaller, Steve Sarkisian's Texas Longhorns have been an UNDER team all season, going below the total in six of seven games.
I expect more of the same on Saturday as the team faces BYU, who will be facing a backup quarterback for the third straight week. With that being said, the Cougars are an incredibly poor offense. The team is outside the top 100 in net success rate and has skated by to a 5-2 record.
While I would be interested in laying the points with the Longhorns, I believe that the team is going to take a cautious approach and lean on the ground game to build an early lead and make life easy for the likely starter Murphy, possibly even getting Manning some extra run as a way to scout if he is ready to start as early as next week.
Texas has the talent to expose BYU's defense, but the Cougars are top 50 in both explosive pass and run defense and given the situation at quarterback, I think the Longhorns go with a vanill a game plan and grind out a victory.
Give me the under as my favorite bet on Saturday.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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