There's a lot going for BYU here, and a lot going against WVU.
Let's start with the bad, as the QB position is the most important part of football. The Mountaineers lost starting qb Nicco Marchiol before the Utah game with a foot injury. He's currently in Arizona getting a second opinion and it's highly unlikely he plays Friday night.
In his absence, they started Jaylen Henderson who went 3 for 7 passing for 22 yards and was benched at halftime. For the second half they went to Khalil Wilkins who went 3 for 6 passing for 63 yards and 1 TD.
That's 85 yards of total passing yards in 1 game of football for a team that doesn't run the option. Rich Rod likes to run high pace, with heavy rpo's and play action. It's a type of offense that needs stability from the qb position with good o line play. Non of which they have right now.
The Mountaineers had a 3rd option at QB, Charlotte transfer Max Brown. In the offseason there was a lot of talk about him being an athletic guy with a shot to get in the mix. He had 2 carries vs Utah and is now questionable with a hamstring injury.
Jaylen Henderson(qb that started vs Utah) is also banged up and questionable.
Enough about injuries, the Mountaineers have a bunch of em, on the o line and RB position especially. Have a look for yourselves...more to come.
This spot is frighteningly bad for WVU compounded with injuries, not having a bye yet, the long distance travel(on a Friday to boot), with a late start on the West Coast. To make it worse, in elevation about 4,700 feet above sea level. I can't recall WVU ever going out this far west. If anyone can find out when they did, lmk.
So far their schedule has gone: home, road, home, road, home...with plenty of miles in between Ohio and Pitt and back home.
BYU has played 4 games, with having their bye in week 3. They have not played at home since September 6th, nearly a month.
Now for those who may be shy in backing BYU this Friday, it's because they barely squeeked by Colorado last week. At least by the scoreboard. And more importantly losing ats, bettors get bitter. This was a tough spot for BYU. It was the second of consecutive road games, and against Colorado who was pissed about losing to them in the Alamo bowl last year.
Take a peek at the boxscore, BYU had 10 more first downs, 96 more yards, 7 more minutes of possession. Penalties were equal at 6. They had no turnovers, Colorado had 1. Should of, could of, would of covered -6.5, but didn't. Tough game.
On the flip side of motivation, 2 years ago West Virginia beat the brakes of BYU 37-7. Coach Sitake was there for that. A year in which byu went 5-7. How much he remembers it, and wants to get back at them is beyond me. But it's a possibility. That year wvu had Garrett Green who was slinging the ball very well for them. Nothing like who they will roll out this Friday.
More to come...
Now for the 1H stats and stuff.
BYU lost the 1H last game at Colorado 10-14. The Buffaloes got the jump on em with a 14-0 lead in the 1Q. That happens when you're on the road going against a team with revenge on their minds.
On the year, BYU is 3-1 su in the 1H. Winning with an average score of 22.5 to 4.25. Yes, I know that the game vs Portland st skews that a bit. Without that game it's 12.33 to 4.66, with 2 out of the 3 being on the road.
At home they're 2-0 in the 1H shutting out Portland st and Stanford. Fwiw, they won those 1H's 63-0 combined. Like I said, it's been almost a month since they had a home game.
That's not all convincing good stuff really, but it's good. What's terrible is how WVU has played in the 1H this year...
In West Virginia's only 2 wins this year, they lead only 10-3 vs Robert Morris(non major), and 7-3 vs Pitt in the 1H. And those were both home games for the Mountaineers.
Vs Ohio on the road, they lost the 1H 17-3
@ Kansas they lost the 1H 20-3
Utah at home they lost the 1H 28-0
Rich Rodriguez is an OK coach in my estimation. Consecutive 9-4 seasons at Jacksonville St before landing the WVU gig(again). He really didn't do shit at Arizona except 1 year. He is really gonna have to pull of a miracle to keep this game close imo. Let's hope not close enough to the spread.
Good Luck 
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