West Virginia is facing off against Baylor in what could be termed a “trap game.”
The Mountaineers should win this game because Baylor is winless. West Virginia seems to be clicking as well as it has all season by coming off a thrilling come-from-behind homecoming victory against Texas Tech.
The Bears are hungry, though. There may not be a better time for them to secure victory No. 1 than at home, at night and with a big crowd expected to carry on the stripe the stadium tradition at the Bears’ beautiful football facility, McLane Stadium.
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What might not be so beautiful is the expected thunderstorms throughout the day on Saturday. The high temperature will be nearing 90 degrees, but there is a chance of scattered thunderstorms, according to weather.com. The rain and impending storms could have an affect on warmups and other pregame routines for both teams.
The Mountaineers enter the game ranked No. 23 in the country and could move into the top 20 with a win. West Virginia is favored by nine points, according to sportsline.com. The website also says the over/under is at 68 points, which means to expect a typical Big 12 Conference shootout.
It won’t reach the epic proportions of the 2012 or 2013 match up between these two teams, but with the way they’re able to put up points, there is not telling how many touchdowns both the Bears and Mountaineers can score.
Even though they have yet to win a game this season, the Bears still average more than 25 points per game. They’ve put up more than 40 points twice in games that they could have won. Baylor had no business losing to Liberty in Week 1 and the Bears almost beat highly-ranked Oklahoma by putting up more than 40 points in both games.
So, the Bears have big-play capability and their young offense may just be coming together at the right time. The Mountaineers could easily have another 300-yard and five-touchdown performance from Will Grier.
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West Virginia needs to have the defense step up and not allow Baylor to have a day like Kansas did a few weeks ago. If the Mountaineers can put up more than 30 points and not allow more than 20, they should come home with their fifth win of the season.