Game Time: Noon ET, Saturday, November 20th, 2021

Venue: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West Virginia

Where to Watch:  ESPN 2

Kickoff Time: 12:05 PM ET

 

DraftKings Sportsbook:  Spread: West Virginia -2.5; Over/Under: 56.5 points

Circa:  Spread: West Virginia -2.5 ; Over/Under:  56.5 points

VegasInsider:  Spread: West Virginia -2.5; Over/Under: 56.5 points

 

Texas: 2-5 conf, 4-6 overall (Big 12)

West Virginia: 2-5 conf, 4-6 overall (Big 12)

The most staggeringly bad performance of any college program this season has been the Texas Longhorns.  They are currently on a five-game losing streak… the last one being an entirely unforgivable 57-56 overtime loss to the Kansas Jayhawks.  No, not basketball… football.  The Longhorns are no longer a dominant program in college football.  They started this season with optimism… They had a big armed freshman quarterback and a brand new Head Coach Steve Sarkisian.  Coach Sark was the OC at Alabama for a national championship!  Everyone overlooked that he was the same guy fired from USC for being drunk and absent from a morning practice.  Texas’ games used to be events… That’s why they were invited to join the SEC… only a few months later the Longhorns find themselves a 2.5-point underdog to a West Virginia team having their own bad season.

The Mountaineers lost their last game to Kansas State 34-17… and lost to Oklahoma State before that.  There have been other losses to the likes of Baylor, Maryland… The Texas Tech Red Raiders came over from Lubbock and laid a 23-20 loss on them.  It’s been tough.  Their best game was also a loss when they held the #12 Oklahoma Sooners with Spencer Rattler to 16 points!... Of course the Mountaineers only scored 13 points themselves.

 

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Texas is 4-6 on the season and 4-6 ATS.  They have logged 5 Overs and 5 Unders.  They are a miserable 1-3 on the road.

West Virginia is 4-6 on the season, but 5-5 ATS.  They have notched 4 Unders and 6 Overs.  They are 3-2 in home games

Texas is ranked 41st on offense in the FBS.  They have gotten 435.7 yards per game ands have scored 49 offensive touchdowns… they just aren’t winning.

West Virginia is ranked 89th on offense in the FBS.  They have gotten 372.6 yards per game and scored 29 offensive touchdowns.

Texas is ranked 105th in the FBS on defense.  They have given up 435.5 yards per game and allowed 38 touchdowns.  They are soft this year.  Maybe Sark could flip the coverage or get aggressive blitzing… but a quick look at Sark’s resume shows zero experience coaching defense.  They will simply try and outscore West Virginia and their offense is just good enough to get it done or keep it close.

West Virginia is ranked 42nd on defense in the FBS.  They have allowed 350.2 yards per game and allowed 28 touchdowns.  On West Virginia’s record this season is a few big game low scores… most notably that 16-13 loss to Oklahoma… They are good at holding the total points low… their offensive deficiencies is why the point spread is so small.  

Our prediction for Saturday, November 20th, is…  Texas 21 - West Virginia 17

This is exactly the type of win that Texas would get.  No pressure anymore since the Big 12 title game is out of reach (a while ago now)... a lesser bowl game invite is beginning to seem out of reach.  Texas can win this matchup.  Just to tease the faithful.  Also Texas opened as the favorite until Bijan Robinson was ruled out… That may actually free up the undiscovered parts of this roster to play well in his absence. 

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Texas is 4-8 ATS as an underdog the last 3 seasons.

Texas is 8-15 ATS against conference opponents the last 3 seasons.

WV is 2-4 ATS after playing a conference game this season.

WV is 2-5 ATS when playing on turf this season.

Texas: QB Casey Thompson, RB Bijan Robinson, TE Cade Brewer, WR Xavier Worthy, WR Kelvontay Dixon, WR Marcus Washington, LT Christian Jones, LG Junio Angilau, OC Jake Majors, RG Tope Imade, RT Derek Kerstetter

West Virginia: QB Jarret Doege, RB Leddie Brown, TE TJ Banks, WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR Isaiah Esdale, WR Sam James, WR Winston Wright JR, LT Brandon Yates, LG James Gmiter, OC Zach Frazier, RG Doug Nestor, RT Wyatt Milam

Texas

Passing Yards: Casey Thompson 1,914

Rushing Yards: Bijan Robinson 1,127

Receiving Yards: Xavier Worthy 831

Tackles: Overshown DeMarvion

Interceptions: B.J. Foster 3

West Virginia

Passing Yards: Jarret Doege 2,448

Rushing Yards: Leddie Brown 751

Receiving Yards: Winston Wright Jr 576

Tackles: Josh Chandler-Semedo 84

Interceptions: Sean Mahone 1

Texas: Steve Sarkisian.  Coach Sark is in his first season as the Longhorns Head Coach.  It’s been terrible so far. He has a career mark of 50-41 if you add up his Washington head coaching record to his USC head coaching record…. And now his 4-6 Texas head coaching record.  Someone check his coffee cup.

West Virginia: Neal Brown.  Coach Brown came over from Troy.  He is 15-17 in his 3 seasons.

Cloudy.  High of 54*. Humidity 41%, wind at 6 mph.