Morgantown, West Virginia – The West Virginia Mountaineers (2-3, 0-2) host the Baylor Bears (3-2, 1-1) tonight in what’s a must-win game for West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and his Mountaineers. Baylor is currently a 3.5 point favorite to win the game tonight.
Here’s how our experts believe the game will go down:
Joshua Kerns, Writer, The Voice of Morgantown
With the way both West Virginia and Baylor have played this year, I believe that WVU will make this a lot closer than many think. The betters in Vegas think that Baylor will win by 3 and a half or more, and I tend to believe that. I do take WVU to cover but not win.
Baylor 38 West Virginia 35
Clark Johnson, Senior Writer, The Voice of Morgantown
West Virginia is hungry and at home. However, the Bears are good, and their defense will be the difference. Baylor gets their first win in Morgantown.
Baylor 31 West Virginia 23
Brad Smith, Publisher, The Voice of Morgantown
Baylor is one of the best-coached teams in the Big 12 Conference under 3rd-year head coach Dave Aranda. In comparison, West Virginia is almost certainly the worst-coached team in the conference right now.
Baylor is explosive on offense, led by running back Richard Reese, who leads all freshman in the nation with 72 rushes, 400 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 7 rushing touchdowns, and sophomore wide receiver Monaray Baldwin, who has 12 receptions for 261 yards (21.8 per catch) and 3 touchdowns.
West Virginia’s secondary has struggled mightily since losing Big 12 preseason first team cornerback Charles Woods. Baylor will exploit the weak secondary and have another monster offensive performance tonight.
West Virginia’s offense, who will be without freshman sensation running CJ Donaldson, will have to rely heavily on JT Daniels and the wide receiving corps, which has been inconsistent at best this year.
Ultimately, I see this being a very close game throughout, but again, Dave Aranda is a superior coach to Neal Brown and that will once again prove to be the difference for the Mountaineers.
Expect a high-scoring shootout in the rain tonight in Morgantown in what could be Neal Brown’s last game as the head coach of the Mountaineers.
Baylor 49 West Virginia 38
