West Virginia TCU GAMEDAY PREDICTIONS

Morgantown, West Virginia – The West Virginia Mountaineers, 4-3 overall and 3-3 in the Big 12 Conference, play host to the Texas Christian Horned Frogs, 3-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play, for a noon game at Milan Puskar Stadium.  The game will be televised live on Fox.  Here’s how our staff experts think the game will play out:

Clark Johnson, Football Analyst, The Voice of Motown (6-1 on the season):  I was about to count this game as a for sure win, but then the injury news on Leddie Brown came.  If he is not 100%, he will not play, per Neal Brown.

Even if he does, I expect his carries to be limited.  I am very concerned with the offense without a healthy Leddie Brown, and for that reason I’m taking TCU.  I will gladly be 6-2 on the season if I get this one wrong, but I just have that gut feeling that this one will bounce the other way.

TCU 17 WVU 14

 

Hank Steinmiller, Writer, The Voice of Motown (4-3 on the season):  West Virginia returns home this week where they have a 4-0 record in 2020.  TCU is 2-0 on the road this season.  Something has to give.

TCU is a solid team, about as middle of the road as a team can be.  With Leddie Brown’s health in question, WVU will find creative ways to move the ball, specifically against the young TCU seconday.  Look for Isaiah Esdale to grab a TD pass as WVU defends home once again.

WVU 24 TCU 16

 

Blain Smith, Host, The Porch Sessions Podcast and Live Show on The Voice of Motown (5-2 on the season): The running game MUST get back on track for a victory and it will.  A stingy Mountaineer defense will key on Duggan all afternoon, making sure he is never comfortable in Wild & Wonderful West Virginia.

West Virginia will force a whacky turnover or two, and a motivated, disgruntled offensive line will pay the way for Leddie Brown and a Mountaineer win.

WVU 30 TCU 20

 

Aaron Shamblin, Writer, The Voice of Motown (6-1 on the season):  WVU has a tough time containing mobile QBs and TCU’s Duggan just had over 100 yards in a single game against Texas Tech.  If we can limit his scrambling, we’ll pick up a rather easy W.  But if he’s allowed to run rampant, this will be a long day.

On offense, we simply need to avoid turnovers and pound the rock with Leddie Brown, without making dumb decisions like going for it on 4th down in the redzone instead of taking the easy 3, like we did twice last week.  If we had just kicked the short FGS, we would’ve left Austin with the 19-17 victory.  We have a great defense, stop forcing them into pressure situations and allow our strength to win the game for us.

WVU 26 TCU 20

 

Brad Smith, Senior Writer/Owner, The Voice of Motown (3-4 on the season):  I don’t have a ton of confidence in this year’s West Virginia team, particularly against really tough, fundamentally-sound opponents.  TCU isn’t great, but they are well-coached and will be ready.

I expect that Alec Sinkfield will get a bulk of the carries and he hasn’t shown me that he’s an every-down running back this season.  Talented, speedy freshman running back A’Varius Sparrow will likely see some time behind Sinkfield and I think Sparrow could have a breakout appearance if given some carries.

Still, TCU’s defense is only allowing 364.5 yards per game and is one of the best defenses that the Mountaineers will face this season.

Without Leddie Brown in the backfield, West Virginia will be forced to throw the ball and that’s just not what this team is built for.

I like TCU big here.

TCU 35 WVU 10