Spread & Over/Under Predictions for WVU vs. Arizona

Will the Mountaineers pull off the upset on the road?

West Virginia University tight end Kole Taylor. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia will head to Tucson this weekend for their first-ever matchup on the gridiron with the Arizona Wildcats. Both teams enter this game in dire need of a win, coming into the weekend at 3-4.

Today, we'll be using the numbers over at FanDuel Sportsbook to make our predictions.

Star ratings (Strength of prediction):

1 Star - Not very confident
2 Star - A little confident
3 Star - Fairly confident
4 Star - Very confident
5 Star - Should be a lock to happen

Spread: Arizona - 3.5

2-star play on West Virginia (+3.5): I'm not sure if West Virginia wins the game, but I do believe they will keep it close. It's really hard to make a prediction this early in the week on this one because of the unknowns of the quarterback situation.

Even if Garrett Greene is 80% and plays, I like WVU's chances even more here in this spot, believe it or not. With Nicco Marchiol, it'll be more of an uphill battle but Arizona has had its fair share of struggles on both sides of the ball recently which should allow the Mountaineers to hang around and possibly even win, regardless of who is under center.

If Marchiol does play, I expect the Mountaineers to place a huge emphasis on running the football with Jahiem White, CJ Donaldson, and perhaps a third running back. Neal Brown has to do everything he can to make life as easy as humanly possible for his young quarterback and he's got the horses in the backfield to be able to do it.

Over/Under: 54.5

2-star play on the under: I'm holding my nose as I'm typing this because West Virginia's defense has been horrendous against the pass all season and this Saturday, they'll be facing the best wide receiver in college football, Tetairoa McMillan.

Offensively, however, the Mountaineers have not had much success over the past two weeks throwing the football and haven't received much help from Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson in the running game. If anything, this is more of a play on West Virginia's offense continuing its struggle of putting up points than it is anything else.

Not to mention, as potent as Arizona's offense can be, they too, have had issues scoring in Big 12 play. The most points they've put up in league play is 23. Don't be surprised if this one finishes in the 20s and is one of the lowest-scoring Big 12 games of the weekend. Take the under, but with caution.

Record this season:

ATS: 4-3 (57%)
O/U: 4-3 (57%)
Overall: 8-6 (57%)

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