College Football Betting: Washington at BYU

By BetOnline September 17, 2019

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At this rate, BYU might as well just join the Pac 12. Actually, they wouldn’t think of that as they’d have to give up their insanely lucrative broadcasting network (why do you think they wanted to be an Independent in the first place?). That not withstanding, the Cougars have already played 2 of their first 3 games against Pac 12 opposition and they’ve got another school from the conference on deck as the Washington Huskies travel to LaVell Edwards Stadium in beautiful Provo, Utah in the shadow of Mount Timpanogos.

WASHINGTON HUSKIES AT BYU COUGARS
LINE: WASHINGTON -6
TOTAL: 51

You’ll hear it from me every chance I get to say it–I love betting on Coach Kalane Sitake’s Cougars’ teams. Even when they’re ‘outmanned’ they just don’t have any ‘quit’ in them. All coaches like to say that’s the case with their team, but with the Cougars it actually is. BYU suffered a nasty loss to Utah in their opening game of the year but that’s starting to look like like less of a negative as the Utes have moved into the Top Ten. After that game, BYU made the long trip to Knoxville, TN and found themselves down 13-3 at halftime. They scrapped back in the second half, tied the game on a last second field goal and won in double OT. Last week, it was a close battle throughout against USC but once again BYU won in overtime.

This game looks like a made to order matchup for BYU. Washington is 2-1 this season and look good statistically but that’s not quite as impressive as it seems. The Huskies’ wins came against FCS Eastern Washington and defensively porous Hawaii (#118 in total defense, #122-T in scoring defense). Their loss was to a tough foe, #23 ranked California but the Bears’ sputtering offense (they have a *nasty* defense) kept the score close.

Now the Bears are in serious ‘lookahead mode’ with a gauntlet of Pac 12 foes ahead including USC, at Stanford, at Arizona and home against Oregon. BYU’s ‘on deck’ games are against a mediocre Toledo team and the bumbling South Florida Bulls. Their next significant game will be on October 19 at home against Mountain Time Zone rivals Boise State. And then there’s the altitude. Seattle, Washington is at 147 feet above sea level. LaVell Edwards Stadium is 4,649 feet. Teams are always dismissive about the impact of altitude until they actually play in it. Ask the University of Missouri how their season opening trip to Laramie, Wyoming went for them.

The Cougars have a balanced, upper classmen/returned missionary laden team that returns 8 starters on defense (3 linemen) and 9 on offense (4 linemen) including Draper, Utah product Zach Wilson at quarterback. Wilson might not be a Heisman Trophy candidate but he’s an efficient and capable quarterback that has shown a knack for making the big throw. BYU suffered a beatdown in Seattle last year, losing 35-7. That Cougars’ team started a ton of freshmen with many current starters serving missions. Payback time and the college football betting odds are gifting us with six points on the Coogs home field. We won’t need them as BYU wins outright.