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The West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Texas Longhorns. Check out our college football odds series for our West Virginia Texas prediction and pick.
The West Virginia Mountaineers have a lot to prove. It's true that they are coming off a win over rival Virginia Tech, but their season has still been a noticeable disappointment as the month of October arrives. West Virginia had a late lead against Pittsburgh in Week 1 but allowed that lead to slip away. A dropped pass turned into a deflection, interception, and pick-six for Pittsburgh, dealing WVU a brutal defeat to a bitter rival. West Virginia then lost at home to Kansas. Though the Jayhawks are an improved team and are not a punching bag this year, that's still a game West Virginia needed to win and should have expected to win. Coach Neal Brown is under fire, and he needs to do a lot more to win the trust of his restless fan base (which is appropriately dissatisfied with his performance). West Virginia has a legitimately good quarterback, Georgia transfer J.T. Daniels, and has not maximized its resources this season due to a leaky defense and other carless mistakes which have undercut this season through one month of play.
Texas just can't get any injury luck. The injury to starting quarterback Quinn Ewers might have cost the Longhorns a win over Alabama, and it certainly reduced this team's margin for error. That said, even with the injuries and the bad luck, Texas still had chances to tuck away wins over Alabama and also Texas Tech. The Horns easily could have won those games with a handful of additional timely plays, but coach Steve Sarkisian's crew just couldn't come up with the daggers and the decisive displays which would have propelled this program. Texas had an early lead against Texas Tech this past weekend. The Longhorns showed they were capable of doing something special, but much like 2021 and — for that matter — the past decade of UT football, Texas couldn't play a complete 60-minute game. There are too many lulls, too many ups and downs. Sark has not been able to get this team to play consistently well from start to finish. This is the hurdle the Longhorns have to clear under backup quarterback Hudson Card.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the West Virginia-Texas College Football odds.
College Football Odds: West Virginia-Texas Odds
West Virginia Mountaineers: +9.5 (-105)
Texas Longhorns: -9.5 (-115)
Over: 63.5 (-105)
Under: 63.5 (-115)
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Why West Virginia Could Cover the Spread
The fact that Texas has problems closing out games and going hard for all 60 minutes — without any lulls — gives West Virginia a legitimate chance to stay close in this game and maybe even look for an opening to win outright. The key for West Virginia is to take Texas' best punch in this game. If the Mountaineers can wait out the periods of play in which Texas is doing well, they will get a 10- or 15-minute sequence when the Longhorns let down their guard. WVU can max out in that 10- or 15-minute period and win the game.
Why Texas Could Cover the Spread
West Virginia's defense isn't very good, and while Hudson Card is not as good as Quinn Ewers, he is good enough to score 38 points in this game. That should be enough for Texas to cover.
Final West Virginia-Texas Prediction & Pick
If you have to line up your betting ticket and you want to include this game on your ticket, the safest play is to go with WVU against the spread and Texas on the money line.
Final West Virginia-Texas Prediction & Pick: West Virginia +9.5
