West Virginia
vs.
Tennessee
Week 1
College Football
Pick
9/1/18
After a miserable 2017 season, Tennessee is looking to return to a bowl Game in Jeremy Pruitt’s first year as head coach. Even for the Volunteers, that’s not a guarantee and they could start off with a losing record. West Virginia comes in as a -10 point favorite at YOUWAGER Sportsbook for the Game in Charlotte, home of the Carolina Panthers.
The name to know in this Game is Will Grier, who returned for his senior season after throwing 34 touchdowns and 12 picks on 9.00 yards per attempt. Those numbers should be just as good and there’s a good chance he carves this Tennessee defense with top wide outs Gary Jennings (1,096 yards) and David Sills (18 TDs) still there. The running Game may need some work with Kennedy McKoy the top guy, but with Four starters back on the line, WVU could be set to Scorearound 35 points per Game again if not more.
There’s less to like about Tennessee after allowing almost 30 points per Game in 2017. Sure, the Vols had a good pass defense, but that was because everyone ran on them as they allowed more than 250 rushing yards per contest. Improvement has to be made, but a matchup with Grier isn’t the best way to start the year.
To have a chance at covering, the Tennessee offense has to figure things out after being incompetent for most of last season scoring 19.8 points per Game. All signs pointed to Jarrett Guarantano getting the start under center a week before the Game, but he’ll still get competition from Stanford transfer Keller Chryst, who was mediocre at best with the Cardinal. That said, Chryst has a little more experience than Guarantano, who only had Four touchdowns last year on 139 attempts. The running Game has to be better for the Vols to compete on a regular basis after averaging 3.4 yards per carry and that should be the road they take against the Mountaineers.
While West Virginia’s offense is set to be elite, its defense is still a major problem and was exploited in almost every Game last season. With only five starters returning, there could be similar problems for the Mountaineers after giving up more than 30 points in six Big 12 Games last year. Something has to change for both defenses, but the main advantage remains Grier at quarterback for WVU. He’s the only reason this team has a chance to compete in the Conference and hit the over for the season. He led them to a 7-3 record before getting hurt last year with two of the losses on the road and the other to a high-flying OK State squad.
It’s hard to see Tennessee keeping up with WVU’s explosiveness unless Pruitt really changed things in the offseason. There’s some talent, but after getting blown out multiple times by better teams in 2017, it’s hard to trust the Vols in this Game.
Our Pick – The numbers (from last season) suggest a WVA win and cover. However, the Vols should show some improvement this year with a major goal being to surpass last years 5 win mark and make it to a Bowl.
With that in mind, expect a huge effort week 1 in a Game that could play out closer than the experts think. Vols +10