Will Baylor get their first win in Morgantown? Phil Steele shares his prediction

On November 17, 2024By Littum

The West Virginia Mountaineers are back at home for the first time in a month and hope to put a much better product on the field than they did the last two times the offense looked flat, leading to a pair of losses to Iowa State and Kansas State.

Fortunately for Neal Brown and Co., the Baylor Bears have struggled mightily on the defensive side of the ball in league play, even through their current three-game winning streak. When you combine that with the difficulty West Virginia has in coverage, it gives you the feel of the first ever matchup between these two in 2012, when WVU won a 70-63 shootout.

Okay, maybe I’m going a little over the top there, but my point is that points will be scored in this game, and lots of them.

As we do every Friday morning d In Gun Podcastwe asked college football expert Phil Steele for his thoughts on this matchup. You can watch the entire episode at the top of this page.

“This Baylor team has looked good since Sawyer Robertson took over at QB. They’ve got Bryson Washington, Dawson Pendergrass running well. Robertson adds the running game, very dangerous on the ground. And I think Robertson, when you look passing wise, a nice 17-4 ratio, is quite dangerous.

“I think West Virginia will take advantage of last week’s win, give them a little bit of momentum, and now you’re back at home. They have to play well at home. The Kansas State loss, the Iowa State loss, I know. fans weren’t too happy about it.

“But I look at the two teams’ defenses and I’m surprised because Dave Aranda is a defensive genius, but maybe he just doesn’t have the players this year. The last four weeks, they’re allowing 469 yards per game and a 68% completion percentage.

“I like the matchup. West Virginia’s run defense has been solid all year. The weakness has been the pass defense, the secondary. And even though Baylor has a capable quarterback, I think West Virginia can slow Baylor down.”

“I think these two teams are pretty close. I would have had West Virginia favored by three. I’m surprised they’re three-point home dogs. I like West Virginia to pull out and win at home .I” I’ll take West Virginia here.”

Phil has been a big supporter of the Mountaineers all year, even through their struggles in the past. Before the Arizona game, he told us that West Virginia is “very capable” of finishing the season strong. They have won both games since.

West Virginia and Baylor are set for a kickoff at 4:00 PM EST, with the action televised on ESPN2.

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