Boise State Broncos @ BYU Cougars
Date and Time: Friday 10/25/13 at 8:00pm on ESPN
Game Line: BYU -7 (from JustBet)
Over/Under: 62
Friday NCAA Football Analysis: Boise State and BYU are coming into this Friday Night rivalry game off of big wins. Both teams are 5-2 this season and BYU is 0-3 in the last three seasons against Boise State. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall has a much improved squad this year and Boise State is not the BCS team they were a few seasons ago. There is a huge question mark at quarterback for Boise State as QB Grant Hendrick is replacing Joe Southwick who is out with a broken ankle, in a hostile environment against a very solid BYU defense. They’re going to need to score some points to help account for their below average defense but it won’t be easy. In their last six games the BYU defense has held opponents to 18 points per game. Offensively, the Cougars will use their QB Taysom Hill on the ground and through the air against a Bronco defense that gave up 250 yards in the first half last week. Until last week, Hill had been below average passing the ball but against the Houston defense he had great numbers. Nevada had success against the Broncos defense with long drives and eat up the clock before the Broncos defense tightened up in the red zone. BYU is a great ball control team if they can limit the turnovers and will have the ball for the majority of the game. If BYU can score a few touchdowns on long drives early in the game Boise State will have no chance of coming back and this will be an easy win for the Cougars. The Boise State passing attack will be put to the test in this one and we can’t trust a first time QB on the road in prime time.
Boise State at BYU Free NCAA Football Picks: BYU -7 and over 62
Boise State at BYU Game Prediction: 38-26 BYU
What to expect in this week 8 NCAA Football match up: BYU will jump out to an early lead on a couple of long, time consuming drives and Boise State won’t be able to recover from it. Boise State can’t afford to become one dimensional without QB Southwick and BYU will put them in that position. A turnover or two from BYU QB Hill will keep Boise State in game in the second half but they won’t be able to score enough to keep up with the BYU run attack that will have non-stop success against the Broncos defense.
