Washington State vs. BYU Odds
PROVO, UT (The Spread) – Mike Leach makes his debut as Washington State head coach on Thursday when the Cougars head to BYU for a 10:15PM ET kickoff on ESPN.
View Current College Football Odds
BYU is coming off a 10-3 season last year under coach Bronco Mendenhall. It was the team’s fifth 10-win season in his seven years as coach. Washington State was 4-8 last year and has failed to have a winning record since 2003. BYU has won two of the three meetings in this matchup’s history.
Trends show that Washington State was 3-3 against the spread on the road last season and 7-5 ATS overall. The Cougars were 10-3 against the spread in 2011 and 5-3 against the point spread odds at home.
Oddsmakers see BYU as the favorite at home in this game, giving the Cougars odds of -12 points against Washington State. The over/under total for the game has been set at 65 points (View Matchup). The opening odds had BYU favored by 13.5 points but the odds have been slowly coming closer to the Cougars, topping at out 12 points.
Washington State was looking to shake up the program when it hired Leach to be the coach. Leach is known for what he did at Texas Tech and that offense. The Cougars did average 29.8 points and 422 yards per game on offense last year. The team also has seven starters back this year, which makes them dangerous under Leach. Quarterback Jeff Tuel takes over under center as a senior and he has a big target in Marquess Wilson to turn to. Wilson had 1,386 receiving yards last season with 12 scores. On defense, The Cougars were carved up for 31.8 points and 410 yards per game a year ago. Leach wasn’t know for defense, so those numbers may not improve despite having seven starters back.
BYU has been a steady team under Mendenhall. The offense averaged 30.1 points and 406 yards per game in 2011. The team has seven starters back, including quarterback Riley Nelson, who threw for 1,717 yards and 19 TD’s in 2011. Receiver Cody Hoffman is also back. He caught 61 passes for 943 yards and 10 scores last year. Defensively, BYU held its opponents to just 20.4 points and 313 total yards last year. The Cougars have 7 starters back on defense as well, including linebacker Kyle Van Noy. Van Noy had 68 tackles, 8 sacks, and 3 INT’s for BYU last season.
In terms of Injuries, BYU offensive lineman Brock Strigham is questionable with an ankle injury and kicker Justin Sorensen is out with a back injury. Washington State offensive lineman Rico Forbes is out with a back injury.
The Public Bets are in favor of Washington State on the road. The Cougars are currently getting 57% of the wagers with odds of +12 points at BYU on Thursday night.
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