Utah vs West Virginia Prediction, Picks & Odds – College Football Week 5

• The Utah Utes are big 12.5-point road favorites when they visit the West Virginia Mountaineers
• Both teams were thumped in their Big 12 Conference openers last week
• Read below for Utah vs West Virginia prediction, pick and odds for September 27

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It’s a chance for both the Utah Utes (3-1, 3-1-0 ATS) and the West Virginia Mountaineers (2-2, 2-2-0 ATS ) to shake off disastrous conference slate openers when they collide this afternoon.

That hasn’t deterred the books, who have the Utes as a superior road favorite in the college football odds.

Action gets underway at 3:30pm ET from Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, WV, with FOX carrying the broadcast.

Utah vs West Virginia Prediction

• Pick: Utah -12.5 (-110 at BetMGM)

Perhaps the level-up was a bit too much for the Utes, who were crushed 34-10 by the 17th-ranked Texas Tech Raiders, their first loss of the campaign.

An offense that had put up at least 31 points in every game of the year was held to a season-low, but Utah also suffered a bevy of self-inflicted wounds, turning it over four times.

Even with that loss, Utah’s offensive output is impressive, ranking inside the Top 20 in the nation in rushing, at 242.8 yards per game, part of an offense that piles up 453.5 yards per game (32nd).

The Mountaineers are going to be hard-pressed to stop the run. They’re currently 11th in the Big 12, allowing 130.8 yards per game this season.

West Virginia was blown out 41-10 by the Kansas Jayhawks last game, the second time in three weeks the offense has put up 10 points. They also didn’t do themselves any favouts, turning it over twice and allowing three more sacks, lifting their conference-worst total to 11.

I just don’t think WVU has the offense to keep up with the high-octane Utes, or the defense to try and contain them.

Utah Needs to Play a Full 60 Minutes

It wasn’t an ideal open to their Big 12 slate, but perhaps the wake-up call, plus the favorable matchup is just what Utah needs to get serious about conference play.

The Utes are just 2-8 in conference games since joining the Big 12 last season.

Against the Red Raiders, their normally potent offense was held out of the endzone until the fourth quarter, with a first-half TD wiped out with an ineligible receiver penalty.

The defense unravelled at just the wrong time too, allowing Texas Tech to score on three straight drives in the fourth quarter that put this one on ice. The Utes’ D allowed a whopping 10.7 yards per play over the final 15 minutes.

The plan will likely be to get the run game going, as Utah was held to just 101 yards on 31 carries. NaQuari Rogers was the leading rusher, with just 37 yards. QB Devon Dampier — the team’s leading rusher — had just 27 and Wayshawn Parker had just 22.

WVU Needs Better QB Play

West Virginia’s ground game is respectable, pumping out better than 200 yards per contest, which is fourth in the Big 12 just two slots behind Utah.

But it’s strange that a Rich Rodriguez-coached offense isn’t connecting better in the passing game, and you can see that in the lopsided losses.

QB Nicco Marchiol is completing under 58% of his passes in L’s to Ohio and Kansas, and hasn’t cleared 180 yards passing in either. The Mountaineers are 5th-last in the Big 12 in passing yards per game.

Utah ranks in the conference’s Top 8 in both rushing and passing yards against, so there’s a weakness they can exploit. The Mountaineers are just going to have to be solid in both to compete Saturday.

Utah vs West Virginia Odds

Odds as of September 27 at 11am ET. Be sure to check out the best BetMGM bonus code before placing a bet on any Week 5 College Football matchup.

Though they’re undefeated at home this year, the Mountaineers are hefty 12.5-point home underdogs against the Utes, and a distant +375 on the moneyline. There’s next to no value in Utah’s moneyline odds of -500.

The total sits at 47.5 points. This one is tricky because WVU has seen the Under cash in all four games this season, but it’s combined to score at least 48 points in three of its four games. The Utes have split their Over/Unders this year, but have also cruised past 48 points in three of its four games.