West Virginia at Houston Prediction Game Preview

West Virginia at Houston How To Watch

Date: Thursday, October 12
Game Time: 7:00 ET
Venue: TDECU Stadium, Houston, TX
How To Watch: ESPN
2023 Record: West Virginia (4-1), Houston (2-3)
Pete Fiutak on X | CFN on X
College Football News on Facebook

West Virginia at Houston Game Preview

Why West Virginia Will Win

What’s going so right in this terrific 4-1 start?

The schedule has been far, far easier than expected, but that’s not exactly fair to the Mountaineers, who have been doing one thing really, really well. The defense is getting off the field.

The passing game isn’t there and the ground attack is hit-or-miss, but there aren’t any penalties and the turnovers are limited - the team isn’t making a ton of mistakes.

However, the O controls the clock, the D is rested, and winning third downs has meant everything. On the flip side, the Houston defense is the worst in the Big 12, it’s getting killed against the run, and …

Bowl Projections | CFN Rankings 1-133
- 2023 Team Schedules, Results

Why Houston Will Win

Can West Virginia crank up the offense and the scoring if Houston can get off to a good start?

Control, control, control. West Virginia has to make teams play its style, and Houston has to change the narratives with a few early points and make other offense start to press a bit.

West Virginia doesn’t have a proven passing game - it hit 200 yards just once so far against FBS teams - and there’s a huge problem if it has to hurry things up to try to stay in the game.

For all of Houston’s issues, the Donovan Smith and the passing attack have stepped up over the last few weeks. Smith is hit 75% of his throws against Texas Tech and Sam Houston, the interceptions have slowed, and he has to be fantastic. But of course …

- Week 7 Experts Picks

West Virginia at Houston Who Will Win

This is ALL about Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen. He did a nice job over eight years as the West Virginia head coach with seven winning seasons, but he left for Houston in a big move to try bringing the program into Power Five prominence. That happened, but the Cougars are struggling and desperately need a big win to turn this all around.

It’ll be a grind, but that’s how West Virginia likes it.

It’s been able to clamp down against the pass in key moments, the run defense has been great, and it should be able to run and pound its way to controlling the game throughout to push past its former head coach.

- Week 7 Schedule, Previews, Predictions

West Virginia at Houston Prediction, Line

West Virginia 27, Houston 23
Line: West Virginia -2.5, o/u: 49.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating (out of 5): 3
- BetMGM - Get $1,500 Paid Back in Bonus Bets, if you Don't Win

CFN Experts Picks Week 7
West Virginia at Houston | SMU at ECU
Tulane at Memphis | Fresno St at Utah St
Stanford at Colorado | Georgia at Vandy
Indiana at Michigan | Ohio St at Purdue
Syracuse at FSU | Arkansas at Bama
Oregon at Washington | Tex A&M at Tenn
Florida at S Carolina | Iowa at Wisconsin
Auburn at LSU | USC at Notre Dame
Miami at UNC | Missouri at Kentucky
UCLA at Oregon St | SDSU at Hawaii

DDDDDDDD