Score Predictions for West Virginia vs. No. 22 Houston

This weekend, the West Virginia Mountaineers are looking to pick up their first Big 12 win of the season and snap a five-game losing skid, but will have No. 22 Houston standing in their way.

Here are our predictions for this week’s matchup.

From a matchup standpoint, I actually think this bodes well for the Mountaineers. Houston’s offense isn’t nearly as explosive as what TCU’s was, so if Zac Alley’s unit can churn out another strong performance, which I believe they will, this will be a game.

Unfortunately, with young quarterbacks, you’re going to experience some ups and downs, and going on the road against a much better defensive unit spells trouble. I won’t go as far as saying Scotty Fox will have a long, miserable day, but I do believe he’ll have some freshman moments, which could lead to a turnover or two.

I’m going to side with the Cougars getting the dub, but I fully expect this one to be a game deep into the fourth quarter. This has a rock fight type of feel to it.

West Virginia had one of its best performances of the season last week, albeit it was a loss.

Scotty Fox Jr. received his second consecutive start and broke WVU freshman records in passing yards (301) and completions (28). The numbers came out of necessity from a struggling rushing attack missing its top two backs, including bruiser Tye Edwards, and it only rushed for 41 yards, 33 of which came in the first quarter. Houston has a stiffer run defense than TCU, so I suspect it will be tough sledding for the Mountaineers on the ground.

The success in the passing game last week could shock the Cougars. WVU has been held scoreless in the first quarter in every Power Four game. Rodriguez has attacked defenses in a variety of ways to begin the games, but it has taken the offense a while to settle in to even move the ball for field position.

Houston has been finding ways to win. Most recently, they etched out an eight-point victory at Arizona State, right after the Sun Devils returned to the Top 25 for Houston to jump into their spot this week.

Houston head coach Willie Fritz seemed somewhat concerned his team may overlook the Mountaineers during his weekly press conference and wants a big crowd, asking fans to attend the 11:00 a.m. local kickoff time.

West Virginia may have tested TCU last week, but as Rich Rodriguez mentioned, the crowd was awesome, and I believe that was the biggest difference, especially on defense, in the Mountaineers’ performance.

Crowd or no crowd, Houston has found ways to win all season, and I suspect junior quarterback Conner Weigman will keep enough drives alive to propel the Cougars to a 31-13 win.

Score Predictions for West Virginia vs. No. 22 Houston

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