Baylor travels to Morgantown Thursday night to take on West Virginia. With both teams coming off a loss in the Big 12, they will both be searching for a win. Our staff predicts who they think will win.
Ashley O’Brien: The Mountaineers and the Bears are both coming off a bye week and West Virginia is going into a third Thursday night game. WVU is still searching for a conference win and Baylor is looking to remain one of the top teams in the conference. If WVU comes out with energy, they stand a chance. This is going to be a true make or break for West Virginia and their season.
WVU 24, Baylor 21
Wesley Shoemaker: It has been a season of what ifs for West Virginia, but they get an opportunity to beat a quality opponent at home on Thursday night. Baylor stops the run extremely well and not having CJ Donaldson means the game will be in JT Daniels’ hands. I think Daniels can keep West Virginia in it, it is just a matter of if the Mountaineer secondary can do the same thing. Ultimately, the Bears win not because of a West Virginia mistake, but just because they are the better team.
Baylor 27, WVU 23
Aaron Parker: Sitting at 2-3 overall, the Mountaineers will need to use the home night game crowd to their advantage against a talented and well-coached Baylor team. I think the rain will limit passing a little bit, but not enough to make it a run-fest. I think JT Daniels will throw three touchdowns, but I think the Baylor offense will have its way with the WVU defense, and I see the Bears winning this game in the fourth quarter.
Baylor 38, WVU 30
Jenks O’Donovan: With both teams coming off bye weeks, Dave Aranda and Neal Brown have plenty of time to prepare for each other. The major blow for West Virginia in this matchup is CJ Donaldson. Without his explosiveness and physicality, it will be tough to maneuver through the 18th-best run defense in the country. However, unlike the game against Texas, this matchup will come down to the wire. Blake Shapen and Baylor will take a commanding lead early by leaning on their run game. JT Daniels, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, and a rambunctious West Virginia crowd will help the Mountaineers make a comeback effort in the second half but will ultimately fall short. Baylor narrowly avoids an upset in Morgantown as West Virginia slips to zero and three in conference play.
Baylor 31, WVU 27
Tyler Prusina: The Mountaineers are currently 2-3 and the main reason for that is the secondary. They are giving up far too many points and letting opponents get by for big gains. in order to beat Baylor they will need to lock down there receivers to give the offense a chance to shine. with all of that said I feel WVU will come up short in this match up.
Baylor 24, WVU 14
Matt Natriello: With WVU and Baylor both coming off buys, neither will deal with the effects of the short week. Both are also coming off losses, with West Virginia still looking for their first conference win. The Mountaineers saw their defense start to click in the second half of the Texas game and will need to stop Baylor’s passing offense to stay in this one.
Baylor 34, WVU 24
