College Football Predictions: BYU vs. Texas Preview

Written by Jake Thompson
Saturday, 10 September 2011 17:26

Our preview and score predictions will let you know if there is an upset brewing in the college football game between BYU and Texas.

The BYU Cougars (1-0) will go on the road to take on the #21 Texas Longhorns (1-0) today, and we’ll preview both teams and make predictions on what you are likely to see when the 7:00 PM ET game kicks off.  Close to 60% of tracked college football bettors are taking Texas here and the Longhorns are currently listed as 7-point favorites with a total of 49 points.

BYU opened up their season with a 14-13 road win over the Mississippi Rebels.  The Cougars struggled to run the ball but quarterback Jake Heaps did enough in the air to lead BYU back from a 0-13 4th quarter deficit.  BYU showed off a tremendous defense that has nearly everyone back, but I still question if the secondary is strong enough to stop a top passing team.  The Cougars also have a ton of guys back on offense and they should be able to produce a reliable mix of the run and the pass.

Texas grabbed a 34-9 home win over Rice to start the year and could have won by more if they felt compelled to run up the score.  The Longhorns put up 506 total yards while allowing only 224, and their ability to limit the Owls to just 94 passing yards has set the expectations high for a senior-laden secondary.  Texas did not look nearly as sharp in the trenches after losing some defensive line starters to graduation, and it will be interesting to see how the opposing lines matchup here.

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Much of this preview has to do with how the lines look against one another, and I think that BYU’s defensive line is stronger than Texas’s offensive line.  Predictions call for Texas to struggle to run the ball a bit more than they are accustomed to, and that will put a lot of pressure on Gilbert to make good decisions.  I trust Heaps more than the Longhorns’ starter at this point and I’m figuring on the final score being close.  BYU has a chance to pull the outright upset and I definitely feel they are the correct bet.  The under also looks like a winner and I’ll be recommending that in my BYU vs. Texas preview as well.

BYU vs. Texas Score Predictions:

BYU 23

Texas 20