Jason Storm
Free Picks Newsletter Lead Researcher
117-75-1 Overall Record  College Football: Central Florida (+2) vs BYU (-2) Over – Under 44

BYU has to be disappointed after their huge loss last week to Utah last Saturday. BYU was favored over Utah. Unfortunately Utah made it a one sided blow out as Utah embarrassed the Cougars. The final score was 10-57 but it wasn’t nearly that lopsided. BYU turned the ball over 7 times! That’s equivalent to the Steelers versus Ravens in week 1 of the NFL. Everyone know the Steelers aren’t that bad. It’s just the way that one game went. It’s really the same story for the Cougars.

BYU had the chance to make this into a special season. They were hyped to have the defensive talent to shut any opponents down. They were living up to the hype in the first couple games holding SEC’s Mississippi to 13 points. In the most recent game, BYU held Texas to just 17 points and lost by a single point.

I fully expect Central Florida to get BYU’s very best shot. This BYU team hasn’t lost back to back home games in recent history.

BYU needs to their young sophomore Quarterback Jake Heaps to take care of the ball. He has 4 interceptions already on the season. It’s not all negative though. Heaps is putting up big yards by  doing a lot of things right. 10 different BYU receivers have at least 4 receptions on the season! 4 receivers have at least 10 catches. He really knows how to scan the field and find the best match up. It also helps his top 2 receivers are 6’3 and 6’4. Cody Hoffman who is also a sophomore is 6’4. He had 135 yards receiving in the last game and over 14 yards a catch on the season. He also has Ross Apo is tall at 6’3. He is leading the team in TDs with 3. He is averaging nearly 12 yards a catch.

These are big numbers by big receivers. The fact they both have such a large yards per catch shows that Heap is able to get the ball down field and his guys can make people miss.

BYU may be a smaller, lesser known football school, but they are a football school none the less. They get real talent. Their defense wasn’t as exposed as the scoreboard indicated. 7 turnovers made it worse, but they have the ability to recover. They get guys with size, speed and ability. It was a mistake not a lack of talent. I fully expect this defense to recover and judging by the total on this game, the line makers too think the BYU’s defense will recover too.

 

BYU hasn’t lost back to back home games in more than 5 years. I don’t expect a inferior Central Florida team to do that.

Take: BYU -2