Liberty Flames vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Prediction, 9/19/2020 College Football Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Liberty Flames vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Date: Saturday, September 19, 2020

Location: L. T. Smith Stadium

TV: ESPNU

Odds/Point Spread: Liberty (+13.5)

Total/Over-Under: 59.5

L. T. Smith Stadium is the venue where Tyrrell Pigrome and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will play the Liberty Flames on Saturday. Western Kentucky opens this game as 13.5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 59.5.

In their last outing in 2019, the Liberty Flames faced the Georgia Southern Eagles and went home with the win by a score of 23-16. Leading the way at QB for the Flames was Stephen Calvert who went 16/35 with 270 yards by way of passing and tossed 2 touchdowns. He gave away 2 picks in this game. Frankie Hickson paced the team in rushing for that game. He broke a long run for 35 yards but he wasn't able to run one in for a touchdown. He scurried for 120 yards on 22 carries which gave him an average of 5.5 yards per run. Johnny Huntley was the receiving yardage leader by racking up 90 yards on 2 receptions. He averaged 45.0 yards per reception for that game.

The Flames averaged 35.8 points per contest last season while scoring 429 total points. They scored 56 touchdowns and accumulated 289 1st downs. Liberty ran 915 total offensive plays in 2019 for 5,712 yards, which came out to 439 per game. They had 88 total penaties for 801 yards as well, so that's something to clean up for this season.

Last week the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers went up against the Louisville Cardinals and went home in defeat by a score of 35-21. Tyrrell Pigrome paced the team in rushing for that contest. He broke a long run for 25 yards but he wasn't able to run one in for a touchdown. He rushed for a total of 68 yards on 17 carries which meant he was running for 4.0 yards per carry. Jahcour Pearson was the receiving yardage leader by racking up 67 yards on 5 catches. He earned an average of 13.4 yards per reception for that contest. Taking the lead at quarterback for the Hilltoppers was Pigrome who went 10/23 with 129 yards via the pass and completed 1 touchdown. He ended the game without an interception.

The Hilltoppers head into this matchup after finishing last season 9-4. Western Kentucky had a year to forget in the ground game by averaging 128.5 yards per contest, which had them at 110th in the nation. As a unit, they had a total of 1,671 yards rushing through 13 contests, so they'll need to look to improve on these numbers if they want to compete with the better teams in the nation. The Hilltoppers averaged 387.8 yards per contest overall ranking them 83rd in the country and 8th in the conference. When looking at their ability to score points, the Hilltoppers sat in 9th in the conference and 90th out of all the teams in the nation averaging 25.4 points per game.

The Hilltoppers allowed 20.1 points per contest ranking them 1st in the conference and 22nd in college football. Their pass defense was one of the best groups in the nation. They conceded 199.6 passing yards per contest. For yards through the air allowed per game, the Hilltoppers ranked 4th in Conference USA. When it comes to points given up, they gave up 261 points in total. In regard to rushing yards, they gave up 135.8 yards per game which put them at 33rd in D-1 and 3rd in the conference. Last season, they conceded 1,765 rushing yards.

Who will win tonight's Flames/Hilltoppers college football game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take the Flames +13.5

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