Baylor Bears vs BYU Cougars Prediction, 9/10/2022 College Football Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Baylor Bears vs BYU Cougars

Date: Saturday, September 10, 2022

Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, UT

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Cougars (-2.5)

Total/Over-Under: 52.5

LaVell Edwards Stadium is the location where the BYU Cougars (1-0) will play the Baylor Bears (1-0) on Saturday. BYU opens this contest as 2.5-point favorites. The betting total is set at 52.5.

The Baylor Bears head into this game 1-0 for this year. The last time they took the field, the Bears played the Albany Great Danes and walked away with a win by a score of 69-10. Blake Shapen went 17/20 with 214 yds passing and 2 TDs. He had a quarterback rate of 207.9 and finished the game with no picks. Richard Reese was the leader on the ground for the Bears with 9 attempts for 62 yards (6.9 yards per attempt). Overall, they had 68 plays for 573 yds. The Baylor Bears ended up running the ball 41 times and totaled 259 yds, earning them an average of 6.3 yards per attempt. Against the run, the Bears conceded 87 yds on 30 attempts, which is 2.9 yds per run allowed. Baylor conceded 13 pass completions on 30 attempts for 150 yards, and a completion rate of 43.3%.

The Bears earned 5,929 yards in total over the course of last year. Baylor amassed 24 passing touchdowns and 29 touchdowns on the ground. They turned the ball over 15 times. Baylor recorded 290 1st downs as a team, and they were flagged for 76 infractions for 678 yds. As a unit they averaged 220.4 yds on the ground, which was 10th in college football. When talking about putting points on the board, the Baylor Bears had an average of 31.6 points per game.

Concerning yards via the pass, the Bears allowed 3,185 yds which ranked them 100th in Division 1. In their 14 games played last year, they surrendered 227.5 yards per outing through the air in addition to relinquishing a completion percentage of 60.1%. They surrendered 348.0 yards/game putting them 32nd in the nation. They yielded 13 touchdowns through the air as well as 15 touchdowns via the ground game. Opposing teams ran for an average of 3.4 yards per rush and 120.5 rushing yards per contest last season. In total, they gave up 1,687 yards on the ground in 14 contests. The Bears were ranked 10th in the nation in terms of team defense, allowing 18.3 points per contest.

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The Cougars come into this matchup with a record of 1-0 this season. The last time they took the field, the Cougars took home the win by a final score of 50-21 against the USF Bulls. Jaren Hall (2 TDs) ended the game with 261 yds on 25/32 through the air while his QB rating was 161. He tossed 1 interception and his Y/A was 8.2. Christopher Brooks carried the ball 13 times for 135 yds, finishing the game with 10.4 yds per attempt for BYU. The Cougars finished the game with 573 yds on 69 plays (8.3 yds per play). BYU rushed the ball for 8.4 yds per carry, finishing the contest with 312 yards on 37 attempts. BYU allowed 26 running attempts for 121 yards (4.7 yards per rush). The Cougars secondary conceded a completion percentage of 56.7%, surrendering 172 yds on 17 for 30 passing.

When looking at how much they scored, the Cougars had a ranking of 28th in college football with an average of 33.1 points per game. Last year, the Cougars earned 3,433 yards via the pass as well as an average of 264.1 passing yards per outing, which ranked 31st in college football. The BYU Cougars averaged 452.2 yards/game, ranking them 17th in college football. The BYU offense racked up 540 yds of penalties on 66 infractions, which had them ranked 100th in the country in terms of helping out the opposition.

The Cougars gave up 24.8 PPG, ranking them 52nd in Division 1. BYU surrendered a total of 2,040 rushing yards (156.9 yards per game) as well as 23 touchdowns via the rush throughout last season. Last year, they relinquished 322 total points. They gave up 14 touchdowns via the pass in addition to 231.9 yards per contest, which had them sitting 72nd in college football. The Cougars defense was on the field for 879 plays, which ranked them 75th in the nation.

Who will win tonight's Bears/Cougars college football game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Bears +2.5

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