Texas Tech vs West Virginia Odds: Raiders Favored on Road

Mountaineers Open Big 12 Conference Play

September 19, 2023 593 3 minutes readNCAAF Picks & Parlays

Texas Tech vs West Virginia Odds: Analyzing the Matchup — John E. Moore III / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA

Game Info
Red Raiders
West Virginia
What to Expect
Who to Bet On?

The Texas Tech Red Raiders will ride their first victory of the season into West Virginia for a Big 12 Conference matchup with West Virginia. The Mountaineers have won two straight games after an opening-season loss to Penn State. The Texas Tech vs West Virginia odds have the Red Raiders favored by 6 points on the road with a total of 55.

Texas Tech Red Raiders at West Virginia Mountaineers

Day/Time: Saturday, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m. ET
Line: Texas Tech -6 Total: 55
Streaming: Big 12 Network

Red Raiders Off to Slow Start

A 1-2 start wasn’t quite what Texas Tech had in mind for the 2023 season. There’s no real shame in losing to Oregon, which the Red Raiders did in Week 2. But an opening-week loss to Wyoming as 13.5-point favorites is unforgivable. The Red Raiders also failed to cover the spread against the Ducks, losing 38-30 as 4.5-point underdogs. Texas Tech did cover against Tarleton, winning 41-3 as 36-point favorites.

Quarterback Tyler Slough isn’t quite performing at the level the Red Raiders were hoping for. He’s thrown for 743 yards and seven touchdowns, but has also been intercepted four times. Texas Tech has allowed 10 sacks through the first three games. The ground game is picking up some yards, running for 488 yards, but only has three rushing touchdowns on the year.

Defensively, the Red Raiders are allowing 25.3 points per game. But 38 of those were against Oregon, who is No. 10 in the NCAAF rankings. While the Red Raiders allowed 35 to Wyoming, 15 points came in overtime. The teams were tied at 20 before the Cowboys won 35-33 in double-overtime. The Red Raiders haven’t played the toughest schedule around, but it hasn’t been a walk in the park either.

West Virginia Throttles Pittsburgh

The Mountaineers are coming off a 17-6 victory over Pitt in the ‘Backyard Brawl,’ which is a bit of a rivalry game. But after losing the last three games to Texas Tech, West Virginia should be ready for this game. The Mountaineers couldn’t keep up with Penn State, falling 38-15 to open the season in a non-covering effort as 21-point underdogs.

The Mountaineers rebounded with a 56-17 win over Duquesne, sneaking past the 38.5-point spread and beat the Panthers as 2.5-point favorites last week. The Mountaineers are scoring 29.3 points per game and allowing 20.3. West Virginia has made just three turnovers through three games, which has helped.

The Mountaineers are doing most of their damage on the ground, running for 601 yards and seven touchdowns, while throwing for 537 yards and five touchdowns.

The defense has been pretty good for the most part. Not many teams are going to slow down Penn State, so you can forgive the Mountaineers a little bit for that one.

What to Expect

The Red Raiders like to throw the ball first and run as an afterthought. Texas Tech throws nearly 60% of the time and will probably continue that pattern this week. The Mountaineers allow 8.3 yards per pass, which is No. 98 in the country.

West Virginia runs the ball two-thirds of the time and will most likely look to continue that pattern to keep the Texas Tech offense off the field. The Red Raiders don’t have the greatest offensive stats, but the team makes the most of their opportunities.

Who to Bet On?

The Texas Tech vs West Virginia odds of Red Raiders -6 might be a shade high. The college football predictions have Texas Tech by 4.5 points, so there’s the slightest bit of value on West Virginia. It’s probably not quite enough to make a play, but it’s there.

The Texas Tech vs West Virginia odds on the total are a little bit tricky. West Virginia’s pass defense isn’t anything to get excited about. But the Red Raiders really haven’t thrown the ball all that well this season.

Texas Tech’s stats are a little bit skewed by the overtime game, so Texas Tech doesn’t score quite as many points and their stats show. The Red Raiders also don’t allow quite as many points as their numbers suggest.

Texas Tech is better than average against the run. But you can’t call them very good or great at stopping the opposing team’s running attack. The Mountaineers are going to try to come out and run the ball. It’s what they do best. If West Virginia has a little success on the ground, that could bode well for the under 55. It probably shouldn’t be one of your best college football bets for Saturday. But taking the under 55 does make some sense here.

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