BYU Missing Offensive Guns as it Makes Long Journey to UConn
By Charles Jay
The BYU Cougars, who are based on Provo, Utah, are traveling a long way for their first meeting ever against the Connecticut Huskies, and they hope it will be worth the trip. But sharp football bettors at VietBet know that they lost all three times they laid points on the road, while UConn has a superb pointspread record as a home dog. These teams will clash at 7 PM ET on Friday night at Rentschler Field in Storrs, CT.
BYU went 8-5 last season, losing by double digits when they had to travel to face class programs like Wisconsin and Notre Dame but also pinning the first loss on Houston. They fell to Washington in the Fight Hunger Bowl.
Connecticut went 3-9 last season, with seven of those losses coming by double digits. However, they closed with some momentum; after dropping their first nine, they won consecutive games against Temple, Rutgers and Memphis to finish things out.
In the football betting odds that have been placed on this game by the folks at VietBet, BYU is a big road favorite:
BYU Cougars -16.5
Connecticut Huskies +16.5
Over 50.5 Points -110
Under 50.5 Points -110
As most college football bettors are aware, BYU has become an independent, so they have a bit more of a challenge, but at the same time more flexibility, when it comes to putting together a schedule. Hence the date with UConn, which is now a member of the American Athletic Conference and not expected to contend for the league title in this, the first season for head coach Bob Diaco, who spent the last four years as an assistant at Notre Dame.
The Huskies are a team that participated in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2010 season (losing 48-20 to Oklahoma). Then coach Randy Edsall left for Maryland and the program has not had a winning season since. And this was despite allowing just 2.7 yards per carry in a couple of those seasons. Clearly offense is a problem with this crew, and that is why the maturation of quarterback Casey Cochran is going to be important. He had a relatively efficient season as a freshman (63%, 11 TD’s, four INT’s) and may be ready to take the next step forward. Will he? Well, UConn backers at VietBet have reason to be optimistic, because he threw for 461 yards against Memphis in the season’s final game.
BYU quarterback Taysom Hill is as much of a dual threat as exists in the country. last year he passed for 2938 yards and also ran for 1344 net yards. He has been erratic at times through the air, however, and the Huskies would love to force him to throw the ball, which may be easier to do, now that Jamaal Williams, the Cougars’ leading running back, is on suspension.
Williams ran for 1233 yards last season and averaged 5.7 yards a carry. He actually took it upon himself to announce that he had been suspended for violating the school’s honor code, as did starting wide receiver Devon Blackmon. Williams also suffered a knee sprain in a scrimmage this past week. This is a one-back offense, so coach Bronco Mendenhall (now in his tenth season) will dip into his bench to find a replacement. UConn won’t roll over, as they have covered 19 of their last 23 games against the football betting odds.
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