Football, Sports, WVU Sports

Will West Virginia stay unbeaten? Our staff predictions for Saturday’s games

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — How The MetroNews Sports staff forecasts Saturday night’s Big 12 game in Ames between No. 6 West Virginia (5-0, 3-0) and Iowa State (2-3, 1-2):

Kyle Wiggs

Iowa State completely caught Oklahoma State off guard with the insertion of freshman quarterback Brock Purdy into the lineup last week.  With a week to prepare, the Mountaineers should have the ability to slow Purdy some. Getting Big Joe Brown back at guard should go a long way toward solidifying WVU’s offensive line. West Virginia 28, Iowa State 24 

Kyle’s other picks:

LSU 17, Georgia 14
Notre Dame 30, Pitt 14
Oregon 27, Washington 24
Wisconsin 35, Michigan 31
Marshall 31, Old Dominion 30

Goose Gyorko

WVU has now played 7 consecutive quarters of meh football.  They’ve gotten away with it, but that’s mostly due to doing so against Texas Tech’s backup QB and Kansas.  Conference road games at night are tricky, but West Virginia is the more talented team.  Time to show it. West Virginia 31, Iowa State 26

Goose’s other picks:

Georgia 23, LSU 20
Notre Dame 45, Pitt 21
Oregon 37, Washington 31
Michigan 23, Wisconsin 20
Marshall 34, Old Dominion 24

Brad Howe

The Cyclones will be playing in front of a raucous home crowd and have momentum.
West Virginia counters with the best, most experienced quarterback in the league in Will Grier. That should matter in a game like this. West Virginia 35, Iowa State 27

Brad’s other picks:

Georgia 28, LSU 17
Notre Dame 38, Pitt 17
Washington 30, Oregon 24
Michigan 28, Wisconsin 20
Marshall 31, Old Dominion 28

Hoppy Kercheval

WVU is on a 4-0 run versus ISU straight up and against the spread….that will continue this week in Ames.  Even though the Cyclones defense is holding opponents 110 yards under their average, Grier will bounce back and the Mountaineer offense will look more like they did in the first half against Texas Tech. West Virginia 38, Iowa State 24 

Hoppy’s other picks:

LSU 27, Georgia 24
Notre Dame 34, Pitt 17
Oregon 31, Washington 27
Wisconsin 24, Michigan 21
Marshall 41, Old Dominion 38

Allan Taylor

Favored by 6 points, WVU won’t gain a ton of credit by winning in Ames, yet stands to have its CFP hopes ruined by losing there. (Expect a tougher road environment than what the Mountaineers faced at Texas Tech, where the 11 a.m. kickoff made for a drowsy day.) For two weeks, Holgorsen has warned about never taking a win for granted, and I think he’ll be genuinely grateful after surviving this one. West Virginia 27, Iowa State 24 

Allan’s other picks:

LSU 23, Georgia 21
Notre Dame 38, Pitt 28
Washington 30, Oregon 26
Michigan 23, Wisconsin 17
Marshall 31, Old Dominion 21