Phil Steele Reveals His WVU vs. Utah Pick and Why It Might Be Closer Than Expected
This morning on the In the Gun Podcast, college football expert Phil Steele joined the show, as he does each and every Friday, giving his prediction on that week’s West Virginia game along with some of the best matchups in the top 25 and the Big 12.
No surprise here from Phil, who picked Utah to win the game. However, he believes the Mountaineers can keep this one close.
At the end of the year, their last two games, they had their fifth-string quarterback starting. There were reasons for their demise last year. I really don’t see it happening this year. In fact, I still think Utah has a great chance of being in the Big 12 title game. Kyle Whittingham told me this is the best offensive line he’s had in his 21 years, and they are running the ball, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Wasn’t overly impressive last week, but Texas Tech is a really good team, very talented. Defensively, while they gave up 484 yards last week, which is shocking for a Utah defense, a lot of it came in the fourth quarter. I think they’ll be better prepared this week for whichever quarterback West Virginia throws at them. I think the banged-up offensive line that West Virginia has… they’re going to struggle against an angry Utah defense. I still think Utah’s one of the best teams in the Big 12. I got to think Utah comes out of here with the win. Now, the spread’s pretty high. It’s up to 12.5, and the thing is with Rich Rod, he’s going to have his team fighting to the very end of the game. I think the Pittsburgh game is going to give them a lot of confidence. Even last week, West Virginia played better at the very end of the game. They’re going to keep fighting, keep scrapping, but Utah is just the better team. I think they come in here and get the win.”