TCU at BYU NCAA Football Betting Lines
Written October 20, 2009 by Rock Henderson
The Mountain West conference has to be ecstatic that a match-up between their two marquee teams this year will garner the attention of the nation when College GameDay rolls into Utah. TCU will make the trip to Provo ranked 7th in the country and will clash with the 16th ranked BYU Cougars. With a win Saturday, TCU makes a strong case for a BCS Bowl berth with road wins at Clemson and at BYU. The Cougars, on the other hand, would have two victories over teams previously ranked in the Top 10 and will have control of the MWC for the time being. TCU is listed as a 2 point favorite according to the latest football betting lines.
BYU is coming off a 38-28 victory at San Diego State in a game that featured four total touchdowns by Davey O’Brien candidate QB Max Hall. On the year, Hall has accounted for over 2000 yards passing and has tossed 16 touchdown passes against just one interception. Hall’s favorite target has been tight end Dennis Pitta. The senior has caught 34 balls for 471 yards and five scores making him a huge weapon in the middle of the field for the Cougs. The offense is balanced with bruising back Harvey Unga gaining the tough yards in the trenches. Unga has gained 575 yards and scored nine times with his 5.6 yards per carry average. BYU’s defense has been suspect for most of the season. They have been strong against the run, but are allowing almost 240 yards passing per game and TCU’s QB Andy Dalton is capable of putting up big numbers in the passing game. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall has done an outstanding job turning BYU into one of the top college football programs in the country even though it is tough to sell recruits on playing in Provo. Get an unlimited 10% deposit bonus on your new account with Bodog this college football betting season.
The Horned Frogs of TCU have quietly snuck their way into the Top 10 of the most recent BCS rankings. With wins over ACC members Virginia and Clemson, this team has shown resiliency on the road and will look to continue their march for a BCS berth against Utah. QB Andy Dalton has already moved into the third spot in TCU history for career passing leader behind such names as Davey O’Brien and Sammy Baugh. Dalton has thrown for 1223 yards and eight touchdowns in six games. The offense doesn’t have many stars, but it has a nice mix of run and pass which keeps opposing defenses off balance. Where the Horned Frogs make most of their noise is on the defensive side of the ball. Led by consensus All-American DE Jerry Hughes and his eight sacks, TCU consistently places one of the most athletic defenses on the field each year. They don’t turn the ball over much, but are relentless in their pursuit of the quarterback as their 21 team sacks tells the story.
Defense wins championships and TCU’s is far superior in this match-up. The BYU crowd should be in a frenzy, but Horned Frog’s QB Andy Dalton has been in this situation before. TCU dominated the game between these two last year 32-7 as they held the high powered Cougar offense to just 297 total yards. BYU was overmatched against Florida State’s speedy defense and will face a similar unit on Saturday. Play: TCU -2
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