Dana Holgorsen has been seen as one of the sharpest offensive minds in college football over the last two decades. Holgorsen is an innovator who isn’t afraid to try new things in order to get results, and that has helped him succeed in the wide-open Big 12 during his time as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. He and West Virginia will look to start off right in Week 1 of the 2018 season with a win over the Tennessee Volunteers.
This matchup in Week 1 will take place on Saturday, September 1, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
West Virginia -10
Tennessee +10
Over/Under 61.5
Odds Analysis
The line has moved in West Virginia’s favor since open. West Virginia was initially an eight-point favorite per the CFB betting odds, but it has moved up to 10 since that point. However, the total has virtually remained the same. The original NCAAF betting line was 61, and it has since moved up to 61.5.
Coaching Angle
How many people were offered the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee this offseason? After John Currie’s attempted hire of Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano blew up in his face, the position was seemingly offered to at least a half-dozen candidates. Jon Gruden, Dan Mullen, Chip Kelly, Scott Frost, Matt Campbell, Mike Gundy, David Cutcliffe, and Dave Doeren were among the names rumored to have been offered the job, but all of the above decided against taking the job leading to the Volunteers settling on Jeremy Pruitt.
Pruitt looks like a decent choice for the job on paper. He was a defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama, and his defenses were typically pretty strong. However, he had been passed up for other jobs in the past as rumors circulated that he had a hard time getting along with other members of the staff. It will be interesting to see how things play out on this front, but he did bring one of his guys over to be his defensive coordinator in Kevin Sherrer.
Matchup to Watch
Holgorsen likes to toss it all over the place, and he has one of the top quarterbacks in college football as his signal caller. Will Grier proved that he still had it after sitting out a year following his transfer from Florida, and he is poised for even bigger things in his senior year.
Grier completed 64.4 percent of his balls and averaged nine yards per pass in 2017. Those are excellent numbers, and that’s part of the reason why NFL scouts are so intrigued by his potential. His importance to the team was demonstrated to after he was injured in the Texas game. West Virginia lost that one and their last two games of the season as a result of the injury.
Interestingly enough, Grier’s best target is a former quarterback himself. David Sills V is one of the favorites to win the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2018. Sills led the nation in touchdown passes last year, hauling in 18 touchdowns as his size and vertical jump gave him a major advantage over smaller defenders.
This duo could go off against a Tennessee secondary that is very inexperienced. They lose their top three cornerbacks from last season, and that is not a good sign heading into a game against West Virginia.
Free ATS Pick
It’s going to be a long year in Knoxville. It’s hard to see a path for Pruitt to succeed as he is not the recruiter that Butch Jones was, and Jones left the cupboard pretty bare in that regard. Grier is going to torch this secondary in an easy victory for West Virginia to start the year.
College Football Odds: West Virginia 38, Tennessee 17
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