Staff Picks: West Virginia Mountaineers

Oct 5, 2019; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Austin Kendall (12) throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the Texas Longhorns at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Location: Morgantown, W. Va.
Time: 3 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Spread: Iowa State, -10

Chris Williams, Publisher – Iowa State 35, West Virginia 17

I don’t taking picking Iowa State to win by double digits in Morgantown lightly. The thing about this West Virginia team is what it lacks in talent, it has made up for in grit over the first half of the season. This team won’t quit and will keep getting better as the season goes on. But Iowa State has found its sweet spot and for the sake of comparison, I think the Cyclones are better than Texas (who beat West Virginia last week) at this point in the season. Learn more about my thoughts on this game from an X’s and O’s standpoint in the Thursday Thesis.

Jared Stansbury, Staff Writer – Iowa State 41, WVU 21

West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall continues his turnover-prone ways while Brock Purdy continues to roll. Cyclones jump out early in this one and never look back.

Brent Blum, Contributor – Iowa State 30, West Virginia 23

This WVU squad is young but plays very hard. They aren’t especially adept at running the ball or stopping the run. I expect a methodical Iowa State effort that is enough to keep West Virginia at arm’s length for most of the game.

Rob Gray, Senior Writer – Iowa State 35, West Virginia 21

West Virginia’s defense will confound ISU early, but big plays will come later. Cyclones continue to force turnovers on the other side of the ball and use at least one to pull away in the fourth quarter.

Jay Jordan, Football Analyst – Iowa State 31, West Virginia 21

I want Greg Eisworth to sit this one out.  So my prediction figures that in. WVU can get some big plays against the ISU defense. Will it come after ISU has a sizable lead, or will they strike early? I think WVU causes some trouble, but Brock Purdy leads a series of second-half scoring drives to pull away late.

Jeff Woody, Football Analyst – Iowa State 34, West Virginia 16

Don’t turn the ball over and this game is comfortable. Turn the ball over in Morgantown and bad stuff happens. Nwangwu and Lang have sort of risen to the top of ballcarriers, and they need to be good. I think they do and they are and it is comfortable. 

Kevin Fitzpatrick, Contributor – Iowa State 35, West Virginia 24

Iowa State has done well in 11 a.m. games (Editor’s note from Stanz: The game starts at 3 p.m. but we’ll let Kevin roll with it) on the road in the past couple years under Matt Campbell and there’s nothing that particularly scares me about this year’s West Virginia team. If the Cyclones can avoid the costly mistakes that did them in against Iowa and Baylor, they should be able to keep the Mountaineers at arm’s length and come away with a victory.

Kirk Haaland, Stats Nerd – Iowa State 31, West Virginia 21

The Mountaineer offense has largely been riding the struggle bus this year and their defense has been mediocre while giving up major chunk yardage on big plays. This is an Iowa State game where they need to go on the road, play to their strengths, and avoid costly mistakes and all will be fine.