Betting Lines: West Virginia -6.5, O/U 41
The Autozone Liberty Bowl this season sees an intriguing match up between the West Virginia Mountaineers and Army Black Knights. West Virginia is closing out its second year under Neil Brown and looking to finish 6-4. Army on the other hand, has had another brilliant regular season finishing at 9-2.
How they got there: West Virginia Mountaineers
New Years Eve, West Virginia looks to close out their 2020 with a winning record. An up and down season was highlighted by a blowout win over then #16 Kansas State. It was not without low points as the Mountaineers closed the season with a 36 point loss to Iowa St. The offense flowed through junior running back Leddie Brown. Brown racked up almost 1000 yards in 9 games and also caught 31 passes, second on the team. On the defensive side of the ball, the Mountaineers were led by freshman Akheem Mesidor. The defensive lineman from Ontario racked up 5 sacks to lead the team.
Players to Watch:
Leddie Brown: The junior will certainly want to end 2020 with a bang. Look for the star RB to appear on preseason all Big-12 teams if he returns in 2021.
Jarret Doege: Junior Quarterback was impressive in his second season in Neil Brown’s offense. He threw for almost 2500 yards in their nine games and had a TD/interception ratio of over 4:1.
How they got there: Army Black Knights
Jeff Monken brings his triple option offense to Nashville New Years Eve. The Black Knights enjoyed another phenomenal season going 9-2. The schedule was highlighted by wins over rivals Navy and Air Force to win the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. Their losses came to undefeated Cincinnati and a lackluster midseason performance against Tulane. As usual, the rushing attack was near the top of college football averaging 281 yards per game. This allowed a defense that got to spend a lot of time off the field hold opponents to 14 PPG.
Players to Watch:
Jakobi Buchanan: The ever rotating backfield makes it tough to single out a single player to watch on the offense. Buchanan toted the rock 21 times in their last game vs Air Force and rushed for nearly 500 yards this season.
Arik Smith: Junior linebacker led the team with 3.5 sacks and was the teams second leading tackler with 71.
Prediction
Historically, the more time allowed to prepare for the option the better a team will perform against it. Look for this trend to continue thursday afternoon with West Virginia getting out to a lead thanks to Jarret Doege. The Mountaineers will then ride Leddie Brown in the second half to a convincing win.
Betting picks: WVU -6.5, U41
Final score: West Virginia 27- Army 10