CFB Saturday FREE PICK
CFB YTD 3-2 (60%) +$77 BYU -9.5 -106 (pinnacle) risking $106 to win $100 BYU has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation (Nebraska, Boise St., UCLA, Michigan, UCONN) now get 8 days off to rest and play ECU who is playing their 4th road game in five weeks. East Carolina is travelling 2250 miles across country and ascending 3583 feet vertically to Provo, Utah. The altitude in Provo can be problematic to teams and tends to increase the chances that a visiting team from a low lying region will wear down in the 4th quarter of games. East Carolina has found new life with jr. QB James Summers, who came off the bench to lead the Pirates to back-to-back comebacks: down 14-0 vs. Virginia Tech and 23-7 versus SMU. Comebacks against two teams with weak D's in bad spots isn't saying much to me here, Saturday will be the true test for ECU's QB. BYU now with film on ECU's QB Summers and not coming off the bench anymore actually starting on the road for the first time against a very defensive-minded head coach in BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall will be tough. I like the personal match-up here for BYU against a less physical team: the top two running backs go 235 pounds and the OL from tackle to tackle, averages 312 pounds. BYU’s wide receivers stand tall over ECU secondary: leading receiver Mitch Mathews stands 6’6”. Nick Kurtz and Terenn Houk are each 6’5” and the tallest starter in the ECU secondary stands 6’0". This is a huge mismatch in this one and BYU should look to dominate here from start to finish. ECU starting a new QB for the first time [...]