East Carolina vs. BYU Picks, Predictions College Football Week 9: Pirates Should Challenge Cougars
BYU will look to snap a three-game losing skid when hosting East Carolina as a short betting favorite Friday night. Check out our top East Carolina-BYU picks below.
The BYU Cougars are winless across their last three games, a stretch starting with a 28-20 defeat to Notre Dame on a neutral field. The proceeding losses only got worse, losing to Arkansas and Liberty by a combined score of 93-49. BYU was favored in each its last two outings.
East Carolina comes into Friday's matchup in much sharper form. The Pirates have back-to-back wins over Memphis and UCF, with the most recent coming by 21 points in upset fashion.
Check out all of our top college football picks for Week 9.
Here are our East Carolina vs. BYU college football picks for Week 9 (odds via BetMGM and PointsBet; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
East Carolina vs. BYU Game Info
Date: Friday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah
Weather: 39 degrees, 13% chance of precipitation, 7-mph winds
East Carolina vs. BYU Odds
East Carolina vs. BYU Odds Analysis
The consensus spread has stayed at the opening line of BYU -3.5. While 72% of bets are backing the Cougars, those account for just 52% of the total handle on the spread as some sharp money may be backing East Carolina.
The Over/Under has ticked up from the opening line of 61 to 63.5 as of Friday morning. Sixty-six percent of the tickets account for 80% of the handle on the Over.
East Carolina vs. BYU Picks
East Carolina vs. BYU Pick
East Carolina +3 (-107) ★★★★
What has BYU done to earn the trust of bettors of late? After a red-hot start, the Cougars have completely self-destructed, and they don’t look like they have much of an identity right now. BYU lost 28-20 on a neutral field to Notre Dame, followed it up with a 52-35 home loss to Arkansas, and then lost 41-14 at Liberty as a 7-point favorite.
Meanwhile, the Pirates won by 21 as 5-point underdogs last time out. In that game, they turned UCF over four times. BYU didn’t turn the ball over once against Liberty, which makes it all the more concerning that the Cougars lost by 27. They turned the ball over three times two weeks ago.
If the Pirates are able to turn the Cougars over, then they could end up not just covering, but winning by a large margin.
East Carolina vs. BYU O/U Pick
Over 61.5 (-115) ★★
The Pirates don’t have much of their own personal identity, playing to the style of their opponents more often than not. The total of their game against Tulane was 33, then the next week, they faced Memphis and the total ended at 92.
The Cougars have not been able to stop anyone since their Week 2 win over Baylor. They have given up 40 or more points in back-to-back games, and they allowed at least 24 points in five consecutive contests.
East Carolina quarterback Holton Ahlers has been on fire of late, throwing for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games and throwing just 14 total incompletions on 70 pass attempts during that span. He should continue to have success on Friday, and the Cougars should find some scoring opportunities after their embarrassing loss a week ago.
East Carolina vs. BYU Prop
East Carolina team total 31-40 (+250) ★★★
Ahlers and the Pirates’ offense has been hot over the last two weeks, and with how BYU’s defense is playing, there is no reason to think that the Pirates won’t go over 30 again this week. The only real question is, will the Pirates score too much to hit this bet?
While the Cougars have struggled over the last two weeks, they gave up 24, 26, and 28 in their previous three games. Even with how hot the Pirates have been, the offenses of Utah State, Notre Dame, and Wyoming are much more similar to East Carolina compared to Arkansas and Liberty.
Where to Bet on East Carolina vs. BYU
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East Carolina vs. BYU picks made 10/25/2022 at 3:02 p.m. ET
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