Liberty and BYU will meet on Saturday afternoon in Lynchburg, Virginia in a game televised on ESPNU at 3:30 p.m. We round up national pundits’ predictions of the game outcome below.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic predicts a Liberty win as his upset special of the week.
“The Cougars are coming off of a 17-point loss against a physical Arkansas squad and I think there could be some lingering effects, especially with a cross-country trip on top of that.”
Liberty 30, BYU 27
Pick: Liberty +7
ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+ projections see a narrow BYU win but he takes Liberty +7.
“Liberty’s quarterback issues are alarming – the Flames have started three different signal-callers this season and barely beat Gardner-Webb last week with QB No. 3 – but this pick is more about BYU. The Cougars have lost five straight against the spread and have plummeted from 19th in SP+ to 70th. Their defense has been so glitchy that any Liberty QB could score points.”
Current line: BYU -7.0 | FPI projection: BYU by 1.1.
Clay Travis of Outkick predicts a Liberty victory.
“This is 100% a bet on Hugh Freeze. But also a bet based on what I saw from the Arkansas-BYU game this past weekend. The Razorbacks went on the road and gouged BYU for 644 total yards, including 277 on the ground. Now BYU has to travel across the country and take on a 6-1 Liberty team coming off a poor performance last week. All while Hugh Freeze is auditioning for the Auburn job.”
“I like Liberty to win this one late and cover the seven in the process.”
Dave Kovaleski of Winners and Whiners sides with BYU.
“While BYU might not be as good a team as we all thought at the start of the season, they are still a very good team. Their three losses have all come to very good teams from power conferences or with national prominence, in the case of Notre Dame. Liberty, on the other hand, has been hard to figure out. They have not been the same team since they lost quarterback Kaidon Salter in the one point loss to Wake Forest. Since then, they have failed to cover in three of four games. BYU has issues, mainly its defense, but Liberty doesn’t have quite enough offense to keep up with a superior BYU team. Take BYU here giving up the points.
Prediction: BYU -5
Tony’s Picks sides with Liberty.
“In a crucial game, Liberty is on a roll and will have the support of the home crowd. As the Flames go for the outright victory, expect Liberty to perform well enough at home to cover against BYU. The Liberty Flames will win by a predicted score of 32-27.”
John Koon of Athlon Sports picks BYU.
“Liberty is a tough defensive team when you look at the raw stats. But those stats are deceiving. The Flames have faced played four opponents who rank in the bottom 40 among FBS teams in total offense. BYU has some legitimate weapons at the skill positions that can give Liberty fits. The Cougars are a total mess on defense, but Liberty is a team more on their level compared to their previous two opponents. If BYU’s defense turns out even an average performance, the Cougars will claim their second true road win of the season.”
Prediction: BYU 31, Liberty 24
David Kenyon of Bleacher Report picks BYU to win, 34-31.
All three writers at Athlon Sports are siding with the Cougars.
College Football News had 19 writers pick the game, 16 chose BYU and 3 chose the Flames.
