AutoZone Liberty Bowl Prediction
After replacing Tennessee, Army will take on West Virginia in Thursday’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl at 4:00 p.m. ET. Listed as a 7-point underdog for the matchup, will the Black Knights cover or will the Mountaineers roll to their sixth victory of the season?
Game Snapshot
211 West Virginia Mountaineers (-7) vs. 212 Army Black Knights (+7); o/u 41
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN
4:00 p.m. ET, Thursday, December 31, 2020
TV: ESPN
West Virginia Mountaineers Game Notes
West Virginia redshirt junior QB Jarret Doege completed 21-of-41 passes for 209 yards in a 42-6 loss to Iowa State this Saturday. Doege (6’2/198) is the latest quarterback to have trouble cracking the Iowa State defense this season, as the redshirt junior registered his worst passing performance of the year. The Mountaineer signal caller posted 5.1 yards per attempt while leading the offense to only 263 total yards on the day. He was heavily pressured by the ISU defensive line while being afforded precious few open passing lanes to exploit. When he did manage to throw from a clean pocket, he was plagued by multiple drops from the WVU receiver corps who were well covered by a formidable ISU secondary.
Army Black Knights Game Notes
Army senior QB Christian Anderson rushed for 85 yards on 18 attempts in Saturday’s 10-7 win over Air Force. Anderson (6’1/195) only put the ball in the air once, a completion to Tyrell Robinson that went for no yards. Outside of that, Army’s defense was so dominant today that the Black Knights could go ultra-conservative on offense, even by triple-option standards. Army ended up rushing for 290 yards on 71 carries as a team in the physical, low-scoring win. The 9-2 Black Knights are headed to the Independence Bowl, which will be played next Saturday. Army will find out their opponent before the weekend is over.
West Virginia vs. Army Betting Prediction
The Black Knights are 5-1-1 against the spread in their last seven games played in the month of December, are 5-1 against the number in their last six games versus the Big 12 and have cashed in four of their last five games coming off a win. Army is also 4-1-1 against the spread in its last six neutral site games and has covered in six of its last eight neutral site games when it’s an underdog.
On the other side, the Mountaineers are winless against the spread in their last seven bowl games when favored, are 0-6 against the number in their last six bowl appearances overall and have failed to cover in nine of their alt 10 neutral site games as a favorite. WVU is also just 3-13-1 at the betting window in its last 17 games played in December.
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL BETTING PREDICTION: ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS +7