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Carrie Stroup here with your UConn vs. BYU betting line for Friday night’s game. Sportsbook.ag Line: BYU -18.5 Total: 44.5
CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (2-2) at BYU COUGARS (2-2)
A pair of slumping teams look to turn their fortunes around on Friday night when Connecticut visits BYU.
Both schools enter Friday with two straight losses. The Huskies opened the season with a pair of home wins over Villanova and Army, but then dropped a 9-6 nail-biter as a three-touchdown underdog at Missouri before falling by a 28-18 score versus Navy last Saturday. The Cougars opened the season 3-0 ATS with three tight games (SU wins at Nebraska and versus Boise State, SU loss at UCLA), but were shut out 31-0 at Michigan last Saturday.
UConn is an even heavier underdog in this matchup than it was for last season's opener when it was drilled at home 35-10 by BYU, which led 28-7 at half and cruised to victory. Bettors for the Huskies can point to their opponent's woeful 7-28 ATS (20%) mark after a two-game road trip since 1992, while those wagering on the Cougars should know that underdogs of 10.5 to 21 points with a completion percentage of 62% or better, after allowing 8+ YPA last game, are just 57-110 (34%) in this same timeframe.
Connecticut's only new injury is LB Marquise Vann (leg), who is listed as questionable, while BYU is most concerned about a thin secondary that will likely be without DB Jordan Preator (suspension) and will definitely not have the services of DB Garrett Juergens (collarbone) for Friday's game.
Connecticut really needs to get its offense going after averaging a mere 12.0 PPG and 279 total YPG during its two-game losing skid. QB Bryant Shirreffs has been very accurate all year (65% completions), and has not tossed an interception in three straight games. The 6-foot-2 sophomore is averaging a solid 8.2 YPA, but that number has dipped to 6.5 YPA during the losing skid. He needs to stop relying solely on junior WR Noel Thomas, who has more than twice as many receiving yards (286) as any other teammate (132) this season. Although Thomas has caught 19 passes, he has yet to score a touchdown.
The Huskies have done a horrible job picking up yards on the ground, rushing for a mere 108 YPG on a pitiful 2.9 YPC. But sophomore RB Arkeel Newsome is coming off a big game last week when he rushed for 69 yards on 14 carries (4.9 YPC) and caught five passes for 51 yards. Newsome got only three carries for 10 yards against BYU last season, and watched helplessly as the rest of his teammates ran for only 61 yards on 28 carries (2.2 YPC).
The UConn defense has played pretty well in 2015, allowing only 17.2 PPG on 295 total YPG. The run-stop unit (170 YPG, 4.2 YPC) hasn't been as impressive as the passing defense (125 YPG, 6.5 YPA), but head coach Bob Diaco would like to see his defense force more turnovers than the four takeaways the Huskies have amassed through five games.
BYU had little trouble moving the football against Connecticut last year, but no longer has the services of injured starting QB Taysom Hill (foot) who accounted for an eye-popping 405 total yards and 5 TD (3 passing, 2 rushing) in that 25-point romp. While backup freshman QB Tanner Mangum played well in his first road start two weeks ago (244 pass yds, 1 TD, 1 INT at UCLA), he got nothing going against Michigan last Saturday. Mangum completed only 12-of-28 passes for 55 yards (2.0 YPA) with 0 TD and 0 INT against the Wolverines.
It also didn't help that the Cougars ground game rushed for a mere 50 yards on 22 carries, which was a far cry from the 161 yards they gained at UCLA the week before. But BYU did run for 205 yards on 37 carries (5.5 YPC) and 2 TD against the Huskies last year, and will need to keep feeding senior workhorse RB Adam Hine, who already has 312 rushing yards on 5.8 YPC. UConn limited Hine to 15 yards on six carries in the 2014 meeting, but Hine did manage to catch three passes for 25 yards, including a 7-yard TD reception.
Defensively, BYU has struggled at times in allowing 26.7 PPG and 414 total YPG, but UConn is clearly the weakest offense the unit will have faced this year. The Cougars forced eight turnovers in their first three games of the 2015 season, and also produced two takeaways in the win versus the Huskies last year.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
