Can Florida State hang with #9 BYU Saturday Night?
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Florida State has struggled to open the 2009 season to say the least. They lost at home 38-34 to a very young Miami team in week one. Last week as 34 point favorites, they barely beat Jacksonville State 19-9 in a game where Jacksonville State had opportunities to win the game outright. That’s right a Division IAA team had a chance to beat Florida State straight up on their home field. The way Florida State has played in these two games doesn’t seem to bode well for them against a very good BYU team that is ranked #9 in the nation.
The biggest question mark for the Seminoles has been their secondary which has allowed an average of 305 yards per game in the first two contests of the season. Jacory Harris had a field day for Miami and I am sure Max Hall is licking his chops to face this defense. Hall has completed over 71% of his passes and thrown for 638 yards in the first two games for BYU. BYU is a very good passing team and this could be a huge mismatch in this game. BYU is averaging 325 yards passing a game to start the season.
I look for quarterback Max Hall to have a big day against this Florida State secondary who will be playing on the road in what will be a very hostile environment. Defensively, BYU has been outstanding to start the ’09 campaign. They held Oklahoma to just 13 points in the opener and then gave up just 3 points to Tulane last week. They have given up average of only 208 yards a game total thus far. If they can get pressure on Christian Ponder, he will force passes and ultimately lead to more FSU turnovers. We all know that usually the team that wins the turnover battle ends up ahead on the scoreboard and covering the Vegas number.
When looking at this game, I just see two teams going in different directions. BYU will be up for this game in order to make a statement that their week one win against Oklahoma was not a fluke and was not just because Sam Bradford got knocked out of the ball game. BYU is looking for national recognition and will bring their A game against the Seminoles. I look for Max Hall to have a great game throwing the football and I think the BYU defense will be able to slow down Christian Ponder and company. Also throw in the fact that Florida State doesn’t have much of a run game which gives BYU even more of an advantage as they will blitz and blitz Ponder to cause turnovers.
Florida State vs. BYU Betting Trends for Saturday Night:
Florida State is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Florida State’s last 9 games on the road
BYU is 3-8 ATS in its last 11 games
BYU is 22-3 SU in its last 25 games
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