West Virginia is still thin in the backfield. Running backs Andre Devine and Mason Boswell are out again, along with tight end Caden Ball, which puts more of the run game on Hawkins. The good news for the Mountaineers is who's coming back: receiver Armoni Weaver-Bomar returns from a fractured finger for the first time since the Oklahoma State game, and safety Matt Sieg and corner Nick Taylor are cleared. The defense still loses nickelback Emory Snyder and lineman Darius Wiley, and safeties Da'Mare Williams and Jacob Bradford are questionable. The board has Tech as a big favorite at home, a little over 2 touchdowns.
Texas Tech's injury report is all about the receiver room. Donte Lee Jr. is done for the year with a torn ACL, Jalen Jones is out, Malcolm Simmons is doubtful, and leading receiver Kenny Johnson is questionable. Running back Cameron Dickey is still out with the ankle sprain. The backfield hasn't missed him much, since J'Koby Williams just ran for 175 yards on 14 carries. But a quarterback who went 11-of-24 last week could be throwing to a lot of new faces tonight, and that's the thing to watch early.
These two have played 2 of the same opponents, and the results cut both ways. Arizona beat West Virginia 52-31 in Morgantown, and that same Arizona team lost in Lubbock. Cincinnati handed Texas Tech its only loss, 37-24 on the road, and West Virginia beat the Bearcats 45-42 at home. So comparing scores won't settle it. What does stand out is how many points West Virginia allows. During its 3-game skid the Mountaineers gave up 41, 45 and 52, then outlasted Cincinnati in a shootout. Holding TCU to 20 was by far their best defensive game of that stretch.
The schedule matters too. West Virginia's last game was at TCU on October 24, so the Mountaineers come in with an extra week off. Texas Tech comes in off the Arizona comeback, when it trailed 17-7 at the half, gave up a 94-yard touchdown pass from Noah Fifita to Isaiah Mizell, and still won 34-26 on Williams' 64-yard run with 2:05 left. The windy forecast from earlier in the week didn't hold up. It's 54 and cloudy in Lubbock with wind around 5 mph and almost no chance of rain, so the weather shouldn't get in the way of anybody's deep ball.
Texas Tech is the more complete team: home field, a ranking, a 4-1 Big 12 mark and a back who just ran for 175. West Virginia is 2-3 in the league, and the case for the Mountaineers is Hawkins, a secondary that's getting healthier, and a defense that has started forcing turnovers at the right time. If they can keep it close into the fourth quarter like they did against Cincinnati and TCU, and Tech's patched-up receiver group stalls, this gets interesting.
