Week 9: BYU vs East Carolina 10/28/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The BYU Cougars and East Carolina Pirates do battle Friday night in a week 9 college football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The East Carolina Pirates look for a win after winning 5 of their last 7 games. The BYU Cougars look to snap a 3-game losing streak.

The East Carolina Pirates have split their last 6 road games. Holton Ahlers is completing 70.3 percent of his passes for 2,435 yards, 18 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Isaiah Winstead and C.J. Johnson have combined for 1,465 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, while Ryan Jones has 33 receptions. The East Carolina Pirates ground game is averaging 165.7 yards per contest, and Keaton Mitchell leads the way with 687 yards and 8 touchdowns. Defensively, East Carolina is allowing 24.6 points and 390.7 yards per game. Julius Wood leads the East Carolina Pirates with 46 tackles, Shaundre Mims has 3 sacks and Malik Fleming has 2 interceptions.

The BYU Cougars have won 5 of their last 6 home games. Jaren Hall is completing 65 percent of his passes for 2,101 yards, 19 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Kody Epps and Keanu Hill have combined for 858 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, while Puka Nacua has 19 receptions. The BYU Cougars ground game is averaging 148.4 yards per contest, and Christopher Brooks leads the way with 463 yards and 5 touchdowns. Defensively, BYU is allowing 30.3 points and 404.9 yards per game. Ben Bywater leads the BYU Cougars with 58 tackles, John Nelson has 2 sacks and Max Tooley has 3 interceptions.

The Pirates are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games and 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games overall. The Cougars are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games overall. The under is 5-2 in Pirates last 7 games in October. The over is 7-3 in Cougars last 10 games overall.

The East Carolina Pirates are playing the better football, and that makes them attractive in the underdog role. However, ECU hasn’t had the toughest schedule in the world, and it makes you question if they can show up in a spot like this. The BYU Cougars are better than this recent stretch indicates, and they usually play their best ball at home. BYU and its physicality could give East Carolina issues here. I’ll lay the field goal.