#199 ASA PLAY ON Memphis -4.5 over West Virginia, Frisco Bowl Tuesday at 8 PM ET - Bowl games are often about motivation. Who wants to be there and who doesn’t. In this game we know Memphis will be motivated but we’re not entirely about WVU. The Tigers are excited to be playing a Power 4 team in their bowl game and their head coach Silverfield has been successful in this setting with a 3-1 bowl record. That includes a 10 point win over Iowa State last season in the Liberty Bowl. Memphis brought back most of their regulars who played in that game (17 starters came back) and they have a chance for 11 wins after finishing 10-3 last year. The Tigers have a big group of seniors who have had one of the most successful runs in school history with a 20-5 record the last 2 seasons. QB Hennigan has thrown for 14,000 career yards and is one of only 3 current college QB’s with over 100 TD’s. This offense was one of the best in the country averaging just over 35 PPG and they are facing a WVU defense that ranks 118th in YPP allowed and gives up 31 PPG. The Mountaineers also lost their top starting LB who is transferring to Missouri. Memphis will have success offensively here. How to the Mountaineers respond to their head coach getting fired after the regular season? They’ve already lost 1 key assistant coach and the others are unsure of their future so focusing completely on a low tier bowl game in this situation is never ideal. We’re not sure how this team reacts to that situation. Starting QB Greene injured his shoulder in the final game of the season, a 52-15 loss vs Texas Tech, but he’s going to give it a go, but won’t be at 100%. The West Virginia offense is driven by their rushing attack which is not a good match up vs a Memphis defense that allows 103 YPG rushing (10th in the country) on 3.8 YPC. If the Neers need to rely on the arm of their injured QB who isn’t overly accurate to begin with (55% career completion rate) then this team is probably in trouble. We know Memphis is going to show up with their “A” game here and that may not happen with WVU. Let’s lay the small number.