Smoking Musket College Pick 'Em Gauntlet Week Three Results, And WVU-BYU Staff Predictions

The Smoking Musket Pick ‘Em Gauntlet is an online college pick ‘em game where we will try to pick the winners of the weekly Big 12 contests plus Yahoo! editors' selected games (usually the games involving the top 25 teams). We do pick against the spread (when available). There are usually 20-30 games to pick each week and each correct pick is worth one point. The winner (excluding Musket staff) will be the person at the end of the regular season who has the most correct picks/points. Points are cumulative, so don't worry if you happen to miss a week or two. We will award the winner a WVU Nike T-shirt at the conclusion of the games in December.

All participants are subject to the Official Rules as determined by SB Nation.

We actually filled the first group, so we had to open a second league to fit everyone in. The second league will serve solely as an extension of the first league, and is not a standalone league. If you are in the second league, you are still competing with those in the first league.

Our game, as in the past, will be hosted by Yahoo! Fantasy. GAME LINK

Group Name: The Smoking Musket II

Group ID: 10963

Group password: LetsGo

We have 22 games to pick this week, at 8:00 PM ET on Friday. Deadline for each pick is 5 minutes before kickoff.

Here are the leaders (top 8 and ties) after week 3. Congratulations to WVUNite for winning week 3 (all you win for this is kudos).

The Mountaineers have a bye this week, but we didn’t let that stop us from giving some predictions. Without further adieu (again, in no particular order):

statsboyandi

BYU slows West Virginia down, much like Missouri, but they lack the firepower to compete.

Final Score:
West Virginia 27
Brigham Young 17

sb1wvu

After a tight first half WVU gets just enough offense to put this one away in the 4th quarter.

Final Score:
West Virginia 28
Brigham Young 17

statsboyandi

This is an opportunity for WVU to get the national media to start talking about them. A failure would be devastating...so the moral to the story is don't be a failure.

Final Score:
West Virginia 42
Brigham Young 17

JPFanshawe

Don't look now, but WVU may be carrying the torch for the entire Big XII. Despite not even being ranked, WVU has a path to the playoffs if it can win a few linchpin games and manage to win the others that it should. This is one of linchpin contests. I am encouraged that the Mountaineers opened as a five-point favorite and have moved out to a -7.5 on some sites. I am a little less enthused that BYU is four percentage points better than us in Football Outsiders F/+ ratings. Here is hoping that two close losses have taken a little steam out of the Cougars. If the Mountaineers can hold BYU to its average points per game (17), we don't just win, we cover the number by a wide margin.

Final Score:
West Virginia 31
Brigham Young 17

BartimusPrime

WVU scores two touchdowns in the first half and BYU can't catch up. Skyler has a "bad day," but ultimately leads his team to victory and top spot in the Big 12.

Final Score:
West Virginia 27
Brigham Young 20

Patrick Southern

The betting line on this game (for entertainment purposes only) opened with WVU as a 1.5-point favorite. Apparently, plenty of bettors liked WVU's chances to cover, as the Mountaineers are now a 7-point favorite. I'm hardly an expert on these things, but the movement seems more dramatic than most West Virginia games I can recall, at least in recent memory. It begs the question: who has it right? The books? Or the bettors? Adding to the intrigue, as J.P. wisely notes in his prediction, Football Outsiders' F+ rankings actually have BYU (despite a 1-2 record!) ahead of WVU. When Vegas and the advanced statistics both suggest a tight outcome, I tend to trust them. The Mountaineers move to 3-0, but barely.

Final Score:
West Virginia 24
Brigham Young 20

Robert Hurst

The wide receivers turn a switch after White's comments about the BYU secondary. Justin Crawford bounces back, and the Mountaineers look very good in a performance that isn't even as close as the score.

Final Score:
West Virginia 34
Brigham Young 17

abpriddy

On paper WVU should have an easy time of it. They're coming off an extra week of rest and BYU is flying cross-country after a grueling first month of games. And that's what worries me - this is the place we've seen WVU trip up time and time again. There's not much confidence to be gained from looking at WVU's record under Holgorsen coming off a bye - they're 4-6 (with the dubious distinction of having lost at least one game coming off a bye in each of his 5 seasons). Having said that I think they make enough big plays to win but not enough to gain style points, and that's fine with me.

Final Score:
West Virginia 30
Brigham Young 20

Dustin White

If BYU loses this game, it's a lost season for the Cougars. The fact that West Virginia is coming off of a bye would matter more if we were deeper into the season. I have a bad feeling about this one.

Final Score:
West Virginia 27
Brigham Young 28

Matt Kirchner

Skyler Howard uses the week of rest to get back into playing shape. He hits for a couple of early TDs and Justin Crawford breaks a long late TD run to put the game away in the fourth.

Final Score:
West Virginia 34
Brigham Young 20

WillHirsch

Mountaineer come out motivated and keep the Big 12's college playoff hopes alive. After the off week Howard is healthy and throws for 350 yards and 2 TD's and rushes for 1 TD.

Final Score:
West Virginia 34
Brigham Young 21

Michael Miller

Ka’Raun White made a dangerous statement when he said BYU’s corners won’t be able to hang with West Virginia’s receivers. Statements like that usually don’t work out (see Oklahoma’s quote about Ohio State’s “basic” defense). Fortunately for the Mountaineers, this one actually does work out. Skyler Howard has a big day, and West Virginia cements themselves (for now) as the team to beat in the Big 12.

Final Score:
West Virginia 38
Brigham Young 14

SmithFire13

Gross first half leads to WVU coming out firing in the opening drive. Shell and Crawford both have good second half performances which leadsto home runs from Shelton Gibson. Molinari goes 3/3 and Kinney movesup to third in the nation in yards per punt.

Final Score:
West Virginia 31
Brigham Young 17

John Lowe

BYU has played three close, competitive games. This one will be no different.

Final Score:
West Virginia 35
Brigham Young 31

WVUIE97

My head tells me that this should be a decent enough WVU win. My stomach, on the other hand, is worried sick about this one. That's actually, usually a good sign, but I'm gonna err on the side of caution and go with my old standby prediction.

Final Score:
West Virginia 22
Brigham Young 20

WVUNite

Well WVUIE97 beat me to it. Everything points to WVU coming out ahead by a decent margin but something tells me those 25 year old linebackers for BYU will hit then hit some more then hit some more. WVU wins and does something no one else has and break the 20 point barrier on BYU but it isn't pretty.

Final Score:
West Virginia 21
Brigham Young 17