The final game of the 2024 regular season is here. West Virginia will take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock this afternoon, looking for win No. 7. Can they get it? Here are our predictions for the game.

West Virginia’s pass defense is going to be tested today, with Behren Morton slinging it all over the place. Morton puts up big numbers, but a lot of his passes come out of the quick game with some shots mixed in. Tech plays at a very high-tempo and West Virginia has struggled against offenses that have turned it up a notch this season, most notably Pitt.

While Texas Tech’s pass defense is even worse than West Virginia’s, it doesn’t necessarily mean the Mountaineers will have their way through the air. Without Traylon Ray and Jaden Bray, WVU will be a little shorthanded at receiver, and unit as a whole has struggled to win versus man coverage all season long.

West Virginia can’t afford to let Texas Tech dictate the tempo and flow of this game. If they try to play to Tech’s speed, they’ll get boatraced. They have to do everything they can to hold onto the football and milk the clock to limit possessions.

WVU hangs in, but Texas Tech comes out victorious.

Prediction record: 7-4.

Texas Tech is looking to secure its first eight-win regular season since 2009 on Saturday. The Red Raiders started the season 5-1 but have since dropped three of their last five games, although they did go into Ames and knock off an, a then, 11th-ranked Iowa State team.

West Virginia has seen more lows than highs this season, considering the expectations in and surrounding the program. However, the Mountaineers are determined to close out the regular season with a win.

Texas Tech has been really good in Lubbock at regular season finales and are 10-2, including an eight-game winning streak in those games. Meanwhile, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is 4-0 during Thanksgiving week, which generally falls on the regular season finale, but during the COVID season, the Mountaineers eventually wrapped up the regular season in Ames on December 5th. However, there was a scheduled game against Oklahoma on Dec. 12 in Morgantown, but the game was canceled. So, lets stick with the Thanksgiving week stat.

Neal Brown captured his first win against Texas Tech in Morgantown last year after dropping the first four meetings.

The Red Raiders will be motivated for redemption on the toughness of running back Thaj Brooks. The senior has rushed for over 100 yards in all 10 of his appearances this season, tallying 1,317 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Junior quarterback Behren Morton has been solid for Texas Tech this season, throwing for 2,976 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Despite all their offensive success, the defense, like West Virginia’s, has been their downfall. It’s hard to believe there’s been worse defense than the Mountaineers, but the Red Raiders are in contention with Oklahoma State to take the title of “Big 12’s Worst Defense”.

In what I believed to be a ‘toss up’ game from the beginning of the season holds true today. I don’t like the stats against WVU in this one with Tech’s home success and recent series history, but like last week, I’m going with the intangible Garrett Greene.

The Mountaineers did not necessarily need heroics in last week’s win against UCF, but they will more than likely need some big plays down the stretch to steal the victory and I don’t believe will allow it to happen.

Garrett Greene has a big fourth quarter while running backs CJ Donalson and Jahiem White pound the rock in the running game and steal a victory in Lubbock 37-34.

Prediction record: 7-4.

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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia National Guard (VNG) soldiers returned home from deployment in Poland on Wednesday — just in time to spend Thanksgiving with their families.

The soldiers were assigned to the Virginia Beach-based 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group and reunited with family, friends and VNG senior leaders on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

These reunions came after the soldiers had been serving on federal active duty since March of this year.

The 529th was based at Forward Operating Site in Karliki, Poland and was responsible for supply missions, logistics and maintenance. They also serve as a headquarters element for Task Force Cavalier, which oversees operations and training for over 550 soldiers from 4 different subordinate units from active-duty Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

Among the people there to greet the returning soldiers and thank them for their service was Major General James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia and Brig. Gen. Todd H. Hubbard — the VNG Director of the Joint Staff.

“You showed tremendous resiliency,” said Lt. Col. Carlos Maldonado, commander of TF Cavalier at the TOA. “You overcame and absolutely crushed the mission. Through it all, Cavalier you persevered.”

To learn more about what their deployment entailed, click here.

Continue scrolling to see photos of the soldiers returning home to their families:

It’s the final day of the Battle 4 Atlantis and the West Virginia Mountaineers are hoping to leave the Bahamas with a third-place finish in the event. Winning the whole thing would have been extremely impressive considering the field, but Darian DeVries’ squad has already notched a key resume-building win over Gonzaga and can do so again today against No. 24 Arizona.

Here are my picks for today’s game. Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

1 Star – Not very confident
2 Star – A little confident
3 Star – Fairly confident
4 Star – Very confident
5 Star – Should be a lock to happen

3-star play on Arizona (-6.5): This is a really tough matchup for the Mountaineers playing its third game in three days. When these two meet later in the year, I believe WVU will put together a much stronger showing and potentially even win the game. Not there, though.

The Wildcats have a nine-man rotation, which occasionally will be a ten-man. WVU’s key players have logged a ton of minutes over the last two days, with both games going to overtime. As evidenced in yesterday’s game, if the Mountaineers face serious foul trouble, it impacts them more than most teams due to a lack of depth. Amani Hansberry should be able to produce a third straight big game, but if he starts picking up fouls left and right, WVU will be in trouble. Arizona’s guard-heavy lineup will attack and finish around the rim with ease.

I’ve got the Wildcats pulling away with a strong second half.

1-star play on the under: Arizona is a high-scoring team that likes to push the tempo. They’ve averaged 67 field goal attempts in this tournament, whereas WVU has attempted 59 and 63 in games that went to overtime. For West Virginia to win, they’re going to have to slow things down when they have the ball, much like they did in the opening-round game against Gonzaga.

I mentioned fatigue setting in as a possibility in the WVU-Louisville game yesterday, and although Darian DeVries isn’t using that as an excuse, you can tell it played a factor for both teams, especially in the first half. Both squads looked sloppy, slow, and disjointed. I seriously doubt WVU and Arizona will have an extra bounce in their step today, playing for the third time in three days and in a game deciding who takes home third place.

ATS: 3-3 (50%)
O/U: 4-2 (66%)
Overall: 7-5 (58%)

Odds Disclaimer

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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