How and what to watch for No. 8 BYU vs. No. 14 Coastal Carolina

While nearly everything in college football related to the pandemic stinks, the sudden emergence of Saturday’s matchup of the No. 8 BYU Cougars and No. 14 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers — a game pitting two 9-0 teams with significant New Year’s Six implications — has served as a fun and welcome development.

The game, which originally featured the Liberty Flames, came out of BYU’s need to add weight to its schedule in order to gain traction with the College Football Playoff selection committee as well as Coastal’s desire not to lose its chance for College Gameday to appear on its campus. From a competitive and watchability standpoint, no game on this weekend’s schedule offers more excitement.

Much of the reason for that enthusiasm relates to each team’s offense. BYU, led by Heisman hopeful and likely first-round draft choice Zach Wilson, has set scoreboards ablaze throughout the season. Wilson dominates the college game in a style not unlike Patrick Mahomes does in the NFL, creating second chances with his legs and delivering seemingly impossible passes from an apparently unlimited number of arm angles. Wilson alone gives the Cougars a chance to topple any opponent lacking a future NFL quarterback of their own.

And while Coastal doesn’t have a transformative talent under center, Grayson McCall has performed like one for much of the season. His command of Jamey Chadwell’s offense — a unique system that treats running backs and tight ends as vertical threats — has made the Chanticleers one of the most visually appealing teams in all of college football.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch BYU versus Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: BYU (-10.5) vs. Coastal Carolina
Point Total: 61.5
Money line: BYU (-400) vs. Coastal Carolina (+290)

• Since 2015, BYU owns a 20-10-0 road record against the spread (7-7-0 as the road favorite).
• Also during that stretch, the Cougars have an over record of 12-17-1 on the road (7-6-1 as the road favorite).
• Meanwhile, Coastal has an 8-13-1 home record against the spread since 2015 (5-8-0 as the home underdog).
• Also during that time, the Chanticleers own an over record of 10-12-0 (7-6-0 as the home underdog).

The Best Bet

Each team possesses one of the top offenses in college football while neither has a defense so stout as to keep the other at bay. That should result in plenty of points.

Pick: Over 61.5

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