Boise State at BYU Prediction

Boise State O vs. BYU D
The Broncos visit and will be a challenge for BYU.  They are extremely balanced on offense, with 224 yards/game on the ground and 270 yards/game through the air.  Sophomore RB Jay Ajayi has averaged more than 5 yards/carry in 5 games of Boise State's 7 games this season.  They have 3 or 4 WRs that are capable of having a good game.  The inexperienced QB getting the start tonight is mobile and very accurate in the short passing game.  No one has really seen what he does down the field.

In my opinion, the 2013 Boise State Broncos play right into BYU's defensive strengths.  BYU can handle dynamic RBs, good WRs, and mobile QBs.  They struggle more with the big-play WRs and accurate down-the-field passers.  BYU will try to contain the run, particularly the zone-read, which shouldn't be too big of a problem after facing Georgia Tech just a few weeks ago.  They will force the Broncos to dink and dunk down the field.  Advantage BYU.

BYU O vs. Boise State D
Taysom is playing well, the WRs have stepped up against more zone coverage, and there are a couple of pretty good RBs.  The OL has the ability to get manhandled by athletic smaller DL.  I think this is a strength-on-strength matchup.  Boise State plays a lot of man defense.  They have a small, athletic DL.  If BYU can break a few big plays, they could loosen up the coverage a bit.  However, Boise State will remain aggressive defensively.  Particularly, what BYU needs to do is get some of the ball skills Ridley, Mathews, Apo, and Hoffman have shown the past few weeks.  Still, Boise State's ability to disrupt the rhythm passing game gives them an opportunity to force Taysom and Jamaal Williams to beat them with their legs for 4 quarters.  Advantage Boise State.

Prediction
Now that I've given the edge to both defenses, you'd probably think I'm predicting another low-scoring slugfest.  However, in spite of the defenses having the advantage, I expect a lot of big plays in special teams and by the offenses.  I don't think we'll see any long, time-consuming drives.  I don't think either offense can nickel and dime their way down the field.  But I look for a quasi-high-scoring shoot-out with big plays and punts.  The stats may look like great offense, but I think we'll see a lot of frustrating poor offense in between the big plays, which I'll put at 3 per quarter.

I like Taysom over an inexperienced Grant Hedrick if it comes down to big plays and lots of points.  BYU wins 38-27.