Phil Steele Reveals His Pick for West Virginia vs. Iowa State

You can probably count on one hand how many national college football analysts were high on West Virginia heading into the season. One of them is a dear friend to the program, Phil Steele, and his confidence has not wavered despite the Mountaineers' defensive performance last week against a potent Oklahoma State offense.

This morning, Phil joined us on the In the Gun Podcast to break down this week's game against Iowa State and reveal who he is taking in this one.

Phil's pick for West Virginia vs. Iowa State

“West Virginia disappointed me last week. I had them to get that win over Oklahoma State and felt pretty good in the third quarter when they were winning. I was watching all the games and sort of said, ‘Okay, I think I got that West Virginia one,’ and every time I glanced, things weren’t good the rest of the game. They do need to rebound, and I think this is a good offense to go against. Jaylen Raynor, decent quarterback; he’s nowhere near where Drew Mestemaker is. And defensively, Iowa State is solid. You go back to Washington State last year, they had the No. 15 defense in the country, and this year, they’ve been playing good defense. Last week, though, showed some flaws against a mobile quarterback. Utah led that thing 24-3 at the half, pretty much had it in control. And I think now taking on Michael Hawkins, Cam Cook, I think you might see them struggle a little bit. They gave up 6.2 yards per carry to Utah. And now, West Virginia’s defense, not taking on the same type of offense that they matched up against last week. You’ve got West Virginia as a dog here, and I think they’re the better team. Prior to the season, I had West Virginia a four-point favorite in the game, so I still think West Virginia comes out here with the win. I like West Virginia plus the points to pull the upset.”

Watch the full episode here

In addition to the Mountaineers, we asked Phil about his thoughts on several other games this weekend, as always. Here are the matchups we discussed.

#7 Alabama (4-0) at #16 Mississippi State (4-0)
#5 Ohio State (3-2) at #14 Iowa (4-0)
Florida (4-0) at #25 Missouri (3-1)
UCF (3-1) at #20 Houston (3-1)
MTSU (2-2) at Kansas (1-2)
#10 BYU (3-0) at TCU (2-2)
#12 Texas Tech (4-0) at Colorado (2-2)
Baylor (3-1) at Arizona State (2-1)
Cincy (4-0) at Arizona (3-1)

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