Week 5: WKU vs Troy 10/1/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Troy Trojans do battle Saturday in week 5 college football action from Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

The Troy Trojans will look to find some consistency after alternating wins and losses in each of their first four games of the season following a 16-7 win over Marshall to improve to 2-2 on the year. Gunnar Watson has thrown for 1,249 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 66.4% passing while DK Billingsley and Kimani Vidal have combined for 311 rushing yards this season. Jabre Barber leads the Trojans with 20 catches for 308 yards while Tez Johnson has 200 receiving yards and three other Trojans have at least 100 receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Carlton Martial has a team-high 33 total tackles while T.J. Jackson has a team-high 2.5 sacks this season.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will look to build on their 73-0 rout of FIU last time out to improve to 3-1 on the year. Austin Reed has thrown for 1,261 yards, 14 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on 72.7% passing while Kye Robichaux and Davion Ervin-Poindexter have combined for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. Daewood Davis has a team-high 364 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns while Malachi Conley has 20 catches for 275 yards and 5 touchdowns. Three other Hilltoppers also have 100+ receiving yards this season. On defense, JaQues Evans has a team-high 28 total tackles including 21 solo tackles while also logging a team-high 3.5 sacks. Kahlef Hailassie has 3 sacks as well this season. Kaleb Oliver and Upton Stout also have a pair of interceptions each as well this season.

Troy is 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games against a team with a winning record and 4-12 ATS in their last 16 games following a win while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games following a win. Western Kentucky is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last.5 home games while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 non-conference games.

I get the reasoning for backing either side in this game as Troy’s had some solid showings as of late and have had no problems covering numbers. The problem is that I think Western Kentucky is as good offensively as Appalachian State, but the Hilltoppers didn’t have to deal with the emotional rollercoaster schedule that App State’s had. And while Troy was unlucky to lose to the Mountaineers, the fact is they still lost that game. If I was getting a few more points, maybe you could talk me into considering Troy, but less than a touchdown, I have to go with Western Kentucky here.