A common theme this college football bowl season has been players sitting out in order to not risk injury and damage their NFL Draft stock. The biggest announcement (thus far) was West Virginia quarterback Will Grier deciding to take a pass on the Camping World Bowl. Grier finished the regular season third nationally in yards per game (351.3) and fifth in QB Rating (179.5). And one of the main guys responsible for affording Grier enough time to post those gaudy numbers, left tackle Yodny Cajuste, has also said he won’t play. Cajuste was recently named second-team All-America. In term of replacing Grier, Jack Allison will get the call. The former Miami (FL) transfer attempted only 10 passes this season but appears to be Grier’s heir apparent.

The loss of Grier obviously had a big impact on both the point spread and total. CRIS originally opened West Virginia -7.5 with a total of 74 vs. Syracuse. The current offshore market is showing WVU -1.5 and 68 O/U.