It’s not just the first game of the season for UTEP and Jacksonville State, it’s the first ever game for Jacksonville State at the FBS level, and the first Conference USA matchup between the two schools. That’s a lot of first, so we though this game would be the perfect first for our college football best bets feature.
The Odds
UTEP -1.5
UTEP -130 on the moneyline
Over/Under 54
Why We’re Taking Jacksonville State at +1.5
If you’ve been following this feature through the baseball season then you know that I’m a sucker for the home underdogs. That’s a great place to start, but then we can talk about UTEP going just 5-7 last year and suffering their fourth losing season in the last five years. Jacksonville State will be making its FCS debut but doing so behind a tradition of winning for the last decade. This game is early, and culture typically plays a larger role in early season games. That puts more pressure on UTEP, in my opinion, and has Jacksonville State in a position to force the road opponents to be the one’s who must prove themselves.
Why We’re Taking Jacksonville State On The Moneyline
We’re talking about covering a spread that’s at +1.5 so we might as well go the distance here at +110 odds to pick the Gamecocks to win straight up. We’ve already established Jacksonville State’s culture of winning but if we’re looking at the X’s and O’s of the game then we’ll point to Jacksonville State averaged 251 rushing yards per game last season, with 37 rushing touchdowns. Couple that attack with quarterback Zion Webb who will be going into his third season as a starter, and then add a home crowd to give extra juice to a team making it’s FBS debut against a vulnerable opponent and you’ve got the recipe for an upset.
Why We’re Taking The Over
UTEP is going to have offensive success and Jacksonville State is going to bring it’s fast-pace offensive attack to the FBS level. The Gamecocks had one of the fastest offenses in college football last year, and with the experience they have returning in 2023 they may actually speed up even more. This game should hit the over based on pace of play alone.
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