All eyes are going to be on Tulsa on Friday night in a huge AAC battle. That said, the undercard clash between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs is one not to miss as well, as the opportunities for live bettors could be tremendous.
WHEN THE UTAH STATE AGGIES HAVE THE BALL
Don't fall into that trap of seeing Utah State score 52 and 56 points in its last two games and think that that's going to happen again versus San Diego State. It flat out just won't.
The Aggies struggled offensively in their first four games of the year, averaging just 19.0 points per game. The reason they've been so darn good these last two weeks? A total of 11 turnovers forced, eight of which came against Boise State - more on that in a moment.
Live bettors though, should be aware that this offense isn't nearly as explosive as it has shown recently. It's not like the 334 yards against Boise State was anything to write home about. Sure, sophomore Kent Myers can make things happen with his arm and his legs, but this isn't a friendly spot against an underrated San Diego State defense.
The Aztecs are surrendering less than 300 yards per game, and they're allowing teams to average just 1.9 points per game against them in first quarters. A slowed down offense has certainly helped SDSU defensively as well, but the 'D' has done its job, particularly in these last three games against Fresno State, Hawaii and San Jose State.
WHEN THE SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS HAVE THE BALL
On the flip side of that, the Aztecs haven't scored more than 30 points in a game yet in 2015. They average just 338.0 yards per game, and they have no really explosive players on that side of the ball outside of Donnel Pumphrey.
We've been talking about Pumphrey for a couple years now after he ran for 1,867 yards last season.
This year, he's the team's leading receiver as well with 18 catches, 247 yards and a TD to go with 729 yards and eight scores on the ground. Pumphrey has picked up at least 124 yards on the ground in three straight games, and live bettors should be aware that he has done a great job of slowing the game down.
It's not a shock that, even in games with totals in the high-40s and low-50s as we have seen of late, that Pumphrey has forced under results. He's had at least 20 carries in five of his seven games this year, and 18 is his smallest tally of totes.
TREND TO TRACK
Both of these teams got off to relatively slow starts to the season, but both have come on strong of late, covering three consecutive games.
Even though there's a lot to like about Utah State, it's not like the Aztecs are slackers. They've gone 4-0-1 ATS in their last five games played in October, but most importantly, they sport an 18-7-1 ATS mark in their last 26 games played here in the Mountain West.
With Utah State upsetting Boise State last week, live bettors are sure to get some opportunities to shine by playing the Aztecs.
BookMaker opened the spread for this Friday game at -4 in favor of the Utah State Aggies. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on your television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The game between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs will go down Friday, October 23, 2015 at 10:30 p.m. ET at Qualcomm Stadium. The matchup will be televised on ESPN2.
