The Battle of I-10 between the New Mexico State Aggies and UTEP Miners takes place on Saturday in El Paso. This Week 1 college football matchup is a big rivalry between two schools located on Interstate 10 that connects El Paso and Las Cruces. UTEP has dominated this 101-year old series in recent seasons, winning the last seven meetings. The Aggies will be looking for revenge after blowing a 14-point lead and losing 50-47 in overtime last year.
Kickoff for this Week 1 college football game is set for Saturday, September 3, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
New Mexico State +9
UTEP -9
Over/Under 60
Odds Analysis
One of the biggest line moves for Week 1 in college football has taken place on this game as the Miners opened up as 3.5-point favorites. Money has poured in on UTEP and they are now listed as 9-point favorites.
The total on this contest opened at 61.5 and is now down to 60.
There is one key reason for the odds movement on this game and that is the status of running back Larry Rose III who is listed as questionable. He rushed for over 1600 yards and 14 TDs for New Mexico State last season.
Injury Report
The question in this game is whether everyone is overreacting to the absence of Rose. He is rehabbing from a minor sports hernia and New Mexico State head coach Doug Martin said that Rose probably won’t play.
“He looks really good now. He's already up and he's running. He's moving around quite a bit," said Martin. "I'd say he's questionable for the UTEP game, but after that I'm hopeful we'll have him back after that."
Rose is expected to have a great season as he is on five preseason watch lists including the Rotary Lombardi Award list.
On the other side of the ball, Aaron Jones makes his return for UTEP after missing most of last season with an ankle injury.
Last Meeting
The losing streak for New Mexico State against UTEP nearly ended last year but the Aggies blew two 14-point leads in the second half in last year’s 50-47 loss at home.
"When you have a 14-point lead with four minutes left, you should win the game," Martin said. "We gave up explosion plays on the last two drives that absolutely killed us.”
New Mexico State led 23-9 in the third quarter last season but two separate pass interference calls on the Aggies in the fourth quarter gave UTEP hope and the Miners tied the game with 42 seconds remaining.
"It's definitely eating us up and we can't wait until Sept. 3," New Mexico State cornerback Jaden Wright said. "We feel like we had them and beat them in all phases of the game but we just have to finish."
Free ATS Pick
There is no question that the wise guys and the public are on the Miners in this game with the line moving almost 6 points. The Miners also have the trends in their favor as the Aggies are just 6-15 ATS in their last 21 road games while the Miners are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 home games. The Miners are also 6-1 ATS in the last seven meetings in this series.
The trends are in favor of a high scoring game as the Over is 23-7 in the Aggies last 30 road games and the Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in this series.
Is one player worth nearly a touchdown? There is no doubt that Rose is a very good running back but New Mexico State is playing with revenge and they are now getting more than a TD. I will take the points with the Aggies in this contest.
College Football Odds: UTEP 31 New Mexico State 30
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