The Arizona State Sun Devils are off to a strong start after a disappointing 2015. The offense has been on fire to start the season, averaging 56 points per game and has carried the way for this team. Before starting play in the grueling PAC-12, Todd Graham and his Sun Devils have one more opponent on the schedule and are expected to roll despite it being a road game. Their foe in College Football Week 3 will be the UTSA Roadrunners.
Kickoff for this Week 3 game is set for Friday, September 16, 2016 at 9:30 p.m. ET at the Alamodome. This game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
UTSA +18
Arizona State -18
Odds Analysis
The spread for this game opened at 18.5 and has since moved in UTSA’s favor a half-point. The Sun Devils are 2-0 ATS having covered against Texas Tech and Northern Arizona, while UTSA is 0-2 ATS after failing to meet the number against Alabama State and Colorado State.
Player to Watch
Who else could you pick other than Kalen Ballage? Ballage lit up the stat sheet for the Sun Devils this past Saturday and exposed the Red Raiders’ porous defense. This was despite not having many touches at all on the night.
Ballage tied the NCAA record for most touchdowns in a game with eight on the night. With that many scores you would expect him to have gained a ton of yardage, but he just found himself in a lot of good situations. Ballage scored seven touchdowns on 13 carries and added a receiving touchdown on a trick play. He only had 15 touches and tallied 185 yards but the Red Raiders were unable to control him all night.
With all that being said, look for Graham to make sure Demario Richard gets into the end zone once or twice in this one. Richard is the workhorse back of the team and despite his 30 carries was unable to find paydirt once. A lot of it wasn’t his fault as Ballage is the short yardage and goal-line back, but Graham will likely leave him in at least a few times in that situation here.
Key Stat
The Roadrunners have been a bit too one-dimensional this season and have really struggled to run the ball. UTSA is averaging just 2.37 yards per attempt, third-worst in the country but the pass blocking is a huge reason why.
Since college football counts sacks against rushing totals, every time starter Dalton Sturm gets brought down in the pocket those numbers take a hit and he has been brought down plenty through two games. UTSA has allowed eight sacks and lost 74 yards of offense from those sacks over the first couple games of the season. The running totals aren’t great aside from those, but aren’t nearly as bad when they are factored out either.
Free ATS Pick
Arizona State’s defense was gashed through the air last week by Pat Mahomes and Texas Tech. Mahomes threw for 540 yards and five touchdowns on the unit and while the Roadrunners can throw the ball, they don’t have anyone as talented as Mahomes on the roster.
The main danger for Arizona State here is coming into this one lightly. The Sun Devils start conference play next week and things pick up in a hurry with Cal, USC, and UCLA coming in back-to-back-to-back weeks. The two LA schools are especially important as the two are considered the frontrunners for the PAC-12 South.
The Sun Devils are going to be too strong for the Roadrunners. Arizona State still has a new starter learning the ropes at QB in Manny Wilkins and will give him plenty of chances to throw the ball prior to the start of conference play.
College Football Odds: Sun Devils 54, Roadrunners 30
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