Winless in conference. Neither the Fresno State Bulldogs or the Utah State Aggies thought that’s where they would be at this point of the season, but both are sitting at 0-3 in Mountain West play thus far and thoughts of winning conference titles have been replaced by hopes of just finishing with a winning record. In this College Football Week 8 affair, something has to give. One of these teams will finally have a conference win to its name while the other will still be searching.
This contest in Week 8 of the college football season will go down Saturday, October 22, 2016, at 10:30 p.m. ET at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. It will be broadcast on CBSS.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Utah State -15.5
Fresno State +15.5
Over/Under 52
Odds Analysis
The Aggies have seen four of their last five games go under the total largely thanks to a solid defense and an inept offense. Utah State has not scored more than 24 points in conference play this season, but has yet to allow more than 31 points either.
Fresno State is currently winless at the FBS level this season with a record of 0-6. The Bulldogs might be bad, but at least they are covering spreads. This team has covered three of its last four now and has played at a higher level than they were at the start of the season.
Player to Watch
Typically, Utah State has a solid running game and pairs that with a stout defense to win games. However, the running game has had some issues this year since Devante Mays went down with an injury in the USC game.
Mays is a 230-pound beast who doles out more punishment than he receives and his absence has been felt for the Aggies. Without him in the line-up the team has struggled to run the ball and don’t have a power back that can wear down opposing defenses over the course of the game.
HC Matt Wells has said that Mays might be able to play in this game and if he does that would be great news for the Aggies.
Matchup to Watch
Starting a freshman at quarterback is always going to be tough with the learning curve involved, but Fresno State QB Chason Virgil may be picking it up at this point. Virgil had some poor performances through the early part of the season, throwing an interception in four of his first five games and not once completing more than 53.1 percent of his passes.
However, he has been much more accurate these last two games and while he is still throwing too many interceptions the increased completion percentage is a good sign.
Virgil will be facing an Aggie defense that hasn’t been as solid against the pass as they have in the past. Utah State is allowing 7.45 yards per pass attempt and while Virgil is young and inexperienced, he has shown he is able to hit the deep ball.
Free ATS Pick
The Aggies have had some real trouble putting points on the board this season. QB Kent Myers has shown that he can’t be the focal point of the offense and his numbers are significantly down from last year. Fresno State has a pretty bad defense, but Myers hasn’t shown that he is capable of taking advantage of it.
The total seems like it might be a little low in this one with how high scoring games involving Fresno State have typically been this season. 52 isn’t a lot of points and it wouldn’t take too much to get there. As for the side, grab Fresno State and the points. The Bulldogs probably won’t be able to win, but can stick around long enough and keep the Aggies from pulling away.
College Football Odds: Aggies 32, Bulldogs 24
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