Free NCAA Football Prediction: Bulldogs vs. Miners Odds
Looking for LA Tech Bulldogs vs. UTEP Miners free picks? College football betting sees the Bulldogs taking on the Miners on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football game Week 7 predictions like this LA Tech UTEP free pick.
College Football Handicapping Analysis: Week 7
LA Tech Bulldogs (2-3) vs. UTEP Miners (5-1)
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2021
Time: 9:00 pm EST
Venue: Sun Bowl
NCAA Football ATS Spread Odds: LA Tech -6.5 / UTEP +6.5 (Bet Now!)
NCAA Football Moneyline Odds: Bulldogs -270 / Miners +225
NCAA Betting Total Odds: O/U 56
Week 7 college football sees the Bulldogs and Miners meet at the Sun Bowl.
Can I start with I can’t believe no one wanted to take this game to preview this weekend? Oh, I guess I just did, and let me tell you what my reason is for making sure I put you on the right play.
You know when you see a road team favored over a 5 – 1 team and it makes you go hmm? Well, the line didn’t catch my eye as much as this total did so let me spell out what you can expect to see when this game takes place late on Saturday evening at the Sun Bowl.
The Bulldogs 3 losses have come against some seriously good teams, as they don’t schedule cupcakes until conference play begins. LA Tech has lost to Mississippi State, SMU, and N.C State, and okay, maybe the SE LA game falls in the cupcake status, noted.
The UTEP Miners are indeed 5 – 1 with their lone loss coming by the hands of Boise State in week 3, 54 – 13. Now we have to address the schedule because wins over New Mexico State, Bethune-Cookman, New Mexico Old Dominion, and Southern Miss don’t exactly scream quality.
Regardless, UTEP is on the brink of bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014 and they’ve matched their win total from the last 4 years already! (Yes, from 2017 to 2020 this team only won 5 games)
The Bulldogs are favored by 6.5 points in this Conference USA matchup.
LA Tech Bulldogs
Favored on the road against the 5 – 1 Miners and not one damn person batted an eyelash at it. That’s to be expected now that the line setters recognize exactly what those 5 wins look like for UTEP..
LA Tech’s schedule is overall pretty impressive and they have a pretty nice slate in front of them to attempt to make an appearance in the Conference USA title game. Heads-up affairs like this game, along with meetings with UAB, UTSA, Southern Miss, and Rice, this team is coming off a bye to take on the stretch of the campaign that will matter most.
Head Coach Skip Holtz knows exactly why he scheduled 3 big programs that would test their mettle. Yes, they amounted to 3 losses but he knew what he was doing to prepare this team for this run of the schedule ahead.
The LA Tech def… wait, nope, we have another example as to why you better not use the words Bulldogs and ‘D’ in the same sentence. Why? Oh you know what I do here by now… There are 130 FBS programs and here we have the team sitting at 129th in passing yards allowing 320.6 an outing. Naturally, their 121st ranking in total yards allowed is ugly too (471.8 YPG).
Austin Kendall leads the nation’s 27th ranked passing attack that puts up 283.4 YPG, but the running game? Well, that’s a different story altogether because there is none here to find. Their 130.2 yards on the ground per outing puts this team back at 93rd in the rankings.
Kendall kept his team in the N.C State game long enough to keep it within one score but he got rattled on a hit late in the game that saw him needing to take the sidelines for a spell as backup Aaron Allen had to come in but blew the play clock.
Time ran out on the Bulldogs valiant attempt to make a comeback, but an L is an L nonetheless.
UTEP Miners
According to the rankings, the Miners are among the most sound defenses in all of football… Excuse me, I will brb as I need to clean the coffee from my spit-take to that comment.
Yes, the Miners are sitting in the 16th ranked position in both total yards and rushing yards allowed in 2021. Talk about a fluke and why stats don’t tell you the real story sometimes? I mentioned who this team has played to reach this 5 – 1 record and you are damn right this defense is ranked high in plenty of categories.
ANY TEAM in the land could have these rankings taking on a shit schedule with teams that have zero ability to move a football, And yes, that means just about all of those weak programs that are all barely surviving their own campaigns.
The Miners are led by Gavin Hardison who is having a pretty nice season as a whole.
Hardison made 7 starts last season and he has basically taken every snap under center for head coach Dana Dimel. Dimel is in year-4 with the program which as we know is an important one for coaches out there.
Hardison’s go-to guy is Jacob Cowing and he has only brought in 26 balls but that’s good enough for 609 and 4 TDs. Justin Garrett and Tyrin Smith have combined to bring in another 477 yards from 28 catches with 3 scores as well.
This 5 – 1 start is about to start going the other way, however, and the line setters see it starting here. When you are the team that is 5 – 1 and at home and you aren’t favored to win?
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Bulldogs are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games on turf.
- Miners are 6-14 ATS in their last 20 home games.
- Miners are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games as a home underdog.
- Over is 4-1 in Bulldogs last 5 games overall.
- Over is 4-1 in Bulldogs last 5 road games.
- Over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
- Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in El Paso.
Free Week 7 NCAA Football Pick
It is obvious that the Miners have not been tested yet and today will be one of the biggest they’ve faced all year. LA Tech is expected to come into the Sun Bowl and find a win and I agree with that assumption.
This is a 42 – 24 game coming our way and that points you right towards this total to fly over the 56. I see a 10-point cushion for us with that scoreline so play it accordingly!
4* Free Week 7 NCAA Betting Pick:
Pinnacle is still showing -111 for the Over 56 but I do see it continuing to ruse from the opening 55 we saw on Sunday. As the game gets closer it might be 57 now that I have had my say, so get your action in on this total.
4* Free Week 7 NCAA Betting Pick: Over 56
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