Free Week 2 Prediction: Blazers vs Cardinals Odds
Looking for UAB Blazers vs. Ball State Cardinals free picks? Week 2 betting sees the Blazers taking on the Cardinals Saturday September 9th at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football predictions like this UAB Ball State free pick.
College Football Handicapping: Week 2
(1-0) UAB Blazers vs. Ball State Cardinals (0-1)
Date: Saturday, September 9th
Time: 3:00 pm EST
Venue: Scheumann Stadium, Muncie, Indiana
NCAA Football Spread: Ball State -14.5
NCAA Betting Total: 54.5
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UAB looked pretty impressive in their return to college football after a few years off and they’ll now hit the road for the first time since November of 2014.
Ball State nearly snuck out of Illinois with a victory – falling to the Fighting Illini 24-21 as their potential game tying field goal was blocked in the final seconds.
UAB Blazers
There were a lot of unknowns entering last week’s game for UAB as they had not played a game as a program since November of 2014.
They answered many of them as they came out firing and controlled their game over Alabama A&M from wire to wire for a 38-7 victory.
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They converted on third down relatively well (7 of 18 attempts), they only turned the ball over once, and outgained the Bulldogs by 234 yards in the victory.
Their quarterback play wasn’t stellar though as AJ Erdely and Tyler Johnston III combined to complete just 12 of 22 passes for 165 yards with Erdely getting most of the work.
But they did run the ball effectively – rushing for 252 yards as a team on 59 attempts (4.3 yards per carry).
A heavy dose of the run game was expected for the returning program and I would expect that to continue until they see more consistent play out of the quarterback.
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However, now UAB will hit the road for the first time and will be presented a new set of challenges against a FBS team with a solid defense and the ability to create big plays on offense – both of which Alabama A&M lacked.
Ball State Cardinals
Ball State’s defense was nothing short of spectacular in Week 1 despite not picking up the win.
They held Illinois to 2 conversions on 10 third down attempts and held them to just 216 yards of total offense.
Seems like it should’ve been enough to get the win especially since their offense dominated time of possession and the Cardinals as a whole only committed two penalties.
Well, on Ball State’s first drive they fumbled which Illinois returned to inside the Cardinals’ 20-yard line setting up an easy score. And the offense stalled in the second half after scoring on their first two possessions of the half.
After those scores, the offense managed just one first down until the final drive when Illinois was falling back in a prevent defense.
Ball State got just about everything wanted to get in the game except for the victory.
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They should be coming out hungry looking for their first win after feeling like they let one slip away in a road opener against a Big 10 team.
The Cardinals defense put on a clinic and they have the offensive tools to put points on the board – they’ll just need to capitalize a little bit better this week.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Under is 7-2 in BALL last 9 games overall.
- Under is 16-5 in BALL last 21 games on fieldturf.
- Ball State is 3-0 ATS in their last 3 games despite being 0-3 SU in those games.
Free Week 2 NCAA Football Pick
All season long UAB will be facing unknowns in one way or another as the program looks to reestablish itself. This week, they will get their first FBS team since 2014 and their first road game since 2014. I expect both to cause the Blazers to struggle.
4* Free NCAA Betting Pick: Ball State –14.5
Cardinals quarterback Riley Neal won’t need to do anything differently than last week in order to get this win. Just protect the football, manage the offense, and let the defense do its job and this game won’t even be close.
Week 2 Free Score Prediction: Ball State 37 – UAB 7
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