jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
(23) UTSA -33 over Southern Mississippi:
One of the nation's 4 remaining undefeated teams looks to stay that way after week 11 as the 23rd ranked Roadrunners (9-0 5-0) are matched up against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (1-8 0-5) at the Alamodome. Last week at eh Sun Bowl in El Paso, Frank Harris (22/34 286 2 TD) threw for 2 scores and ran for 2 more (9-76 8.4 2 TD) as the Roadrunners pummeled UTEP 44-23. Sincere McCormick (21-169 8.0 1 TD) got UTSA rolling early breaking through on the first play from scrimmage with a 75 yard TD run. After 3 consecutive field goals by Hunter Duplessis, Harris ran it in for a yard that gave the Roadrunners a 23-6 lead early in the second quarter. Harris then connected twice in a row, each on a 7 yard scoring pass to Zakhari Franklin (10-114 2 TD) putting the contest well out of reach. Harris later capped off the scoring with a 3 yard TD run. Gavin Hardison (13/30 247 3 TD) was fairly inaccurate throughout the day despite throwing for 3 scores and not committing a turnover. Hardison twice found Tyrin Smith (3-91 2 TD) for 35 and 42 yards respectively on consecutive TD connections. and then Justin Garrett (3-26 1 TD) from 7 yards out to close the scoring, but it was not nearly enough. The Roadrunners outgained the Miners 561-374, held the ball for nearly 34 minutes, and produced 28 first downs. Meanwhile, last week the Mean Green stormed back from an early 14 point first quarter deficit to upend the Golden Eagles 38-14 at MM Roberts Stadium. Isaiah Johnson (17-119 7.0 1 TD) scored on a 6 yard TD run that brought North Texas to within 7 in the second quarter. After halftime, Ikalia Ragsdale (15-112 7.5 2 TD) scored on consecutive TD runs of 2 and 44 yards to give the Mean Green the lead for good. North Texas also scored twice on defense in the 4th quarter as Gabriel Murphy returned a muffed carry into a 37 yard TD scramble. KD Davis then did the same for 43 yards to the house as North Texas improved to 3-6 overall, 2-3 in the Sun Belt. Good thing UNT dominated on defense and in the run game to offset a subpar performance by Austin Aune (16/30 216 1 INT). Things looked promising early when Jason Brownlee (4-53 1 TD) scored from 17 yards out on a TD pass from Jake Lange (17/25 116 1 TD) that gave USM the early lead. Lange didn't really throw the deep ball and settled on mostly underneath patterns. Jay Stanley then intercepted Aune and took it 55 yards to the house for all the Southern Miss scoring all day. The Mean Green outgained the Golden Eagles 537-229, produced 25 first downs and forced 3 turnovers.
Harris (173/255 2079 18 TD 3 INT) continues to quietly but quickly feast on the opposition with his off the chart passing and accommodating self induced run game (64-346 5.4 4 TD) and is a clear dual threat QB. The senior classman should easily continue to pad his Heisman flirtatious stats this weekend against one of the lesser competition on both sides of the ball. Of course he's got plenty of help and production in the receiving core led by Franklin (55-686 8 TD) and Joshua Cephus (51-576 5 TD). De'corian Clark (31-479 5 TD) isn't as used than the first 2 playmakers, but posts to be an equally legitimate threat in the receiving core. Let's also not forget the ground game featuring other than Harris a one horse workload in McCormick (212-1060 5.0 10 TD), one of the most dangerous backs in the country. UTSA averages about 40 points and 455 yards per game with incredible balance. Their rushing attack is 56th in the country and passing attack 64th. With this kind of diversity and balance it is going to be extremely difficult for USM to contain, much less stop. The Golden Eagles allow about 459 yards and 31 points per game and don't match well against teams who like to pursue and execute a high octane tempo on offense. Malik Shorts leads USM with 77 tackles with nobody else on the team within 30 of him. He also leads the Eagles with 3 of his team's slim pickens 6 INT. Josh Carr is a solid formidable back on the line and has 41 tackles and 5 sacks, with Eriq Kitchen 4 of his team's total of 18.Still, without equal firepower on offense, their defense could be worse, but the key will be keeping UTSA's attack on the sidelines and to force the Roadrunners into turnovers that lead to short fields just to keep the game within reach.
Lange (79/137 843 5 TD 6 INT) has legitimate arm strength and likes to take chances down the field, but needs to bear down and limit his mistakes over his successful passes. One of his troubling tasks is to evade the opposing pass rush in addition to his inaccuracy. Brownlee (33-429 4 TD) has been the lone primary recipient when it comes to weapons in the receiving core. The same is true for the running game, as Frank Gore Jr, son of the future HOF'er, is the lone primary back in the backfield with 608 yards on 142 carries (4.3), but only 1 TD as the team alone is limited to just 3 scores on the ground. Southern Miss is one of the anorexic offenses in the nation scoring a hair under 14 ppg and averaging just 250 yards in total offense including 90 with the running game. UTSA only gives up 19 points per game, 338 total including just 85 on the ground. Lange will have to be near perfect against the Roadrunners to keep things interesting at best. Strong safety Rashard Wisdom has a team leading 57 tackles. They have 25 sacks with three players each leading the team with 3. Corey Mayfield Jr. leads the team in picks with 3 of their team's 10. They show plenty of diversity and balance on both sides of the ball and create a presence and a force to be reckoned with especially in conference play.
UTSA has shown lapses on defense but only occasionally on the road and have tremendous depth on both sides of the ball. With Harris and McCormick leading the way they will play pound and ground and hit the opposition with the deep ball that chews up tons of yardage in limited minutes on their frequent drives. This combination will eventually wear down the USM defense and unfortunately they have limited answers on both sides of the ball. If Harris can continue to attack with the up tempo, make accurate passes to his compliment of receivers and utilize himself and McCormick in the running game, this one spells blowout early and often, with the only question being when Jeff Traylor calls off the dogs. We hope and certainly don't think this will result in any tragic humbling backdoors, and the Roadrunners should meep-meep to double digit wins on the season.
One of the nation's 4 remaining undefeated teams looks to stay that way after week 11 as the 23rd ranked Roadrunners (9-0 5-0) are matched up against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (1-8 0-5) at the Alamodome. Last week at eh Sun Bowl in El Paso, Frank Harris (22/34 286 2 TD) threw for 2 scores and ran for 2 more (9-76 8.4 2 TD) as the Roadrunners pummeled UTEP 44-23. Sincere McCormick (21-169 8.0 1 TD) got UTSA rolling early breaking through on the first play from scrimmage with a 75 yard TD run. After 3 consecutive field goals by Hunter Duplessis, Harris ran it in for a yard that gave the Roadrunners a 23-6 lead early in the second quarter. Harris then connected twice in a row, each on a 7 yard scoring pass to Zakhari Franklin (10-114 2 TD) putting the contest well out of reach. Harris later capped off the scoring with a 3 yard TD run. Gavin Hardison (13/30 247 3 TD) was fairly inaccurate throughout the day despite throwing for 3 scores and not committing a turnover. Hardison twice found Tyrin Smith (3-91 2 TD) for 35 and 42 yards respectively on consecutive TD connections. and then Justin Garrett (3-26 1 TD) from 7 yards out to close the scoring, but it was not nearly enough. The Roadrunners outgained the Miners 561-374, held the ball for nearly 34 minutes, and produced 28 first downs. Meanwhile, last week the Mean Green stormed back from an early 14 point first quarter deficit to upend the Golden Eagles 38-14 at MM Roberts Stadium. Isaiah Johnson (17-119 7.0 1 TD) scored on a 6 yard TD run that brought North Texas to within 7 in the second quarter. After halftime, Ikalia Ragsdale (15-112 7.5 2 TD) scored on consecutive TD runs of 2 and 44 yards to give the Mean Green the lead for good. North Texas also scored twice on defense in the 4th quarter as Gabriel Murphy returned a muffed carry into a 37 yard TD scramble. KD Davis then did the same for 43 yards to the house as North Texas improved to 3-6 overall, 2-3 in the Sun Belt. Good thing UNT dominated on defense and in the run game to offset a subpar performance by Austin Aune (16/30 216 1 INT). Things looked promising early when Jason Brownlee (4-53 1 TD) scored from 17 yards out on a TD pass from Jake Lange (17/25 116 1 TD) that gave USM the early lead. Lange didn't really throw the deep ball and settled on mostly underneath patterns. Jay Stanley then intercepted Aune and took it 55 yards to the house for all the Southern Miss scoring all day. The Mean Green outgained the Golden Eagles 537-229, produced 25 first downs and forced 3 turnovers.
Harris (173/255 2079 18 TD 3 INT) continues to quietly but quickly feast on the opposition with his off the chart passing and accommodating self induced run game (64-346 5.4 4 TD) and is a clear dual threat QB. The senior classman should easily continue to pad his Heisman flirtatious stats this weekend against one of the lesser competition on both sides of the ball. Of course he's got plenty of help and production in the receiving core led by Franklin (55-686 8 TD) and Joshua Cephus (51-576 5 TD). De'corian Clark (31-479 5 TD) isn't as used than the first 2 playmakers, but posts to be an equally legitimate threat in the receiving core. Let's also not forget the ground game featuring other than Harris a one horse workload in McCormick (212-1060 5.0 10 TD), one of the most dangerous backs in the country. UTSA averages about 40 points and 455 yards per game with incredible balance. Their rushing attack is 56th in the country and passing attack 64th. With this kind of diversity and balance it is going to be extremely difficult for USM to contain, much less stop. The Golden Eagles allow about 459 yards and 31 points per game and don't match well against teams who like to pursue and execute a high octane tempo on offense. Malik Shorts leads USM with 77 tackles with nobody else on the team within 30 of him. He also leads the Eagles with 3 of his team's slim pickens 6 INT. Josh Carr is a solid formidable back on the line and has 41 tackles and 5 sacks, with Eriq Kitchen 4 of his team's total of 18.Still, without equal firepower on offense, their defense could be worse, but the key will be keeping UTSA's attack on the sidelines and to force the Roadrunners into turnovers that lead to short fields just to keep the game within reach.
Lange (79/137 843 5 TD 6 INT) has legitimate arm strength and likes to take chances down the field, but needs to bear down and limit his mistakes over his successful passes. One of his troubling tasks is to evade the opposing pass rush in addition to his inaccuracy. Brownlee (33-429 4 TD) has been the lone primary recipient when it comes to weapons in the receiving core. The same is true for the running game, as Frank Gore Jr, son of the future HOF'er, is the lone primary back in the backfield with 608 yards on 142 carries (4.3), but only 1 TD as the team alone is limited to just 3 scores on the ground. Southern Miss is one of the anorexic offenses in the nation scoring a hair under 14 ppg and averaging just 250 yards in total offense including 90 with the running game. UTSA only gives up 19 points per game, 338 total including just 85 on the ground. Lange will have to be near perfect against the Roadrunners to keep things interesting at best. Strong safety Rashard Wisdom has a team leading 57 tackles. They have 25 sacks with three players each leading the team with 3. Corey Mayfield Jr. leads the team in picks with 3 of their team's 10. They show plenty of diversity and balance on both sides of the ball and create a presence and a force to be reckoned with especially in conference play.
UTSA has shown lapses on defense but only occasionally on the road and have tremendous depth on both sides of the ball. With Harris and McCormick leading the way they will play pound and ground and hit the opposition with the deep ball that chews up tons of yardage in limited minutes on their frequent drives. This combination will eventually wear down the USM defense and unfortunately they have limited answers on both sides of the ball. If Harris can continue to attack with the up tempo, make accurate passes to his compliment of receivers and utilize himself and McCormick in the running game, this one spells blowout early and often, with the only question being when Jeff Traylor calls off the dogs. We hope and certainly don't think this will result in any tragic humbling backdoors, and the Roadrunners should meep-meep to double digit wins on the season.