Utah at New Mexico
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the New Mexico Lobos will play host to the 14th-ranked Utah Utes. It hasn’t been pretty for the Lobos in the first two games of the season, as they backed up a 0-72 loss to Oregon in week 1 with a 17-52 loss against Texas Tech. The Utes on the other hand improved to 2-0 on the season with a 38-10 win over UNLV. If you are interested in the odds for this game, the oddsmakers have the Utes favored by 23-points over the Lobos on the road.
When you look at the score of last week’s game against Texas Tech, you would think the Lobos were completely dominated, but they actually gained 433 yards of total offense. Quarterback B.R. Holbrook was responsible for most of the yards, as he dropped back to pass 50 times, completing 30 of them for 323 yards and a touchdown. Holbrook hurt himself with two interceptions, as the Lobos turned the ball over three times against Texas Tech.
Wide out Ty Kirk led the Lobos with 119 yards receiving on five catches, while Bryant Williams caught a team best nine passes for 68 yards. While the offense looked much better than it did in week 1, the defense still looked bad, as they have now gave up 124 points in just two games. Some teams will barely give up more than that all season.
That is good news for the Utes offense that is coming off another strong performance, as they got a strong performance from backup quarterback Terrance Cain, who stepped into the starting role in place of the injured Jordan Wynn. Cain threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns on 13 of 20 passing. Utah also got a strong performance from running back Eddie Wide, who had 77 yards and two touchdowns against UNLV.
The Utes defense didn’t exactly play lights out, but stepped up when they needed to, as the Rebels had a lot of trouble turning good drives into points. The Utes also got a big play on special teams, as Shaky Smithson return a punt 77-yards for a score.
Looking at the Odds: Without question if you are planning on betting on this game, you have to take the Utes to cover the 23-point spread. Until the Lobos play better on the defensive side of the ball they are going to continue to get blown out. If the Utes are a legit top 25 team, they should have no trouble putting this game out of hand early, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won this game by 40-points.
The Utes are a perfect 4-0 ATS vs. a team with a losing record, and an impressive 30-14-1 ATS in their last 45 games following a ATS win. My final score prediction is Utah 55, New Mexico 24.
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