The New Mexico State Aggies (-3) and UTEP Miners will collide on the turf at Sun Bowl. ESPN 3 has the TV rights and the game is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Betting Preview: UTEP Miners vs. New Mexico State Aggies
UTEP is entering this game as the underdog and is currently getting 3 points. The Aggies are also receiving -155 moneyline odds while the Miners are +135. There will probably be some solid live betting opportunities during the showdown, and Vegas has set the over/under (O/U) at 52 points.
This game’s line opened at 2.5, while the total has yet to move after it was set initially at 52.
The Aggies are down 2.0 units so far and 0-4 against the spread (ATS). The team’s posted an O/U record of 3-1.
The Miners have lost 1.0 unit this season. The team is 1-2 ATS and owns an O/U record of 1-1.
The Aggies are 0-4 straight up (SU) in 2018 while the Miners are 0-3 SU.
The Aggies fell to New Mexico 42-25 in a thumping where the passing game left much to be desired as the Aggies completed 22-of-40 passes for 249 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. Josh Adkins went 12-for-21 for 168 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while Matt Romero completed nine-of-13 for 75 yards and two interceptions. Jason Huntley (67 rushing yards on 15 attempts) spearheaded the ground attack in the loss. OJ Clark (four receptions, 27 yards) and Huntley (four catches, 87 yards, one TD) handled the receiving duties.
One week ago, Tennessee shut out this UTEP team by a score of 24-0. The Miners defense allowed the Volunteers to run for 345 yards on 50 rush attempts, including two rush TDs. Ty Chandler torched the defense, recording 158 rushing yards and a score on 12 attempts for Tennessee. For UTEP, Kai Locksley completed nine-of-22 passes for 39 yards. Locksley (24 yards on nine rush attempts) mounted the ground game in the defeat as Keynan Foster (two receptions, 21 yards) and Warren Redix (two catches, 15 yards) led the UTEP pass-catchers.
New Mexico State has run the ball on 41.1 percent of its offensive possessions this year while UTEP has a rush percentage of 54.9 percent. The Aggies have produced 64.3 rush yards per game and have only one score via handoffs this year. The Miners are putting up 154.0 rush yards per game and have four total rushing TDs.
The Aggies offensive scheme has logged 199.3 yards/game through the air overall and has four passing TD so far. The Miners have produced 96.3 pass yards per outing and have yet to record a pass scores.
Defensively, New Mexico State has allowed opponents to rush for an average of 269.8 yards and throw for 165.8 yards per game. The UTEP defense has allowed 165.7 yards per game to opposing passers and 288.7 yards per game to opposing runners. The Aggies are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 5.28 to opponents, while the Miners have given up an 8.47 ANY/A.
Offensively, Romero is up to 448 passing yards this year, and has connected on 54-of-98 attempts with two scores through the air and three interceptions. He’s got a 2.53 adjusted net yards per pass attempt overall, although that number sits at -0.29 over the past two outings.
In the other locker room, Kai Locksley has completed 22-of-48 passes for 159 yards, zero TDs and one INT. Locksley’s ANY/A stands at a minuscule 1.77 for the year and 2.05 over his last two games.
These two squads faced off a year ago with the final result being a 41-14 win for New Mexico State.
New Mexico State Aggies at UTEP Miners NCAA Pick
SU Winner: UTEP, ATS Winner: UTEP, O/U: Under
