New Mexico Brigham Young – Cougars Try To Nail Down Bowl Bid Against Lobos
Before College Football Gambling fans turn their attention to other sports betting events this week, we have a Saturday NCAA game of the day pick for you. It’s time for our weekly Football picks for online ncaa football betting action.
Team records:
New Mexico: 1-9 SU, 4-6 ATS
BYU: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
Go INSIDE This MAtchup With Our CFB ATS Stats —>
The Brigham Young Cougars started the season in disarray. Near the end of their college football journey in 2010, they have something to play for against the New Mexico Lobos.
NCAA football betting: New Mexico Lobos @ Brigham Young Cougars
Online Betting Odds: Brigham Young -29.5
Why To Bet On New Mexico
The best thing going for coach Mike Locksley’s squad is that it is continuing to improve, without question. The Lobos are coming off a 25-point loss at Air Force that felt more like a 14-point loss. New Mexico registered its second-highest point total of the season (23) in the game against the Falcons, and quarterback Stump Godfrey – though able to throw for only 99 yards – still moved the team and showed promise in his second collegiate start.
Had the Lobos made just a few more defensive plays, they might have extended Air Force a little more than expected. UNM trailed 14-7 in the final seconds of the first half, but an Air Force touchdown pass with four ticks left on the clock enabled the academy to take a 21-7 lead to the locker room at halftime. Without that one breakdown in the secondary, New Mexico could have made the Falcons sweat. As it is, this is still an improving team that is headed upward as 2010 winds toward its conclusion.
Why To Bet On Brigham Young
Brigham Young is a legitimately good team as it prepares for Saturday’s game on home turf at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. The crew from BYU won its season opener against Washington but then descended into absolute misery, losing five of its next six games to tumble to 2-5. For a program that was a perennial Mountain West Conference title contender over the past decade, the sudden fall from grace stunned Cougar fans and left observers wondering if coach Bronco Mendenhall could fix the mess on his hands.
It wasn’t necessarily that BYU was losing; the Cougars were playing very good teams outside their conference, in addition to league champion TCU and the always-plucky group from Air Force. The Cougars tackled Florida State on the road, and they had to play the relentless rushing attack of Nevada’s pistol offense.
A lot of teams would have failed to win both of those games, so in retrospect, BYU’s losses in those two games shouldn’t have been too alarming. The soft part of the team’s schedule was still to come, and freshman quarterback Jake Heaps simply needed time to grow into the position. However, when you’re BYU, patience doesn’t come easy when your record is 2-5.
The natives were restless, and a limp offense needed to get off the deck.
As November marches on, it’s clear that the Cougars have finally fixed their problems on the offensive side of the ball, turning into a solid team that’s 5-5 and within one win of gaining bowl eligibility. Heaps has performed brilliantly in his last two outings against UNLV and Colorado State. Yes, those opponents are not very good, but then again, BYU lost to a not-very-distinguished Utah State club during its 2-5 start. Heaps is figuring out coordinator Robert Anae’s offense, and he hasn’t thrown an interception since a sluggish outing on Oct. 23 against Wyoming.
BYU had a bye week after that Wyoming game, and it seems that’s all Heaps needed to gain a real understanding of what he’s going. BYU outscored Colorado State and UNLV by a combined score of 104-17. The defense is playing great, and now this looks like a bowl team that Cougar fans recognize.
Prospects are good for this tilt against New Mexico.
How The Game Will Play Out
New Mexico won’t roll over, but the larger reality is that BYU’s offense is humming. Can the Lobos halt the Cougars’ forward momentum? It’s doubtful. Take BYU; the Cougars have won their last two games by an average of 43.5 points. A 30-point victory would cover the number here. BYU will do exactly that.
New Mexico Brigham Young Betting Pick: Brigham Young -29.5
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Poolside Rants hails from beautiful Bozeman Montana by way of Toronto, Canada. (Blame his wife for the move). He’s a Dallas Cowboys football honk. But please….don’t hold that against him. The man knows his sports and has uncanny knowledge when it comes to picking games.
