San Diego State vs New Mexico State 9/4/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The San Diego State Aztecs meet the New Mexico State Aggies aSaturday in week 1 college football action from StubHub Center. New Mexico State already has one game in the books, a matchup last Saturday versus UTEP. In that one, the Aggies fell in a 27-point blowout. As for the Aztecs, they’re coming off a 4-4 record last season. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place. 

New Mexico State suspended their sports competitions last August, but they were able to get in two games (and one cancellation) this past spring. The Aggies posted a 17-43 loss to Tarleton State February 21, then managed to beat Dixie State 36-29 on March 7. 

In their first game of the 2021 season versus UTEP last Saturday, the Aggies were behind 20-3 at halftime and couldn’t score from there in a 30-3 defeat. QB Jonah Johnson went just 8-of-24 for 82 yards, while Juwuan Price had 37 yards on nine carries.

Over on the Aztecs’ side, they managed to play eight games last fall, going 4-4 overall and 4-2 in Mountain West Conference play. That result left San Diego in fourth place in the conference rankings behind San Jose State, Boise State and Nevada. 

San Diego State began their 2020 campaign with a 3-1 record, taking out UNLV, Utah State and Hawaii in that stretch. The Aztecs skidded into the end of the year however, going 1-3 the rest of the way. SDSU lost to Nevada, Colorado and BYU in that quartet of outings. 

The Aggies are 4-1 ATS in their last five games in September and 8-17 ATS in their last 25 non-conference games. New Mexico State is 9-20-1 ATS in their last 30 overall and 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 after an ATS loss. 

Meanwhile, the Aztecs are 6-1 ATS in their last seven home games and 5-1 ATS in their last six non-conference games. SDSU is 7-2 ATS in the last nine on grass and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 overall. 

PICK: I’m going to stick with San Diego State. There wasn’t much to write home about in the Aggies’ 2021 debut. they were out-gained in total yards 452 to 190, and in passing yards 249 to 89. New Mexico State averaged just 2.8 yards per play and lost the time of possession battle 32:29 to 27:31. 

As for the Aztecs, they’ve got some major question marks on offense that won’t be answered until we see them on the field for a few games. The good news is that San Diego State should have a pretty solid rushing attack that they can build the offense on. This one could be a sloppy game, but I like SDSU to hang in there.