Week 1: San Diego State vs Arizona 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The San Diego State Aztecs and Arizona Wildcats clash Saturday night in college football week 1 action from Snapdragon Stadium.

The Arizona Wildcats will be looking to bounce back from a disastrous 1-11 season, including a 1-8 mark in Pac- 12 conference play last season. The big problem for the Wildcats last season was the injury bug, especially at QB, but Jayden de Laura transfers in from Washington State to give the Wildcats some solidarity under center, and he has a shiny new toy in the receiving corps to hit in UTEP transfer Jacob Cowing who caught 141 passes for almost 2,600 yards and 13 touchdowns in his time with the Miners. A lot is also going to be expected from highly-touted recruit Tetairoa McMillan, as well as Dorian Singer who came on strong late for Arizona last season. Jonah Coleman and Florida State transfer D.J. Williams will also be expected to jostle for reps in the Arizona backfield. On defense, the strength is the secondary, with experienced names like Christian Roland-Wallace and Treydan Stukes at cornerback and Christian Young and Jaxen Turner at safety. Hunter Echols is expected to lead the linebackers after Anthony Pandy left the Wildcats program, as well as Jerry Roberts who will hope for an injury-free season after an unfortunate broken leg last season. Jalen Harris, Kyon Barrs and JB Brown will also hope to be key contributors for the Wildcats on the front line.

The San Diego State Aztecs will be out to build on a successful 2021 campaign that saw the Aztecs finish at 12-2 overall, including 7-1 in Mountain West play. The Aztecs fought to the Mountain West title game but were upended by Utah State 48-13. San Diego State still received an invite to the Frisco Bowl, a game in which they took down UTSA by a score of 38-24. Braxton Burmeister transfers in from Virginia Tech to bring more teeth to an otherwise subpar passing attack, and while Burmeister may not be the most accurate, he’s experienced and has solid running ability to provide a dual-threat. Burmeister’s legs also contribute to a solid San Diego State ground attack. The Aztecs do lose 1,000-yard rusher Greg Bell, but Chance Bell is experienced himself and still has some wheels on him to make up a solid grouping on the ground. Jesse Matthews will lead the Aztecs’ receiving corps after recording over half of San Diego State’s 16 receiving scores last year, while Tyrell Shavers transfers in from the SEC to help the Aztecs’ aerial assault. On defense, one of the best defensive units in the coutry is going to be as good if not better, starting at linebacker with the McDonald brothers as Caden McDonald and his brother, Washington transfer Cooper McDonald, will lead the group while the Tavai brothers, Jonah and incoming Hawaii transfer Justus, make up a fearsome pairing on San Diego State’s defensive line alongside All-Mountain West end Keshawn Banks. Patrick McMorris also returns for San Diego State after putting up a team-high 90 tackles and 4 interceptions last season in the secondary.

Arizona is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against the Mountain West and 2-12 ATS in their last 14 games on turf while the over is 3-1-1 in their last 5 games overall. San Diego State is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against the Pac-12 while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 non-conference games.

This is an interesting matchup for sure, and while both teams have had the offseason to get acclimated and cohesive, the reality is that we still have to see it at game speed and San Diego State isn’t the kind of team you want to see in your first game if you’re Arizona, with that Aztec defense on the other side. On the other hand, the Aztecs aren’t flashy offensively and they don’t necessarily light the world on fire in terms of hanging points on the board. I think this is going to be a grind it out style of game that struggles to get to 40 points so give me the under here.