College Football

Cure Bowl: Troy vs UTSA 12/16/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

UTSA Roadrunners (11-2) vs. Troy Trojans (11-2)
December 16, 2022 3:00 pm EDT
The Line: Troy Trojans -1.5 / UTSA Roadrunners +1.5; Over/Under: +53.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The UTSA Roadrunners and Troy Trojans clash Friday night in the college football Cure Bowl from Exploria Stadium.

The Troy Trojans finished the year at 11-2, representing the Sun Belt as conference champions with a 45-26 win over Coastal Carolina in the conference championship game last time out. Gunnar Watson has thrown for 2,705 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on 61.9% passing while DK Billingsley and Kimani Vidal have combined for 1,715 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Tez Johnson has a team-high 823 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns while RaJae’ Johnson has 672 receiving yards with 6 touchdowns and Deshon Stoudemire has 491 receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Carlton Martial has a team-high 121 total tackles while T.J. Jackson has a team-high 8 sacks and Richard Jibunor has 6 sacks this season.

The UTSA Roadrunners will enter as C-USA champions, finishing 11-2 with a 48-27 win over North Texas in the C-USA championship game. Frank Harris has thrown for 3,865 yards, 31 touchdowns and 7 interceptions on 71.1% passing while also posting 588 rushing yards as well as 9 TDs this season. Brenden Brady has 699 rushing yards and 9 TDs while Kevorian Barnes has 713 rushing yards and 6 TDs as well on the year. Joshua Cephus has 87 grabs for 985 receiving yards and 5 scores while Zakhari Franklin has 69 catches for 1,100 yards and a team-high 14 touchdowns and De’Corian Clark also has 741 receiving yards with 8 touchdowns as well this season. On defense, Jamal Ligon has a team-high 85 total tackles while Trey Moore has a team-high 6 sacks this season. Clifford Chattman also has 4 interceptions as well this season.

Troy is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 bowl games while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 non-conference games. UTSA is 13-5 ATS in their last 18 games against a team with a winning record and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 6-2 in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record.

I get the case to be made for Troy here as the Trojans were on fire over the last couple of months and come in as the Sun Belt champs. However, this is a Troy team that faced weak opposition like ULM and Arkansas State before beating a Coastal team in the conference championship that was without it’s heartbeat in starting QB Grayson McCall. The Roadrunners have one of the best offenses in the country and they look to be fully healthy and locked, stocked and loaded for this game. I’ll side with UTSA to get the win here but will take the points for safety.

Chris Ruffolo's Free Pick: UTSA +1.5

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Chris Ruffolo

Chris joined the Sports Chat Place team in August 2016 and has a proven system that combines multiple analytical and situational statistics and trends to give out thousands of winning picks over the last three years with winning records across all of the top leagues, Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg

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