New Mexico Bowl: SMU vs BYU 12/17/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The SMU Mustangs and BYU Cougars clash Saturday in the college football New Mexico Bowl from University Stadium.

The BYU Cougars will try to end the year on a high note after ending the regular season at 7-5. Jaren Hall’s thrown for 3,171 yards, 31 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on 66% passing while Christopher Brooks has 729 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns to lead BYU on the ground. Puka Nacua leads BYU in receiving with 48 grabs for 625 yards while Keanu Hill has 36 receptions for 572 yards and Kody Epps has 459 receiving yards as well on the year. On defense, Ben Bywater has a team-high 87 total tackles while BYU’s whole unit has combined for 13 sacks and 7 interceptions.

The SMU Mustangs will try to finish the year strong after finishing with their own 7-5 mark this season. Tanner Mordecai has thrown for 3,306 yards, 31 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on 64.3% passing. Tyler Lavine has a team-high 551 rushing yards with 9 touchdowns while Velton Gardner has 368 rushing yards and Camar Wheaton and Tre Siggers each have 200+ rushing yards and a combined 6 touchdowns this season. Rashee Rice leads SMU in receiving with 96 grabs for 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns while Jordan Kerley has 31 grabs for 538 yards and 5 scores. Four more Mustangs have at least 200 receiving yards as well on the year. On defense, Jimmy Phillips Jr. has a team-high 76 total tackles while Nelson Paul has a team-high 5 sacks and Nick Roberts has a team-high 3 interceptions this season.

BYU is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 bowl games and 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games overall while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 non-conference games. SMU is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS loss while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 bowl games.

I get the case to be made either way here, but I’m not sure how anyone could look at anything but the over in this game. These are two sieve defenses, and points haven’t been hard to come by for opposing teams pretty much all season long on both sides. I just don’t think we’re going to see many stops in this game, so give me the over here.