Week 1: Fresno State vs Cal Poly 9/1/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds
Cal Poly Mustangs (0-0) vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0)
September 1, 2022 10:30 pm EDT
The Line: Fresno State Bulldogs -34.5 / Cal Poly Mustangs +34.5 ; Over/Under:
(Get latest betting odds)
The Fresno State Bulldogs and Cal Poly Mustangs do battle Thursday in week 1 college football action from Bulldog Stadium. Cal Poly is coming off a rough year in 2021, going just 2-9 overall. As for Fresno State, they finished 10-3 overall last season and finished off the campaign with a win in the New Mexico Bowl. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Cal Poly has had a rough couple of years on the gridiron. In the abbreviated 2020 season, the Mustangs went 0-3, and the team followed that up with a 2-9 overall record last year. Cal Poly posted a 1-7 record in Big Sky Conference play, which left them two spots out of the basement in the standings.
The Mustangs started out the 2021 year pretty strong, with a nice win over San Diego 28-17. Cal Poly imploded after that however, hitting an eight-game losing streak. The Mustangs scored more than 14 points just once (21) during that stretch.
Over on the Fresno State side, they had a pretty positive year in 2021 despite missing out on the conference championship. The Bulldogs went 10-3 overall and 6-2 in Mountain West Conference play, leading to a second-place finish in the West Division.
The Bulldogs kicked off the year at 4-1 before a tough loss 27-24 to Hawaii on October 2. Fresno State went 6-1 the rest of the way (with a loss to Boise State as the blemish). In the New Mexico Bowl, the Bulldogs posted a 31-24 win over UTEP to finish the year on a high note.
PICK: I’m going to stay with Fresno State here. The Bulldogs were No. 1 in the Mountain West last year in total offense and second in scoring. They’ll be relying on the passing game once again this year for another big campaign. QB Jake Haener is back under center, and he’ll have big-time targets like Jalen Cropper (11 TDs last year) and Josh Kelly (52 catches last year) alongside him. RB Jordan Mims is coming off a 710-yard season and should be in line for some huge numbers in 2022. As long as the defense is at least average, Fresno will make quite a bit of noise this season.
