UAB Blazers (4-3) vs. Florida Atlantic Owls (3-5)
October 29, 2022 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Florida Atlantic Owls +5.5 / UAB Blazers -5.5; Over/Under: +48.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The FAU Owls and UAB Blazers square off Saturday in a week 9 C-USA college football game from FAU Stadium.
The UAB Blazers will look to rebound from a 20-17 loss at the hands of Western Kentucky to fall to 4-3 on the year as a result. Dylan Hopkins has thrown for 1,233 yards, 7 touchdowns and a pair of interceptions on 67.2% passing while DeWayne McBridge has a team-high 975 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns. Jermaine Brown Jr. also has 433 rushing yards as well this season. Trea Shropshire has a team-high 389 receiving yards while Teshaun Palmer has 263 receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Noah Wilder has a team-high 68 total tackles including 35 solo tackles while Kelle Sanders has a team-high 3 sacks and Grayson Cash has 3 interceptions so far this season.
The FAU Owls will try to bounce back after losing 4 of their last 5 games, falling to 3-5 on the year after a 24-21 loss to UTEP last time out. N’Kosi Perry has thrown for 1.802 yards, 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 56.6% passing while Larry McCammon has a team-high 696 rushing yards with 4 touchdowns and Zuberi Mobley also has 406 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns this season. LaJohntay Wester has a team-high 536 receiving yards and 48 receptions along with a team-high 8 touchdowns while Jahmal Edrine has 389 receiving yards and Je’Quan Burton has 299 receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Eddie Williams has a team-high 65 total tackles with 2.5 sacks while FAU as a unit has 18 sacks and 8 interceptions this season.
UAB is 29-14-2 ATS in their last 45 conference games and 13-4-1 ATS in their last 18 games against a team with a losing record while the under is 9-4 in their last 13 road games. FAU is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 1-8 ATS in their last 9 conference games while the under is 10-2 in their last 12 games against a team with a winning record.
I get the case to be made for FAU as a home underdog as the Owls have played in a lot of close games this season. However, the one biggest mismatch on the field in this game, is UAB’s rushing offense against a porous FAU run defense that hasn’t really been able to stop anyone this season. I feel that UAB is the better team on both sides of the ball, especially on the defensive end, and I just think the Blazers find a way to come out and win this game by a touchdown at least. I’ll lay the points with UAB here.
