Troy Trojans (3-3) vs. Texas State Bobcats (2-3)
October 16, 2021 3:00 pm EDT
The Line: Texas State Bobcats +4 ; Over/Under: 54.5
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The Texas State Bobcats meet the Troy Trojans in Sun Belt Conference NCAA football Saturday action from TSU Bobcat Stadium. Troy is fresh off a game versus Georgia Southern. In that matchup the Trojans bagged a three-point victory. As for the Bobcats, they played South Alabama in their last game. Texas State ended up winning by two points in a crazy 4OT affair. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Troy came out of the gate strong this year, drilling Southern U 55-3 in their opener. The Trojans’ first loss came in game two to Liberty 21-13, but after that came a win 21-9 over Southern Miss. The next two games were losses 29-16 to LA-Monroe and 23-14 to South Carolina.
In the matchup versus Georgia Southern, Troy scored in every quarter during an exhilarating 27-24 win. QB Gunnar Watson finished on 270 yards with two TDs from 24-of-36 passing. Jamontez Woods added nine carries for 98 yards and a score on the ground.
Over on the Texas State side, they opened up the year against Baylor, ultimately falling 29-20. The Bobcats managed their first win of the year against FIU 23-17 in overtime, but then lost their next pair to Incarnate Word 42-34 and Eastern Michigan 59-21.
Last weekend versus South Alabama, the Bobcats fought through four overtime periods and finally won 33-31 on a late two-point conversion. QB Brady McBride had 187 yards and two scores but also threw three picks. Calvin Hill rushed for 70 yards on 11 carries to lead the team there.
The Trojans are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 on turf and 1-4 ATS in their last five overall. Troy is also 1-4 ATS versus a team with a losing record.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats are 5-1 ATS in their last six conference games and 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games. Texas State is 2-5 ATS in their last seven in October as well.
PICK: I’m probably sticking with Troy. This should be a pretty interesting matchup, though. The Trojans had a strong offensive effort in their last game with 409 total yards and a 6.4-yard average. The bad news is that Troy was just 1-of-13 on third- and fourth-down tries. They’re going to need to clean that up quickly.
As for Texas State, they did what they had to do in that wild comeback 4OT effort and the resiliency is commendable. There were plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities (three picks being the most glaring) but the W is the most important stat. I like this game to be pretty close most of the way if both teams are on.
