Week 1: Texas vs LA-Monroe 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (0-0) vs. Texas Longhorns (0-0)
September 3, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Texas Longhorns -38.5 / Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks +38.5 ; Over/Under: 67.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Texas Longhorns and LA-Monroe Warhawks do battle Saturday in week 1 college football action from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The Warhawks finished 4-8 overall last season, with a 2-6 mark in Sun Belt play. As for the Longhorns, they’re coming off a 5-7 result in 2021 and a 3-6 record in the Big 12. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
LA-Monroe had something of a disappointing season on the surface last year, but they were much improved over 2020’s winless campaign. The Warhawks posted a 4-8 overall record and went 2-6 in Sun Belt games to land in third place in the West Division.
The Warhawks stetted out reasonably well last year with a 4-3 run over their first seven games. That’s all the success LA-Monroe would find, however. The Warhawks lost their final five games to Appalachian State, Texas State, Arkansas State, LSU and Louisiana.
Over on the Texas side, they struggled to find much success in a tough Big 12 last season. The Longhorns went 5-7 overall in 2021 with a 3-6 record in the conference. That left Texas just three spots out of the basement in the standings, ahead of TCU, Texas Tech and Kansas.
The Longhorns posted a 4-1 record in their first five games last year (including a nice win over Louisiana in the opener). Texas hit a tough six-game losing streak in October however, falling to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and West Virginia before a season-ending win over Kansas State.
The Warhawks are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 road games and 3-9-1 ATS in their last 13 non-conference games. LA-Monrore is 1-6-1 ATS in their last eight in September.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns are 6-1 ATS in their last seven non-conference games and 7-2 ATS in their last nine versus the Sun Belt. Texas is 1-6 ATS in their last seven overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Texas in this one, but that line is probably too thick to mess with. Many people are predicting great things for the Longhorns this year, and on paper they’ve certainly got the talent for a huge season. Texas should get a boost from QB Quinn Ewers in 2022 (as they wait for another boost from Arch Manning). Ewers will have some wonderful weapons to utilize, including First-Team All-Big 12 selection Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington. That’s not to mention Bijan Robinson, who averaged 5.8 YPC and had 1,127 yards with 11 TDs last year. So long as the offensive line and the defense are at least average, Texas should certainly be competing for a conference championship.
