Week 2: UTEP vs New Mexico State 9/10/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The UTEP Miners and New Mexico State Aggies do battle Saturday night in week 2 college football action at the Sun Bowl. The New Mexico State Aggies look to avoid their fourth straight 0-3 start. The UTEP Miners look to avoid their first 0-3 start since the 2018 season.

The New Mexico State Aggies have lost 7 of their last 8 road games. Gavin Frakes is completing 55 percent of his passes for 186 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Justice Powers and Jordin Parker have combined for 167 receiving yards on 7 catches, while Kordell David has 7 receptions. The New Mexico State Aggies ground game is averaging 61.5 yards per contest, and Diego Pavia leads the way with 46 yards on 8 carries. Defensively, New Mexico State is allowing 30.5 points and 371 yards per game. Bryce Jackson leads the New Mexico State Aggies with 17 tackles, Chris Ojoh has 1 pass deflection and Linwood Crump has 1 pass deflection.

The UTEP Miners have won 5 of their last 7 home games. Gavin Hardison is completing 52.2 percent of his passes for 537 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. Tyrin Smith and Reynaldo Flores have combined for 397 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Kelly Akharaiyi has 7 receptions. The UTEP Miners ground game is averaging 67.5 yards per contest, and Ronald Awatt leads the way with 75 yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, UTEP is allowing 38 points and 445.5 yards per game. Tyrice Knight leads the UTEP Miners with 20 tackles, Cal Wallerstedt has 1 sack and Latrez Shelton has 2 pass deflections.

The Aggies are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games in September and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall. The Miners are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games in September and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The over is 38-18-1 in Aggies last 57 road games. The over is 9-4 in Miners last 13 games following a straight up loss. The favorite is 8-0 ATS in their last 8 meetings.

The New Mexico State Aggies have been a joke of a program these last few years, and they’ve shown nothing through 2 games, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The UTEP Miners have been disappointing through 2 games themselves, especially in their opener against North Texas. However, UTEP is a team I was high on entering the season and still believe they have a chance to make a run in the C-USA. UTEP gets an obvious pass for last week’s game against Oklahoma. With a couple of games under its belt, this is where the real UTEP shows up. The Miners have no choice. I’ll lay the pair of touchdowns.