UTEP Miners (4-1) vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (1-4)
October 9, 2021 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Southern Miss Golden Eagles -1 ; Over/Under: 44
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The Southern Miss Golden Eagles meet the UTEP Miners Saturday in Conference USA college football week 6 action from Roberts Stadium. UTEP just finished up a game versus Old Dominion. In that one the Miners bagged a seven-point win. As for Southern Miss, they played Rice in their last game. The Eagles ended up losing by five there. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
UTEP came out of the gate strong this year, posting a big 30-3 win over New Mexico State in the opener and a 38-28 win over Bethune-Cookman in week two. The Miners couldn’t handle Boise State in a 54-13 loss in the third game, but then took out New Mexico 20-13 on September 25.
In last weekend’s matchup versus Old Dominion, the Miners put up points in all four quarters during a 28-21 victory. QB Gavin Hardison had 191 yards and two scores on 10-of-20 passing, and Deion Hankins had 70 yards and a TD on 22 carries.
Over on the Eagles’ side, they were blown out by South Alabama in their opener 31-7 but then managed a 37-0 shutout win over Grambling State in week two. Southern Miss would then fall to Troy 21-9 and to Alabama 63-14 over their next two games.
In the game against Rice, Southern Miss trailed 10-7 at the break and couldn’t get much going from there in a 24-19 loss. QB Jake Lange had 304 yards with one TD and three picks. Frank Gore Jr. led the rush on 17 carries for 79 yards.
The Miners are 4-1 ATS in their last five conference games and 4-1 ATS in their last five in October. UTEP is also 7-3 ATS in their last 10 overall.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 on turf and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 at home. The Eagles are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 in October.
PICK: I’m going to stick with UTEP. The Miners were pretty well-matched against Old Dominion, and it was a tight game most of the way. UTEP finished on 333 total yards, 17 first downs and a 9-of-18 mark on third and fourth downs.
As for Southern Miss, they out-gained Rice 378-325 and had 21 first downs to the Owls’ 15. What did the Eagles in were penalties (10 for 90 yards) and turnovers (four picks). I like Southern Miss to get it together better here, but I still think UTEP has the inside track on a cover/win.
