North Texas at UTEP: 10/31/20 College Football Picks and Prediction
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UTEP Miners (3-3) vs North Texas Mean Green (2-3)
Game Info: Saturday, October 31, 2020 at 4:00 pm (Sun Bowl Stadium)
Betting Odds: UTEP Miners +3.5 -- Over/Under: 63 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The North Texas Mean Green will travel to the Sun Bowl to take on the UTEP Miners this Saturday afternoon in College Football action.
The North Texas Mean Green snapped their 3-game losing streak and improved to 2-3 (1-2 C-USA) on the season after defeating the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 52-35, on October 17th. North Texas has no trouble generating offense against the Blue Raiders defense and easily picked up the victory after taking a 49-28 lead on a 48-yard TD run by Jason Bean with 11:10 left in the 4th quarter. North Texas outgained Middle Tennessee by a 768-432 margin, however, did lose the turnover battle by a 3-1 margin in the victory. Leading the way for the Mean Green was QB Jason Bean who completed 12 of 17 passes for 181 yards & 2 TD’s while also picking up 169 rushing yards & 3 TD’s on 10 carries.
On the season, North Texas is averaging 39.2 ppg on 593.6 total yards per game (338.6 passing yds/g; 255.0 rushing yds/g). Offensively, North Texas has been led by their backfield trio of DeAndre Torrey (67 att, 444 yards, 4 TD), Oscar Adaway III (25 att, 222 yards, 2 TD), and Tre Siggers (50 att, 216 yards, TD). QB Jason Bean (61.4 Comp %, 427 yards, 6 TD, 1 INT; 19 att, 231 yards, 4 TD) has been impressive in his limited time and I’d be shocked if he not the starting QB over Austin Aune (55.5 Comp %, 1,233 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT) going forward. The top receivers for the Mean Green have been Jaelon Darden (43 rec, 689 yards, 10 TD), Deonte Simpson (16 rec, 328 yards, 3 TD), and Greg White (8 rec, 179 yards, TD).
Defensively, North Texas is allowing their opponents to average 44.2 ppg on 549.4 total yards per game (306.2 passing yds/g; 243.2 rushing yds/g).
The UTEP Miners lost their 2nd straight game and dropped to 3-3 (0-2 C-USA) on the season after being defeated by the Charlotte 49ers, 38-28, this past Saturday. UTEP played Charlotte tough, however, was hurt by turnovers and could not fight back after Charlotte took a 31-14 lead on a 13-yard TD run by Micaleous Elder with just 4:40 left in the 4th quarter. UTEP outgained Charlotte by a 374-329 margin however, lost the turnover battle by a 3-0 margin in the loss. Leading the way for the Miners was WR Justin Garrett who had 107 receiving yards & 2 TD’s on 9 receptions.
On the season, UTEP is averaging 20.0 ppg on 340.3 total yards per game (218.2 passing yds/g; 122.2 rushing yds/g). Offensively, UTEP has been led by RB duo of Deion Hankins (83 att, 419 yards, 6 TD) and Joshua Fields (64 att, 200 yards, TD). QB Gavin Hardison completed 52.8% of his passes for 1,260 yards, 4 TD, & 5 INT. The top receiving targets for Hardison and the Miners have been Jacob Cowing (34 rec, 515 yards), Justin Garrett (31 rec, 445 yards, 3 TD), and Devaughn Cooper (9 rec, 130 yards, TD).
Defensively, UTEP is allowing their opponents to average 25.2 ppg on 326.5 total yards per game (218.8 passing yds/g; 107.7 rushing yds/g).
The Mean Green are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games in October and just 6-20 ATS in their last 26 games overall. The Miners are just 7-19 ATS in their last 26 home games, however, are 4-2 ATS on the season.
North Texas has really struggled this season and despite being able to put up a ton of points, the Mean Green have had one of the worst defenses in College Football as they currently rank 98th in total defense & 96th in scoring defense. UTEP has been one of the worst college football teams over the past few years, but the Miners have really turned a corner this season behind a solid defense and have been competitive agianst their recently losses on the road agianst Louisiana Tech & Charlotte. UTEP has shown be more this season than what I’ve seen for North Texas and as I think the Miners offense has enough weapons to put up plenty of points in this one, I’m taking UTEP at home with the points. Good Luck!
Brett’s Pick UTEP Miners +3.5
AUTHOR: Brett Nault

Follow Brett Nault on Twitter @BrettCU05