College Football Betting News and Notes Friday, November 21

NCAAF Week 13

Rice won seven of last eight games with UTEP, scoring 39.3 ppg in last three; Miners lost last four visits here, by 38-4-1-8 points. Underdogs are 8-4 vs spread in last 12 series games, five of last seven here. Owls are 6-1 as favorites this year; undefeated Marshall ended their six-game win streak last week. UTEP won four of its last five games, covering all five; they're 3-2 as road dogs this season. Miners allowed 16.5 ppg last four games, after allowing 37.2 ppg in first six.

San Diego State won last four games with Air Force; Falcons lost four of last five visits here, losing 28-9/27-25 in last two. Underdogs are 10-6 vs spread in last 16 series games, 5-2 in last seven here. Air Force won last four games, scoring 37.8 ppg; they're 2-1 as underdogs this year, are 3-6 in last nine games as a road dog. Aztecs blew 20-0 lead at Boise in 38-29 loss last week; they're 2-4 in last six games as home favorites. San Diego State is 5-0 if it allows 21 or less points, 0-5 if it allows more.

Utah State won last five games with San Jose State, covering four times, averaging 278.6 rushing yards; they won 40-12/49-27 the last two years. Spartans lost three of last four visits here, losing by 1-15-7. Aggies are way down the QB depth chart; they are 3-4 as favorites this year, 0-4 when laying double digits. San Jose lost last four games, none by more than 14 points; they lost 13-0 at home last week but never punted, with three missed FGs, three turnovers, losing ball three times on downs.

Armadillosports.com

Game of the Day: Air Force at San Diego State
By Covers.com

Air Force Falcons at San Diego State Aztecs (-6, 50.5)

Few teams in the Mountain West Conference are running as hot as the Air Force Falcons, who carry a four-game winning streak into a Friday night encounter with the host San Diego State Aztecs. Air Force wasn't as sharp defensively last time out as it would have liked, but got a Shayne Davern touchdown in overtime to upend Nevada 45-38. The Falcons have leaned on the run game all season, ranked eighth in the nation at 288.4 yards per game.

It may be a good time for Air Force to catch the Aztecs, who have dropped two of their last three to fall to the .500 mark in conference play. San Diego State has had one of the strongest defensive units in the country so far this season but fell flat last weekend, surrendering 399 total yards in a 38-29 defeat at the hands of Boise State. The Aztecs are a perfect 4-0 so far at Qualcomm Stadium in 2014, scoring at least 34 points in three of those contests.

LINE HISTORY: The line opened -4 but has since jumped two points. The over/under has risen a half-point to 50.5.

INJURY REPORT: Air Force: OL Sevrin Remmo (foot) is questionable. RB Jacobi Owens (foot) is doubtful. LB Joey Nichol (groin) and OL Allen Caunitz (ankle) are out. San Diego State: DL Alex Barrett (foot) is doubtful. LB Jake Fely (wrist) is out.

WEATHER REPORT: Temperatures will be in the mid-50s with partly cloudy skies and calm winds.

WHAT CAPPERS SAY: "San Diego State money has been heavy this week as they are currently 6-point favorites over Air Force after opening at -3. One of the reasons for that is Aztecs’ head coach Rocky Long, who is known for shutting down the triple-option attack. In his three years at San Diego State, Long’s teams have beat Air Force by 14, 19, and 7 points. The Falcons are 8-2 on the season, but both losses came on the road when they scored just 13 and 16 points. The Aztecs have held Air Force to a total of 56 points in the last three meetings." - Covers Expert Steve Merril

WHAT BOOKS SAY: "After opening at SDSU -3, we saw sharp play on Tuesday afternoon so we moved the line to -4.5. On Thursday afternoon, Air Force RB Jacobi Owens was downgraded to play because of a foot injury, so we moved the Aztecs from -4.5 to -5.5. 71 percent of bets and 73 percent of cash backing the Aztecs on the spread. Total has remained at 50.5 since open with 59 percent of cash and 55 percent of cash on the under." - Mike Jerome of TopBet.eu.

ABOUT AIR FORCE (8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS, 4-6 O/U): Just how run-reliant are the Falcons? They've racked up a whopping 628 carries through 10 games, with 26 touchdowns and 15 different players registering at least one rush attempt. Jacobi Owens leads the way with 204 attempts for 1,054 yards and five scores, but he's doubtful with a foot injury - leaving quarterback Kale Pearson (143 carries, 587 yards, six TDs) and Shayne Davern (80 carries, 340 yards, five TDs) to pick up the slack in his absence.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO STATE (5-5 SU, 4-5-1 ATS, 1-9 O/U): The Aztecs are led by running back sensation Donnel Pumphrey, who erupted for 147 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries against Boise State and has seven 100-yard games on his resume this season. Quarterback Quinn Kaehler was solid in a win over Idaho two weeks ago, throwing for 249 yards and three touchdowns, but had just 173 yards and a score in last week's defeat. San Diego State has just nine receiving touchdowns on the year, with no player recording more than

TRENDS:

* Air Force is 5-1 ATS in its last six games following a win.
* San Diego State is 2-5-1 ATS in its last eight games.
* Over is 7-1 in the Falcons' last eight November games.
* Under is 9-1 in the Aztecs' last 10 games.

COVERS CONSENSUS: Covers voters are 54.54 percent in favor of Air Force +6.

San Jose State vs. Utah State Betting Preview and Pick
By: Ryan Mercier
Sportingnews.com

LAS VEGAS – Two teams come into this game on four-game streaks, but each in different directions.

Utah State will be at home for the second week in a row with a battle coming up at Boise State next weekend. First, the Aggies will have to try and take care of business against the Spartans of San Jose State on Friday night (9:30 p.m., ESPN 2).

The Line: Utah State -12.5, Total: 46.5

Line movement: Utah State opened as a 10.5-point favorite at The Wynn on Sunday but was bet up to -11.5 within a few hours and to -12.5 on Tuesday. Lines ranged from 12 to 13 across Las Vegas this week. For updated spreads and totals from around Las Vegas, visit our live odds page.

Trends that matter: San Jose State is 1-5 ATS in its last six road games....Utah State 12-5-1 ATS in its last 18 conference games but 1-4 ATS in its last five home games....San Jose State is 4-1 to the OVER in its last five games overall and last five road games....Utah State is 8-2 to the UNDER in its last 10 conference games and 11-5 to the UNDER in its last 16 games overall.

San Jose State is 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings.

Numbers game – Zero: Last week, the San Jose Spartans scored as many points as they have wins in their last four outings: zero. For bettors, the Spartans did not cover in any of those losses, either.

Hawaii snapped a 17-game losing streak on the road when it shut out San Jose last Saturday. This was a game in which the Spartans outgained the Warriors 462-240 in yards and had 13 more first downs. Three missed field goals really did in SJSU along with three turnovers on the day to end up scoreless for the entire game.

That also ended a four-game streak to the OVER for San Jose State, which had been holding its own on offense for a few weeks. The worse news for the Spartans is that their opponent on Friday has a much better defense than Hawaii and they will have to face Utah State on the road.

The case could be made that SJSU has revenge on its side, but that's a thin argument at best. Utah State won 40-12 as a 10-point favorite last season on the road. Unfortunately for San Jose State, the Spartans have five years of revenge they have yet to see come to fruition. SJSU has lost to Utah State five years in a row, with one cover in 2011.

Numbers game – four: Utah State comes into Friday night on a four-game winning streak, and for those who have not followed the Aggies closely, they have been doing it with a fourth-string quarterback.

The top three players at the most important position for USU would love to forget October, as all of them were declared out for the season in that fabled month.

Kent Myers is not wowing anyone with spectacular play, but the freshman is getting it done. While Myers has yet to throw for 200 yards in any outing, he has a completion percentage of 75.4.

Even with that being the case at the quarterback spot for USU, the Aggies were a 20-point favorite over New Mexico last week but only won by a touchdown, 28-21. Utah State was actually in better control of that game than the score indicates, but it was never really in place to cover that large number.

The strength of this team is its defense by far. It has a unit that gives up 4.8 yards per play, which is a top-20 performance in the country. In Mountain West conference play, USU is giving up only 14.5 points per game. Again, that is bad news for a San Jose State squad that scored exactly zero against Hawaii.

Injuries that matter: San Jose State's tight end Billy Freeman (ankle) is questionable while running back Jarrod Lawson is expected to miss four games on suspension.

For Utah State's tough defense, linebackers Nick Vigil (hamstring) and Torrey Green (ankle) are questionable.

Weather: The forecast calls for temperatures in the high 20s with cloudy skies, light winds and a 20 percent chance of precipitation. Visit weather.com for the latest forecast.

The Linemakers lean: Utah State may be on its their fourth different quarterback of the season, but Kenny White says Kent Myers might be the best of the lot, including Chuckie Keeton. San Jose State is likely to start back-up Blake Jurich at QB because Joe Gray got banged up last week against Hawaii. With Gray in the game, our numbers indicate Utah State should be only -8.5 and the adjustment may be too high. White says San Jose State is a play at +12.5. Micah Roberts likes both defenses, especially Utah State’s which has forced 28 turnovers this season, and says the QB situation for both teams will keep scoring at minimum in the cool Logan air. The plays are San Jose State and UNDER.