UTSA vs Western Kentucky Picks and Predictions

UTSA vs Western Kentucky Betting Preview

WagerTalk college football handicapper Tony Mejia offers his UTSA vs Western Kentucky betting preview for the Conference-USA Championship on Friday, December 3 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. At the time of posting, the Hilltoppers are a 3-point road favorite at UTSA, with the total sitting at 72.5 points.

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UTSA vs Western Kentucky Predictions

UTSA Road Runners +3 vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Total: 72.5 Points
UTSA won the regular season meeting 52-46 at Western Kentucky, but the Hilltoppers outgained UTSA 670-564 in that first matchup.

Texas-San Antonio wasn’t going to crash the college football playoff. If Michigan, Alabama, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State all lose, the Roadrunners didn’t cost themselves a shot at history. Prior to last Saturday’s visit to North Texas, UTSA was ranked No. 22.

However, it still would’ve been nice to be among the other undefeated teams, No. 1 Georgia and Cincinnati, which is on the verge of making Group of Five history.

The Roadrunners (11-1, 8-4 ATS) had scooted through their 2021 schedule without a blemish entering last Saturday’s season finale, defeating the likes of Illinois, Memphis, UNLV and a few of the better teams in Conference USA this season, which included East Division champ Western Kentucky (8-4, 9-3 ATS) and West runner-up UAB in a game that ultimately catapulted UTSA to its first berth in the league’s championship game.

So, what happened last week? North Texas blew the doors off the Roadrunners in Denton, rolling to a 45-23 to get bowl eligible. UTSA has to hope it was simply a case of lost focus on the heels of clinching the West title, but the fact it cost the group a rare undefeated season is cause for concern.

Frank Harris had a brilliant 69-yard TD run but couldn’t make inroads in the passing game and was pulled at halftime to ensure he’s be healthy for this one. Harris missed most of his first three seasons in San Antonio due to season-ending injuries and had really struggled as a passer and decision maker prior to tremendous improvement over the past year-and-a-half. He’s already announced he’ll be back next season regardless of what happens over the next month but the critics will be ready to pounce if he struggles and fails to come through at home.

A crowd of over 40,000 is expected to pack the Alamodome in anticipation of the city winning another championship. It has been a minute since the Spurs won.

The Hilltoppers will look to prevent a San Antonio fiesta by avenging their lone league loss, a 52-46 setback in Bowling Green back on Oct. 9 that dropped them to 1-4 on the season. WKU fell to UTSA on the heels of falling short against Army, Indiana and Michigan State. Western Kentucky hasn’t lost since and will enter this championship on a seven-game win streak, narrowly failing to cover the spread in only one of those conquests.

In Bailey Zappe, Western Kentucky has the nation’s most prolific quarterback, coming into this C-USA Championship game with 52 touchdown passes and 4,968 passing yards. He tossed for four scores in the second half of a 53-21 rout in Huntington as the Hilltoppers rallied from an early deficit once Thundering Herd QB Grant Wells was lost due to a second-quarter injury that Marshall’s offense ultimately couldn’t overcome. The ‘Toppers also have the nation’s leading receiver in Jerreth Sterns, who was held to just four catches by the Herd. That speaks volumes about how many options Zappe has to work with, which UTSA already knows since he threw for 523 yards and five scores in the first meeting. Sterns had 15 receptions in that game, which WKU led 31-28 early in the third quarter. His fourth-quarter touchdown catch pulled the Hilltoppers within 45-43 with 8:03 left but the subsequent two-point conversion failed and UTSA reached the end zone just over a minute later to put itself in position to win.

Western Kentucky outgained UTSA 670-564 in that first matchup, but Frank Harris threw six touchdown passes, teaming with De’Corian Clark for half of those. The Roadrunners have surrendered 76 points over the past two games and there are no weather concerns in play inside the Alamodome, so it’s hard to pass up on chasing the high side on a total here.

The number opened at 72 and has crept up only slightly, although it’s hard not to imagine it heading north as Friday’s kickoff approaches. Only one UTSA game – the win over WKU – has produced over 70 points, but there have been seven contests involving the Hilltoppers in which at least 69 points were scored. Both offenses should flourish in this C-USA Championship.

What can Oregon do differently to reverse the drubbing they received from Utah two weeks ago? Join Joe, Dave, Adam and Bryan for College Football Daily as we preview this weekend’s NCAAF conference championship games. https://t.co/wRkrItY6DY

— WagerTalk (@WagerTalk) November 30, 2021

UTSA vs Western Kentucky Analysis from The GoldSheet

UTSA vs Western Kentucky Video Preview

Western Kentucky and UTSA lit up the scoreboard during their regular season meeting. Any reason to think we won’t see the same on Friday night? WagerTalk college football handicappers Ralph Michaels, Drew Martin and Rob Veno offer their UTSA vs Western Kentucky preview.

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