Jeff Locke was overpriced on the road last night, and going for the price with the Brewers paid off as the free play won. I’ll side with a big chalk piece tonight on the college gridiron.
147 UTSA at 148 ARIZONA
Take: ARIZONA -31.5
I’m always interested in trying to gauge the approach of coaches in these early season mismatches. Based on what I’ve been able to garner, Rich Rodriguez is not taking anything for granted tonight as his Arizona Wildcats plays host to UT-San Antonio.
UTSA hits the road with a very inexperienced entry. The Roadrunners were a bit of a sensation early in 2014, as a very senior laden squad beat up Houston and then narrowly missed getting the upset against Arizona. It was all downhill for UTSA after that, and I think it’s fair to say they ended up being a big disappointment for an under the radar team that had some lofty expectations.
No such problem for the Roadrunners this season, as they have just six returning starters and what appears to be holes almost everywhere. It figures to be a very long season for UTSA and it looks to me like they’re likely to get slaughtered tonight.
Arizona has had some early injury issues, but most of the aches and pains are with guys mostly not expected to be major contributors. Of course, there are always concerns in games such as this that the coaching staff will want to keep things under wraps and will look to get some game reps for second and third team personnel once the margin is safe.
But RichRod was pretty clear in his early week press conference that he will not be treating this like an NFLx game where he does lots of substituting and evaluating. In fact, Rodriguez was quick to mention that last year’s meeting with UTSA went right to the wire.
On paper, this is a wipeout. Arizona has way too much team speed for UTSA and a substantial experience edge as well. I’m one who believes we’re going to see QB Anu Solomon break out in a big way following a strong first go round as the Wildcats signal caller. Solomon is a real weapon in that backfield and all indications are that he has progressed significantly and is poised for a very big year.
The Arizona offensive line could be a question mark early on. But with UTSA fielding an entirely new defensive front, I don’t see any problems here. I’ll be surprised if Arizona gets held to less than 45 tonight. I also won’t be shocked if UTSA never reaches the end zone. Monster wood to be sure, but I’m spotting all those points with Arizona to obliterate UTSA this evening.
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