UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Prediction, Odds, Picks & How to Watch Tuesday’s NCAAF Game

UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Prediction, Odds, Picks & How to Watch Tuesday’s NCAAF Game article feature image
Credit:

Steven Branscombe/Getty Images. Pictured: Skyler Locklear of UTEP.

This article contains predictions for an old game.

The UTEP Miners (1-6, 1-3 Conference USA) will head to Ruston, Louisiana, to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-4, 1-4) in a Tuesday night Conference USA matchup. Kickoff is set from Joe Aillet Stadium at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.

The Bulldogs are 6-point favorites at home in this game, with an over/under of 50 points set as of right now.

Let’s dive into my preview for Tuesday night’s matchup with UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech predictions and college football picks to find out where I see betting value on this game.


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UTEP Miners vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Pick

  • UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Prediction: Over 50.5 (Bet to 51.5)

My Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP best bet is on the over, with the best line currently available at Caesars, according to our live NCAAF odds page.


UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Odds, Lines, Betting Spread

UTEP Logo
Tuesday, Oct. 22
8 p.m. ET
CBS Sports Network
Louisiana Tech Logo
UTEP Odds
SpreadTotalMoneyline
+6.5
-105
49
-115o / -105u
+205
Louisiana Tech Odds
SpreadTotalMoneyline
-6.5
-115
49
-115o / -105u
-250
Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NCAAF odds here.
DraftKings Logo
  • UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Spread: UTEP +6.5 (-105) · Louisiana Tech -6.5 (-115)
  • UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Over/Under: 49 Total Points
  • UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Moneyline: UTEP ML +205 · Louisiana Tech ML -250

UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Start Time, TV Channel, How to Watch

Location:Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston, LA
Date:Tuesday, Oct. 22
Kickoff Time:8 p.m. ET
TV / Streaming:CBS Sports Network


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UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech NCAAF Week 9 Betting Preview

UTEP Miners Betting Preview

The Miners got off the schneid last week against FIU and put themselves in the win column for the first time this season. UTEP averaged 6.1 yards per play and posted a 61st-percentile Success Rate in this game, primarily on the back of its run game.

UTEP’s passing game has been atrocious this season. Quarterback Skyler Locklear has racked up909 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions on the season.

He's averaging -0.19 EPA per Dropback this season and averaged -0.30 EPA per Play in last week’s win over FIU. As a team, the Miners rank 119th in Pass Success Rate and 99th in EPA per Pass.

On the ground, UTEP ranks 73rd in Rush Success Rate and 108th in Rush EPA per Play.

Jevon Jackson has led the way with 88 carries for 403 yards and one touchdown on the year. He showed out last week, putting up 26 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown while averaging 0.13 EPA per play.

Defensively, UTEP ranks 98th in Success Rate Allowed and 83rd in EPA Per Play allowed this season. This stop unit ranks 119th nationally, according to SP+.

Teams have primarily run the ball against the Miners, as they have the fifth-most rushing plays per game faced this season. They rank 92nd in Rush Success Rate allowed and 67th in Rush EPA allowed, as they have found ways to prevent big plays.

This is partly because they Miners one of the better tackling teams in the country, ranking 32nd in PFF’s Tackling grade.

In the passing game, UTEP ranks 86th in Pass Success Rate allowed and 95th in EPA per Pass allowed. It ranks 106th in PFF’s Coverage grades and 85th in PFF’s Pass Rushing grades, as it's better on the front end than the back at this point.


Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Betting Preview

Louisiana Tech sits at 2-4 on the season but has played a very easy slate of opponents.

It has the second-easiest schedule in FBS to this point, according to CFB Reference, with UTEP being its fifth FBS opponent that has ranked 117th or lower in SP+.

To make matters worse, Louisiana Tech has already lost three of these four games, although they've all been by a single possession.

The Bulldogs have been much better on offense since going to quarterback Evan Bullock out of the bye two weeks ago. He has helped them put up 48 and 30 points in the last two games after they hadn’t gone over 20 against an FBS opponent all season.

Bullock is averaging 0.13 EPA Per Dropback right now compared to -0.16 for Jack Turner, who he replaced as starter.

As a team, Louisiana Tech ranks 107th in Pass Success Rate and 77th in Pass EPA. Over the last two games, it has had an above-average EPA Per Dropback mark, so it seems to be showing improvement through the air compared to the first few weeks of the season.

This LA Tech offensive line ranks 87th in PFF’s Pass Blocking grades compared to 121st in PFF Run Block grade, so it has certainly held up better in passing situations than on the ground. This is a big reason why the Bulldogs rank only 122nd in Rush Success Rate and 129th in EPA Per Rush this season.

Louisiana Tech’s defense has been great this year, albeit against a weak schedule of opposing offenses. It's 19th in Success Rate allowed and 23rd in EPA Per Play allowed.

The Bulldogs' passing defense has also been exceptionally strong, ranking 17th in Pass Success Rate allowed and 41st in EPA Per Pass allowed.

However, they also sit 119th in both PFF Pass Rush grade and Coverage grade, which I think is more indicative of where they are as a defense when taking the opponents they've faced into account.

Against the run, Louisiana Tech is 20th in EPA Per Rush allowed and 37th in Rush Success Rate allowed. It's 94th in PFF’s Run Defense grades this year and 103rd in PFF’s Tackling grades.


Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP Matchup Analysis

Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how Louisiana Tech and UTEP match up statistically:

UTEP Offense vs. Louisiana Tech Defense
Offense
Defense
Edge
Rush Success8824
Line Yards7528
Pass Success11743
Havoc126102
Finishing Drives12980
Quality Drives12353
Louisiana Tech Offense vs. UTEP Defense
Offense
Defense
Edge
Rush Success11998
Line Yards12377
Pass Success11492
Havoc9093
Finishing Drives6876
Quality Drives83111
Pace of Play / Other
PFF Tackling32103
PFF Coverage105117
Special Teams SP+13099
Middle 86925
Seconds per Play25.2 (28)26.3 (49)
Rush Rate52% (90)52% (93)

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How to Bet My UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Prediction

Neither team in this game inspires a ton of confidence, as they're both well below-average teams as a whole, even for Conference USA.

Louisiana Tech is favored by a full touchdown, but I don’t believe there's that much of a difference between the two teams.

However, Bullock appears to give the Bulldogs a large advantage over Locklear in this matchup, so I’m not looking to fade the team with the better quarterback at home.

Instead, my favorite play on this game will be the over at 50 points.

I think Louisiana Tech’s offense is better than the market is giving it credit for with this quarterback change. Plus, the Bulldogs defense is worse than their overall numbers show, leading to what I believe will be a higher-scoring game between these two conference foes.

Pick: Over 50 (Play to 51.5)

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College Football Betting Trends for UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech

  • 44% of bets and 58% of the money are on LA Tech to cover the spread
  • 95% of bets and 94% of the money on the moneyline are on LA Tech to win outright
  • 52% of bets and 84% of the money are on the over

UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech Weather

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About the Author
Cody Goggin is a freelance writer for Action Network. He specializes in handicapping the NFL, MLB and motorsports. Before joining Action in 2022, he worked for FTN and Student Union Sports.

Follow Cody Goggin @codygoggin on Twitter/X.

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