Louisiana-Monroe WarHawks at No. 23 TCU Horned Frogs (-29), Total 52 |
Louisiana-Monroe has definitely played against opposite ends of the spectrum in its first two games this season, taking on the Florida State Seminoles (0-34) on the road before last week’s home win over Grambling (35-7).
The WarHawks are certainly not scared of playing anybody in the country, as they are the only team to open the past four seasons against a ranked opponent. The program has averaged a third place finish in the Sun Belt Conference over the past seven seasons.
Offensively, the team played much better against a much-lesser opponent last week, gaining 247 yards on the ground. Some concerns still remain in the passing game, as signal-callers completed just barely half of 37 pass attempts.
“Obviously, the quarterbacks and receivers were all back from last year, and maybe we’re just not doing enough diligence to the passing game in practice,” commented WarHawks coach Todd Berry.
Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools, but Louisiana-Monroe’s roster is made up of 27 players from the Lone Star State. The team is 0-4 against members from the Mountain West Conference.
Picking up a victory is going to be difficult due to the program’s 0-21 mark versus ranked opponents, with the closest upset coming in a 28-24 loss to Auburn in 1996.
college football betting players will find that the WarHawks are 11-13 ATS over the last two-plus seasons in betting prediction.
TCU makes its home debut after playing road games against Baylor and Air Force, as the team has won nine straight openers in front of its fans under head coach Gary Patterson. In six of those victories, the Horned Frogs allowed 13 points or less.
Despite being way from Amon G. Carter Stadium in the first two weeks, TCU still will only leave the state of Texas once in its first five games, which was last week’s 35-19 win over Air Force.
The Horned Frogs own a school-record 20-game home winning streak and hasn’t lost a Saturday home game since 2004. In their last 10 home dates, the program has outscored its opponents by an incredible 452 to 106 margin.
Quarterback Casey Pachall is quickly making fans forget about Andy Dalton, as his 70.3 completion percentage through the opening two games is on pace to breaking the school record set in 2010.
He ranks second in the Mountain West and 30th nationally with a 158.1 pass efficiency rating. Over the first two contests, he has completed 33-of-43 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns with a single interception in the fourth quarter.
Some injuries have been sustained in the early going, including running back Ed Wesley and linebacker Tanner Brock, as both sat out the second week and are questionable to return to action Saturday.
The college football betting public will find that the Horned Frogs are 24-10 ATS as a home favorite and the ‘under’ is 5-2 in their last five tries when favored by more than 10.5 points.
