AAC: Memphis-SMU
Time: NOON ET
Spread: MEM -23.5
M/L: MEM -1800; MEM +1000
Total: 49
Betting odds courtesy of Bookmaker
The SMU Mustangs still have yet to win a game, sitting at 0-6 with an 0-2 record in the AAC. Facing the Memphis Tigers likely won’t do much to change that according to college football odds at Bovada. The Tigers enter the game as 23.5-point underdogs on the road.
Memphis has been decent offensively, but it has been the defense that has propelled the team to a 3-3 record and a 1-1 split in conference play. The Tigers lost both of its ranked matchups to then-No. 11 UCLA and then- No. 10 Ole Miss.
Tigers QB Paxton Lynch has turned in a good season thus far, passing for 1,401 yards on a 63 percent completion ratio. He’s thrown nine TDs to just six INTs, and his QB rating is 132.9. The team has a host of successful rushers, three of which have 230 yards or more on the season. Sam Craft leads the team in carries (78) and rushing yardage (301), but Doroland Dorceus is averaging 5.2 yards per carry and has more TDs (4) than Craft (3), but his season has come to an end with a leg injury. That will leave Craft and Lynch as the primary ball carriers, though Lynch leads the team in rushing TDs with six.
SMU, needless to say, has been horrible on both ends of the field. The Mustangs are surrounding 48 points per game while managing just six itself per game. The passing ranks in the bottom fifth of the NCAA (just 194.8 yards per game), while the rush generates just 54.3 yards per game, 126th in the nation.
No QB Has been particularly effective for SMU. Garrett Krstich has thrown for 790 yards but has thrown just 56 percent for completion and has twice as many INTs (4) as he does TDs (2). The futility has landed him a QB rating of just 99.3. The backfield has also been inconsistent and erratic. Kevin Pope leads the way as the only rusher with 100-plus yards on the season, but he averages just 3.1 yards per carry and has yet to score a TD. The lone SMU rushing TD came from Prescott Lane, who averages a humble 3.2 yards per carry too. No. 3 back K.C. Niemichi (65 yards on the season) is facing a suspension and will not play in this contest.
