COLO ST-SAN JOSE
Time: 7 PM ET
Spread: COL -6.5
Total: 55.5
Betting odds courtesy of Bookmaker
Colorado State is 7-1 on the season with a 3-1 record in the Mountain West conference, but is just 6.5-point favorites to 3-4 San Jose State according to college football oddsmakers.
The Rams lone loss of the season came to Boise State in Week 2. Since that point, the Rams have reeled off six-straight victories, the last of which was a 45-31 win over Wyoming last week. Colorado State has a deadly passing attack, ranking 14th in the nation with 320.8 yards per game, and it gets just enough rushing to complement it, ranking middle of the pack at 156.9 yards per game.
Overall, it’s resulted in a very effective offense that creates 32 points per game, which the defense has no problem keeping teams under, surrendering just 22.6 points per game.
QB Garrett Grayson has been stellar. He’s thrown for nearly 2,500 yards already at a 65 percent clip, and has a reception average of 9.48 yards per catch. Additionally, despite his high volume passing, he’s thrown just five INTs, while amassing 21 TDs. It’s hard to get much better than a 167.8 QB rating. His top target has been Rashard Higgins, who already has over 1,100 yards on the season and 12 of the Rams’ 22 reception TDs.
On the ground, Dee Hart has been pretty solid. He has 690 yards on 109 carries for 6.3 yard per carry average and he’s scored half of the Rams’ 12 rushing TDs.
San Jose State has a similar attack, but not quite as effective. The Spartans average 268.7 yards per game while ranking in the bottom quarter of rushing offenses with 139.9 per game. Overall, it hasn’t been overwhelmingly successful; the Spartans average just 23.3 points per game. Last week, San Jose State fell 41-31 to Navy, after having won two straight prior to that.
At QB, the Spartans benched Blake Jurich and promoted Joe Gray to starter. Gray has been much more effective, throwing an outstanding 70.1 percent for completion, a number too high to sustain. Even so, he’s been slightly better than Jurich, having thrown six TDs to four INTs, while Jurich was at a 5:4 ratio.
The Spartans have seven WRs with 120 yards or more on the season, paced by Tyler Winston’s 439 yards and four TDs. San Jose State has 11 reception TDs on the year, and seven via the rush. Tyler Ervin has been the man in the backfield, with 389 yards and a 5.6 yard per carry average, including an 83-yard TD run. No other back has been particularly effective, though Brandon Monroe has scored a TD and has a 4.2 yard per carry average.
