College Football Game Lines – Sun Belt Teams Try To Move Upward

The Florida Atlantic Owls and Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks bring identical 1-3 records into Saturday’s Sun Belt contest. Both teams are looking to escape the basement.  Here’s a preview of the college football game lines.

Florida Atlantic Owls @ Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 

Saturday, October 9th – 7:05 PM ET 
Malone Stadium, Monroe, LA 

College Football Game Lines: Florida Atlantic +3, ULM -3 
Total: 48

In the Sun Belt Conference, there are two basic rules of life at the present time: The first rule is that the Troy Trojans are in control of the league. The powerhouse from southeastern Alabama just mopped up the floor with Middle Tennessee, the preseason favorite in the league. Troy’s 42-13 win put the Trojans atop the Sun Belt and has them poised to win the conference for the fourth time in five years. 

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The second rule in this conference is that after Troy and Middle Tennessee, parity reigns supreme. The also-rans in the Sun Belt are very evenly matched and have not been able to distinguish themselves from each other. It’s very interesting that Monroe is a three-point favorite in this game despite the fact that Florida Atlantic’s one win in 2010 – at UAB – is demonstrably better than Monroe’s lone win, a 21-20 escape job against FCS-based Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 25. Vegas thinks that nobody knows about these two teams, and frankly, that instinct is accurate.  

College Football Game Lines: What Florida Atlantic Has To Do To Win

The key for the visiting Owls, as they leave their nest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to travel to Cajun Country, is this: Establish Alfred Morris. The junior was a terrific running back last year for FAU, rushing for just under 1,400 yards for coach Howard Schnellenberger. This season, Morris has struggled, tallying just 233 yards in his first four games. Morris bolted for 103 yards in the win over UAB, but he’s accumulated only 130 yards in his past three outings. Defenses are looking at game film and are clearly loading up the tackle box to stop Morris. Not coincidentally, FAU has scored just 37 points combined in those three games, a reality which has placed the Owls at 116th in the nation (out of 120 FBS teams) in scoring offense. Florida Atlantic simply must find ways to get Morris the ball. A good starting point might be to throw screen passes to Morris so that he can operate in open space. If FAU doesn’t get Morris kick-started, this team won’t win on Saturday.

College Football Game Lines: What Louisiana-Monroe Has To Do To Win

If Morris is FAU’s big key, Monroe has to stop him. That’s point number one for coach Todd Berry’s ULM roster. The second critical task for the Warhawks is to invigorate their own dormant rushing offense. Quarterback Kolton Browning leads ULM in rushing with just 170 yards and a 2.7 yards-per-carry average. If this offense can’t establish the running game, it’s hard to imagine how it can establish the tempo it needs against Florida Atlantic.

College Football Game Lines: Outlook & Pick 

Neither one of these teams is very distinguished, but FAU clearly has the better win in this comparison of 1-3 teams. Monroe is at home, but that doesn’t seem to matter much. Alfred Morris will do just enough to push the Owls to an outright win on the road. 

College Football Game Lines Pick: Florida Atlantic +3