Free College Football Picks – UAB Blazers vs. SMU Mustangs

The University of Alabama-Birmingham was upset by the Florida Atlanta Owls in the opening weekend, and their inability to properly engineer a passing game is makes them a stay away in free college football pick this weekend. SMU is favored by -12.0 with a tremendously high TOTAL, largely because UAB runs the ball so effectively. Big mistakes cost the Blazers last weekend, and you have to hope that they’ll repeat those errors if you’re betting on the Mustangs.

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Quarterback David Isabelle had just 79 yards on 9-of-19 completions last weekend, but totaled 4 touchdowns (1 passing, 3rushing) while piling up 214 rushing yards on 22 carries. He’s a playmaker on foot, but that’s about it.

The difficulty in measuring this game as a free college football pick is that SMU didn’t provide that many metrics on rush defense against pass-first Texas Tech in a 27-35 loss. The Red Raiders posted just 72 rushing yards on 31 carries, for a 2.3 yards per carry average, but they’re not a team that highlights rushing the football.

On top of that, the Mustangs posted four turnovers, and three of those came from quarterback Kyle Padron, who also had 218 passing yards and 2 touchdowns through the air.

UAB Blazers (0-1) vs. Southern Methodist Mustangs (0-1)

Saturday, September 11th — Gerald J. Ford Stadium — 8:00pm EST

College Football Line: SMU -12 (58.5)

What this free college football pick comes down to, however, is caliber. Not only is SMU 5-1 SU in their last 6 games at home, they’re simply a better football team. If UAB can’t beat a fledgling team like Florida Atlantic, then how are they going to fare against SMU which routinely picks up the scraps left by the larger programs in the Big 12 during recruiting season?

The Blazers are also just 4-21 SU in their last 25 road games and 2-5 ATS in the most recent seven roadies. SMU has also gone 3-0 SU and ATS when playing UAB.

Because of their stacked conference, SMU is a week-to-week free college football picks team. They’re like a mid-carder: they’ll win games against low ranked opponents, and get creamed by the bigger schools. I’m pretty sure you can figure out which category UAB falls in to.

Free College Football Pick – SMU -12 (UNDER)

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