Texas Tech-Oklahoma State Highlight Vegas Big 12 Predictions Week 5
Saturday Blitz Vegas Big 12 Predictions Week 5
UTEP Miners at No. 25 Kansas State Wildcats
Line: Kansas State by 26
The Kansas State Wildcats are looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Auburn on Thursday night last week. A game against UTEP should give them a chance to work on a few things, particularly not turning the ball over and having more secure hands. Tyler Lockett is the key for this team going forward at receiver as Jake Waters’s go-to guy, but he has got to be more consistent when the ball is thrown his way. Too often he makes a great catch and follows it up with a terrible drop, one of which resulted in an interception against Auburn. This weekend, Kansas State will want to work more with its receivers to get more consistent, because the running game will be fine if that happens.
UTEP, meanwhile, will simply want to play it’s game to beat the Wildcats. The Miners want to run the football a lot with that No. 9 ranked rush offense in the country, averaging 314 yards per carry. Doing that gives them a great chance to move the ball, control the clock, and not turn the ball over. If that happens, perhaps Kansas State could make a few mistakes on the other side of the ball that allows the Miners to pull of a huge upset. But they’ll have to be able to stay on the field with that rushing game, and it’ll take a few efficient passes from Jameill Showers to allow that happen.
Prediction
The Miners will keep this a quick game with not as many points scored as you would expect, but Kansas State will still pull out the victory. UTEP is surprisingly 2-1 with that rushing attack and was able to hang around with Texas Tech, but the Wildcats are a different animal. They’ll be able to handle that system and make enough plays for a comfortable victory.
Kansas State: 28 UTEP: 17