UAB Blazers vs North Texas Mean Green Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/18/2021

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 18, 2021

Venue:  Apogee Stadium, Denton, TX

Where to Watch:  Stadium

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Blazers -13, Mean Green +13; Over/Under:  56.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Blazers -13, Mean Green +13; Over/Under:  57.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Blazers -12, Mean Green +12; Over/Under:  57.5 points

 

UAB Blazers:  1-1 (6th place, C-USA West)

North Texas Mean Green:  1-1 (4th place, C-USA West)

 

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UAB Blazers:  Lost on the road on Sep. 11 against the Georgia Bulldogs 56-7.

North Texas Mean Green:  Lost on the road on Sep. 11 against the SMU Mustangs 35-12.

 

 

 

Last season the Blazers averaged a 55.7% completion percentage, 201.3 passing yards, and 1.6 touchdowns per game through the air. They also averaged 200 rushing yards and 1.9 touchdowns per game on the ground. The North Texas Mean Green averaged a 55.1% completion percentage, 283 passing yards, and 2.8 touchdowns per game through the air. They also averaged 230.2 rushing yards and 1.8 touchdowns per game on the ground.

 

 

Last season the Blazers were allowing teams a 52.6 % completion percentage, 173.2 passing yards, and 1.7 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 137.9 rushing yards and 0.6 touchdowns per game on the ground. The North Texas Mean Green were allowing teams a 62.7% completion percentage, 252.9 passing yards, and 2.5 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 269.8 rushing yards and 3.2 touchdowns per game on the ground.

 

UAB is coming into this matchup with a 1-1 record overall, this will be the first of their NCAA conference games on the schedule. They won their first game of the college football season on the road against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks but then followed that one up with a road loss against the Georgia Bulldogs. Tyler Johnston III got nothing done in the passing game in their last one as he completed 6/14 passes for 39 yards and 3 interceptions. DeWayne McBride led the team in rushing with 61 yards on 13 carries. Lucious Stanley led the receivers with 17 yards on 1 receptions. The offense was awful in this game but to cut them some slack, they did go up against one of the best teams and defense in the entire country. Will Boler led UAB's defense with 3 solo tackles and 1 assisted one. Keondre Swoops had the only INT and score in this game for his team as he ran it back for the pick 6. UAB has scored 38 points in their first 2 games and have allowed their opponents to score 56 points against them. Their offense is averaging 346 YPG while their defense is allowing 345.5 YPG.

UNT is coming into this FBS contest with a 1-1 record after 2 non-conference games and will now be playing their first conference game of the regular season. They won their first college football game of the opening weekend in the first of their home games against the Northwestern State Demons but they followed that one up with a loss on the road against the SMU Mustangs. Jace Ruder struggled in that game completing 32/51 passes for 366 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. DeAndre Torrey led the team in rushing with 71 yards on 16 carries. The receiving corps had a very nice day though. Roderic Burns led the team with 141 receiving yards on 12 receptions while Jyaire Shorter was not far behind him catching 6 passes for 107 yards. Kevin Wood and Makyle Sanders both led the defense with 6 solo tackles and 2 assisted ones. Dion Novil and Jacobi Johnson both came up big with 1 interception each in that one. UNT has scored 56 points in their first 2 games and have allowed their opponents to score 49 points against them. Their offense is averaging 516.5 YPG while their defense is allowing 477 YPG.

UAB is the better team and will likely be leading the game the whole time. UNT will have to play from behind which means throwing the ball more and their receivers had a very good game in their last game despite the loss. Both teams are going to move the ball down the field in this game and it could end up just trading scores back and forth all day. The over is a solid play here as both teams are going to score a ton of points with their good offenses.

 

Blazers Mean Green Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 18, 2021 (7:30 pm ET start time) is Blazers 42 Mean Green 35.

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UAB Blazers: 6-2 ATS as a favorite of 10.5 to 21 points. 10-6 ATS as a favorite. 

North Texas Mean Green: 7-17 ATS in all games. 2-10 ATS as an underdog.

 

 

UAB Blazers:  None. 

North Texas Mean Green:  D. Torrey (RB) Ques Sat - Knee injury. D. Simpson (WR) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury. T. Bush (WR) Ques Sat - Leg injury. O. Adaway III (RB) out for season - Knee injury.

 

 

UAB Blazers: Trea Shropshire and Ryan Davis are both players to watch here. Ryan Davis was quiet last as well as Shropshire who has a team-high 128 receiving yards on the year. Their offense really did nothing in the passing game against one of the best defenses in the country. Look for both of them to play a much better game here against a weaker opponent in a conference matchup. They will want to make up for the slow day on offense last week.

 

North Texas Mean Green: Jason Pirtle is one player to watch in this game. He does not get a lot don in the running game but he is a good target to dump the ba;ll off to when the quarterback is in trouble. Look for him to get some good catches in dump off plays as he looks to covert them into 1st down for his team.

 

“It’s beyond our wildest dreams. When we brought the program back, at the time, I was just wanting to be competitive. The stadium was just this dream. It’s going to benefit our city and state in so many ways, but obviously also benefit UAB football.” - Bill Clark after playing their first game in their brand new stadium.

 

 

“The things we told the students 10 years ago would happen did happen. We got into a better conference. Who knows what’s going to happen with realignment? Maybe we can jump to the American Athletic Conference. We’ll see what happens, but we’re certainly in a better position than we would have been had we not built that stadium.” - Derrick Murray on the impact of building a new stadium and their goals for the program in future years.

 

 

 

WR Rudolph, Samario 

WR Shropshire, Trea 

WR Davis, Ryan 

TE Pittman, Hayden 

QB Johnston III, Tyler 

RB Brown Jr., Jermaine 

 

WR Shorter, Jyaire 

WR Simpson, Deonte 

WR Burns, Roderic 

TE Roberts, Jake 

HB Pirtle, Jason 

QB Ruder, Jace 

RB Torrey, DeAndre 

 

Passing: T. Johnston III (359)

Rushing: D. McBride (115)

Receiving: T. Shropshire (128)

Touchdowns: J. Brown Jr. (1)

Sacks: N/A

Tackles: W. Boler (5)

 

Passing: J. Ruder (497)

Rushing: D. Torrey (315)

Receiving: R. Burns (255)

Touchdowns: D. Torrey (3)

Sacks: K. Davis (2)

Tackles: K. Davis (10)

 

Coaches:

UAB Blazers: Bill Clark (6th season)

North Texas Mean Green: Seth Littrell (6th season)

 

88 degrees F sunny, 60% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 7 mph wind speeds SW.