2022 Cure Bowl – Troy vs UTSA
posted December 13
The Game
WHOA, NELLIE!
This is one of the best bowl match-ups of the season as a pair of conference champs go head-to-head in a CURE BOWL THROWDOWN SHOWDOWN. Both teams are deadly. Both teams have won an impossible TEN consecutive games. Who comes out on top?
The Details
Troy -1.5 UTSA (55.5)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Pick em
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Troy 28.5 UTSA 27
UTSA offense vs Troy defense
The Roadrunners have one of the most devastating offenses in college football (#9 FBS total offense, #12 scoring offense) and they’ve scored 44,51,41,34,48 L5G. Star QB Frank Harris is one of the best signal callers in the nation (71%, 31-7 TD to INT, 9 rush TD) and we’re happy to report that he’s coming back for a seventh (!) season in 2023! The WR group is elite and RB Kevorian Barnes has been a WEAPON since taking over the starting gig (28-175, TD last week). Harris has thrown the ball 429 times and only been sacked 23 times. Troy brings a great defense to the table (#8 FBS scoring defnese) and have allowed more than 20 points in just one of their last eight games. They’ll provide a stern test for the Roadrunners but Troy hasn’t faced many attacks like what UTSA brings to the table.
Troy offense vs UTSA defense
The Trojans hit a bit of a midseason lull but started to get things on track in their final three games (34,48,45). The Trojans aren’t the most intimidating bunch on offense but they’ve got a great 1-2 combo at RB in K Vidal and DK Billingsley (1,715, 17 TD) and a VERY deep WR corps. QB Gunnar Watson has been ok but has made too many mistakes (62%, 13-10 TD to INT) over the course of the season and note that UTSA has allowed <50% completions in 5L6G (!). The competition hasn’t been elite but they sure looked decent vs North Texas last week. The good news for Troy is that they have a legit shot at controlling the game on the ground.
Trends, Intangibles, and More!
It seems impossible to believe for those that have followed college football for a while but the Trojans haven’t been to a bowl game since 2018 when they took down Buffalo 42-32 in the Dollar General Bowl…..This will be HC Jon Sumrall’s first go at a bowl game…..UTSA is 0-3 in bowl games (!) and HC Jeff Traylor is 0-2…..Gotta think they’ll be motivated to GIT ER DONE.
Summary
We’ve had a lot of fun watching these teams this year, not to mention that Troy came thru for FUTURES CLUB members, whilst UTSA bagged the cash for LEAN CLUB members when they took down North Texas in the C-USA title game. When the dust settles, we think that the UTSA offense will have been able to do more damage than Troy.
Conclusion
Lean – UTSA +1.5
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.