2022 New Mexico Bowl – SMU vs BYU

2022 New Mexico Bowl – SMU vs BYU

posted December 14

The Game

Take a break from the BREAKING BAD Wax Museum and Amusement Park and get over to Dreamstyle Stadium to watch BYU battle SMU in the New Mexico Bowl. The Cougars got hot down the stretch and won their final three games to finish up the regular season with a mark of 7-5. The Mustangs were out of the AAC race pretty early but also finished well taking down four of their final five opponents.

The Details

SMU -5.5 BYU (64.5)

MEGALOCKS LINE – SMU -4

“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: SMU 35 BYU 29.5

SMU offense vs BYU defense

The Mustangs have one of the most lethal THROW GAMES in the country (325 YPG, #6 FBS) behind QB T Mordecai (64%, 31-9 TD to INT) but they’ll be without superstar WR R Rice (96, 1,355, 10 TD) who’ll most definitely be playing on Sundays, as well as WR D Goffney who was #3 on the squad in receiving yards. We still think that Mordecai can find ways to beat a horrible BYU defense (#93 FB total D, #116 pass efficiency D) and they’ve got a decent enough stable of RBs to mix things up on the ground. More bad news for BYU. They’re severely depleted at LB heading into this BAD BOY.

BYU offense vs SMU defense

This bowl game took a major KICK IN THE JACOBS when it was all but confirmed (you never know tho) that BYU’s fine starting QB J Hall (31-6 TD to INT, 346 rush) would be missing the New Mexico Bowl. Back-up QB Jacob Conover has left the program meaning that we may see a dude (or doods) throw their first FBS pass in Albuquerque on Saturday. They’ve still got a legit #1 RB in C Brooks who finished the regular season with a pair of 100-yard games but it also remains to be seen what the WR group will look like on gameday. They’ve got some talented specimens but most of them have battled thru injuries and this could be a primo quitting/opt-out spot. Keep tabs on the news if you want to get seriously involved with this tilt.

Trends, Intangibles and More!

The Mustangs should be adequately motivated for this one as they haven’t tasted bowl victory since the 2012 (!) Hawaii Bowl when they smoked Fresno St as double-digit underdogs……BYU is 3-2 SU in bowl action under HC K Sitake…..BYU’s longtime DC I Tuiaki was let go after the regular season….One of the best bowl games of all-time was the 1980 Holiday Bowl in which BYU slid past SMU 46-45 behind the arm of legendary QB Jim McMahon……we assure you that this classic game was on TV in the basement at MEGALOCKS HQ back in the day.

Summary

This is yet another tough bowl game to call given the star power that’ll be missing on both sides. We prefer the favorite but BYU will be able to run the ball and could have a SURPRISE PACKAGE at QB that we don’t know about. Unlikely, but possible. Mustangs should get that elusive bowl win but the tariff is too high. Pass for now.

Conclusion

No leanage


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.