Posted:
#1
Nothing like Wednesday night College Football to kick off week 1! I have researched this game pretty thoroughly so I will share my thoughts below.
UAB is clearly the better team in this matchup but that doesn’t mean Jax St is a pushover. This is a team who played a spring season and advanced to the 2nd rd of the FCS playoffs. They are a good team who has played big games in the past and are one of the better teams in all of FCS.
The oddsmakers have shown some respect for Jax St as well, opening this game at UAB -14.5. It has since been bet up to 17 and settled at 16.5 at most places.
The interesting thing about this game is that these teams are pretty even at most of the skill positions. Zerrick Cooper is the QB for Jax St and is arguably the best QB in school history. He didn’t play in the spring but had solid numbers last year and is the more accurate QB of the two teams. UAB also lost their stud RB Spencer Brown and are set to go to battle with a talented but less experienced group of RB’s this year. Jax St returns 3 RB’s who have had solid numbers and shouldn’t be afraid of the moment. WR is another spot where UAB lost a lot of talent. This could end up taking a little time to get in sync with QB Tyler Johnston III who hasn’t finished a season healthy in 2 years.
Biggest advantage for UAB comes in the trenches with superior offensive and defensive lines (which makes sense considering the FBS/FCS talent difference. One thing I will say is that both teams do return their entire offensive line which should provide some continuity for both teams.
One of the biggest factors to me is that UAB plays Georgia next week which will be their biggest game of the season. This could be a big look ahead spot for them and I wouldn’t be surprised if they overlook this Jax St team just a little bit.
With that said, I am on Jax St. Even if UAB is in control, Jax St has a QB that makes enough plays and could easily make this a back door cover situation. If UAB dominates the trenches then it will be tough for Jax St, but I’ll take the 2 points of extra line value from the opening and hope that they can make enough plays to hang around.
Jax St +16.5 (2 units)
GL
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