Army-UTSA prediction, odds, pick, how to watch College Football

It is a Friday night week three match-up as the Army takes on UTSA. It is time to continue our College Football odds series with an Army-UTSA prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

Army enters the game at 1-1 on the season. They lost their week one match-up with UL Monroe. It was a defensive battle in the game. No one scored in the first quarter, and the first touchdown of the game was a defensive touchdown as Bo Nicholas-Paul took an interception back to the house for six to give Army a 7-3 lead. They would end up leading at half 10-3 and add another field goal in the fourth quarter to take a 13-3 lead. The Army defense would wane at the end of the game though, allowing two touchdowns in the final six minutes to fall 17-13. Both the offense and the defense would show up against Delaware State. Army would score five times in the first half, with five Bryson Daily touchdowns to give them a massive lead. They would go on to win 57-0.

UTSA also comes in at 1-1 on the season. They narrowly lost to Houston in the first game of the year. After heading into the half down just three, they would be down ten in the fourth quarter. UTSA would come up with a touchdown drive, but there was not enough time as they fell 17-14. The next week they managed to hold off upset-minded Texas State. It was a time game at half until Frank Harris delivered a 20-yard touchdown pass to Willie McCoy. They would go on to win 20-13.

Here are the college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Football Odds: Army-UTSA Odds

Army: +8.5 (-110)

UTSA: -8.5  (-110)

Over: 44.5 (-105)

Under: 44.5 (-115)

How to Watch Army vs. UTSA

TV: ESPN

Stream: ESPN App

Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT

*Watch college football LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why the Army Will Cover The Spread

For the Army to cover it all starts with Bryson Daily. He has to be great in the game for them to have a chance. His primary mode of scoring is going to be on the ground. In his first game against Monroe, he ran 20 times, but for just 3.4 yards per carry. He had two runs over ten yards and caused three missed tackles, but the line was not great. His average spot of first contact was under one yard after the line of scrimmage. Daily also fumbled in the game. Against Delaware State he was solid. He ran just nine times but for 68 yards. His average spot of first contact was over two yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and he averaged 4.11 yards after first contact. He also scored twice on the ground.

His passing game was much better as well. After having a PFF passing grade of just 40.6 in the first game, he excelled in the second one. First, he got great protection. Daily was not pressured one time in the game. He also completed eight of 11 throws, with two of the incompletions being drops. Daily threw for 190 yards in the game with three scores.

The defense for the Army has been solid in both games so far this year. Against a quarterback like Frank Harris, they will have to be solid again. In the game against Delaware State, Armty managed to get 19 quarterbacks pressured and convert that into four sacks. Trey Sofia was solid in the game. He has three pressures and one sack, while also having two stops for offensive failures. Further, the Army tackled well in the game. They missed just seven tackles in the entire game on 70 snaps. They also had 28 stops for offensive failure in the game. A repeat of their performance against Delaware State should keep this game close.

Why UTSA Will Cover The Spread

Frank Harris has to be much more like he was against Texas State than against Houston. Against Houston, he struggled with accuracy. Harris was just 18-36 in the game with 209 yards and a touchdown. He threw three interceptions in the game and had another three turnover-worthy passes. Harris had time to pass in the game, with just nine pressures on 40 dropbacks. Meanwhile, Harris did not have time against Texas State. He was pressured 23 times on just 44 dropbacks in the game. Still, it forced him to move the ball to safer short routes to a lot of success. He did not throw a turnover worth pass while completing 26-37 passes. He threw a touchdown as well, even while being sacked three times.

The run game also has to be solid led by Kevorian Barnes. He ran 26 times against Texas State for 103 yards. He had six rushes over ten yards, while one of them went over 15. Barens got fairly good blocking, averaging a point of contact a yard and a half beyond the line of scrimmage, but he also was good with the contact. He forced six missed tackles and ran for 60 yards after first contact. Still, he did have a fumble in the game.

The defense also needs to step up in this game. UTSA had some good and some ugly on defense. The good was the pass rush. They had 28 quarterbacks pressured in the game with nine sacks. Trey Moore led the way with six quarterback pressures, two sacks, and five stops for offensive failure. UTSA also missed just ten tackles in the game while having 21 stops for offensive failure. The bad was the coverage game. They had only one pass breakup and no interceptions while getting hit for plenty of yards after the catch. Nearly one-third of the Texas State yards passing in the game were found after the catch.

Final Army-UTSA Prediction & Pick

Army looked great in their last game, but that was against a low-level FCS school. In their first game, they struggled heavily. Meanwhile, Frank Harris has not fully found his rhythm yet this year. Last year he was great in protecting the ball and completed over 70 percent of his passes against Army. The big issue in the first game was taking too many down-the-field shots that did not land. UTSA adjusted that in the second game. Expect Frank Harris to have a big game in this one, and while the offense has not looked good yet, it will against the Army.

Final Army-UTSA Prediction & Pick: UTSA -8.5 (-110)