Wednesday night will feature a matchup of top teams in Conference USA when the Jacksonville State Gamecocks take on the New Mexico State Aggies. Jacksonville State is undefeated in conference games with three wins and zero losses. They have won their last four games, with three of the four games having a one-score differential. They defeated FIU 27-24 back on October 13th behind 214 yards passing and 95 yards rushing from quarterback Caden Creel. The Gamecocks have had two weeks to prepare for this matchup on the road against New Mexico State. The Aggies are 2-1 in conference games. Their lone loss came at the beginning of October against FIU at a score of 22-3. New Mexico State was able to bounce back with a win in their last game against Sam Houston 30-24.
Jacksonville State has a balanced offense that mostly runs through their quarterback. Creel has engineered the Gamecocks' offense with both his arms and his legs. For passing, Creel has completed 67% of his passes for 1,637 yards and 12 touchdowns. For the run game, Creel is the team's leading rusher with around 500 yards and 4 touchdowns. This dual-threat playmaker is a big reason Jacksonville State has gotten off to a good start and will need to be a point of emphasis for New Mexico State. Creel and the Gamecocks have a great record, but they are winless against the spread on the road. Overall, Jacksonville State is 1-2 in road games, with their only win coming on the road against Kennesaw State. If they want to win and cover for the first time on the road, Jacksonville State will need to slow down New Mexico State's running game. New Mexico State's running back, James Jones, has run for 777 yards and 4 touchdowns and has been heating up in recent games. Jones ran for 178 yards in the win against Sam Houston, and he could be in line for another big game against a Jacksonville State defense that has allowed 150 rushing yards per game. With Jacksonville State's struggles on the road and against the run, New Mexico State comes in as a live underdog.
New Mexico State +3.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at the ML.
