Halloween night in North Dakota will be celebrated inside the Fargodome when North Dakota State hosts the UTEP Miners. NDSU will be looking to bounce back from a 21-16 loss to New Mexico. Quarterback Nathan Hayes led the Bison with 198 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. The loss dropped North Dakota State to a 3-2 conference record in the first year in the Mountain West. UTEP has lost its last five straight games, all by double digits. They are 0-3 in the conference.
With UTEP coming in with a record of 1-6 against the spread, everything is set for a Halloween party for the home team in this game. Failing to cover in six of their seven games, this spread is especially large to favor the Miners cover. UTEP is certainly coming in as the disadvantaged team, making the number legitimate. The Miners have struggled offensively, only scoring 15.1 points and averaging 286 yards per game. Their pass game has been particularly ineffective, only averaging 151 yards per contest. Moving the ball will be notably more challenging Saturday against a North Dakota State defense that ranks near the top of college football with only 12.5 points and 250 yards allowed per game. Against the pass, the Bison are only allowing opposing quarterbacks to throw for an average of 128 yards. Despite the mismatch, I’m not jumping on the Bison to cover this large number. The reason North Dakota State has two conference losses has been their inconsistencies on offense. In the past ten years, North Dakota State has produced five straight quarterbacks drafted into the NFL with Carson Wentz, Easton Stick, Trey Lance, Cam Miller, and Cole Payton. Current quarterback Nathan Hayes' future draft projection is still in question as the young quarterback still has something to prove. Hayes has thrown for 1,470 yards but has struggled turning the ball over with seven interceptions. In their two losses, Hayes only led the Bison to 7 points against UNLV and 16 points against New Mexico. I think he will play well against a lowly UTEP defense, but I’m not prepared to back him lighting the defense up. I think the Bison will win this game comfortably, but within a low scoring affair.
Under 43.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at 42.5.
