UMass Minutemen vs Auburn Tigers Prediction, 9/2/2023 College Football Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UMass Minutemen vs Auburn Tigers

Date: Saturday, September 2, 2023

Location: Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Tigers (-40)

Total/Over-Under: 52.5

The Auburn Tigers (5-7 last year) will compete against the UMass Minutemen (1-11 last season) at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, September 2, 2023. UMass opens this matchup as 40-point underdogs. The total comes in at 52.5.

The UMass Minutemen ended the season holding a 1-11 record. In their last contest, the Minutemen stepped onto the field against the Army Black Knights and went home with a loss by a final score of 44-7. Brady Olson connected on 13/24 with 145 yards passing. He had a quarterback rate of 88.3 and ended the game with 2 interceptions. Ellis Merriweather was the leader on the ground for the Minutemen with 5 totes for 49 yds (9.8 yards per attempt). The UMass Minutemen ran the rock 31 times and tallied 90 yards, which is an average of 2.9 yards per attempt. In all, they ran 56 plays which totaled 235 yards. UMass relinquished 2 pass completions on 5 tries for a total of 67 yards, and a completion rate of 40.0%. Against the rush, the Minutemen gave up 329 yds on 56 tries, which is 5.9 yards per run allowed.

The Minutemen had 3,190 total yards for the prior year. UMass totaled 4 passing touchdowns and 10 touchdowns on the ground. They surrendered the ball 20 different times. UMass accrued 175 1st downs offensively, and they committed 91 penalties for 800 yards. Offensively they held an average of 148.8 yds via the ground game, which was 68th in Division 1. When talking about scoring, the UMass Minutemen held an average of 12.5 PPG.

Regarding passing yards, the Minutemen conceded 2,104 yards which had them sitting in 5th in college football. In their 12 games, they allowed 175.3 yards per game via the pass in addition to relinquishing a completion percentage of 53.8%. They conceded 369.6 yards/game which put them 55th in D-1. They allowed 17 passing touchdowns and 29 running touchdowns. Opposing teams ran for an average of 5.0 yards per attempt on the ground and 194.3 rushing yards per contest last season. Over the course of last season, they conceded 2,332 rushing yards through 12 games. The Minutemen sat in 104th in D-1 in terms of team defense, giving up 31.1 points per game.

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The Tigers finished the season having a 5-7 record. In their last game, the Tigers took a loss by a final score of 49-27 when they played the Alabama Crimson Tide. Robby Ashford (1 touchdown) walked away from the game with 77 yards on 11/23 passing while his quarterback rating was 90.3. He didn't throw any interceptions and his Y/A was 3.3. Jarquez Hunter ran the football 11 times for 134 yards, finishing the contest with 12.2 yds per carry for Auburn. Auburn ran for 7.4 yards per carry, finishing with 318 yards on 43 carries. The Tigers finished the game with 395 yards while running 66 plays (6.0 yards per play). The Tigers passing defense gave up a completion percentage of 66.7%, relinquishing 343 yards on 20 for 30 through the air. Auburn gave up 34 rushing attempts for 173 yards (5.1 yds per carry).

The Auburn Tigers averaged 378.5 yards/game, ranking them 73rd in D-1. The Auburn offense totaled 688 yds of penalties on 90 violations, which was good for 22nd in D-1 in terms of helping out the other team. Last year, the Tigers threw for a total of 2,072 passing yards together with an average of 172.7 passing yards per game, which ranked 119th in college football. When it comes to how much they scored, the Tigers ranked 87th in Division 1 with a maintained average of 24.8 points per outing.

Auburn allowed a total of 2,072 yards via the ground game (172.7 yards per outing) as well as 28 touchdowns by way of the ground game last season. They allowed 16 touchdowns from the passing game and 222.6 yards/game, ranking them 60th in Division 1. The Tigers defense took the field for 859 plays, which had them sitting 58th in the country. The Tigers gave up 29.5 points per game, which had them ranked 97th in college football. Over the course of the season, they gave up 354 total points.

Who will win tonight's Minutemen/Tigers college football game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Tigers -40

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