Free Daily NCAA Lock Pick, Wednesday October 18th: New Mexico State vs UTEP 9:00pmET
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A midseason non-conference battle takes place Saturday night when the Army Black Knights (2-4, 2-3-1 ATS) travel to take on the #19 LSU Tigers (5-2, 4-3 ATS). Army has been an independent since leaving the Conference USA in 2004. Army is coming off a home loss, going down 19-0 to Troy as 6.5-point underdogs. LSU just won big at home over Auburn, beating the Tigers 48-18 as 11-point favorites. The Tigers are currently listed as 30-point home favorites. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 EST from Tiger Stadium and can be found on the SEC Network.
Army competes as an FBS independent, giving them to ability to build their entire schedule without mandatory opponents. The Black Knights face two opponents that are currently ranked in the Top 25, #22 Air Force from the Mountain West, and this #19 ranked LSU team. Army has two wins, one coming against FCS opponent Delaware State, and the other against UTSA. In their most recent game, the Black Knights had a difficult time taking care of the ball, they had 4 turnovers including three lost fumbles in the 19-0 loss to Troy.
The Black Knights rely on their ground attack to generate offense, and their leading rusher is their quarterback. Bryson Daily has only thrown for 712 yards on the season, but has rushed for 412. Their option offense uses quarterback keepers with fakes to their backs to fool their opponents. Daily is only averaging 12.8 pass attempts per game, and is completing 54.5% of those passe s with a 6-4 TD-INT ratio. Harris left the game against Troy with an injury, and freshman Champ Harris finished the game. Hayden Reed is the top running back, but is averaging just 31.8 yards per game. The offense has two receivers as the only targets, Isaiah Alston has 9 catches for 266 yards and Noah Short has 15 catches for 223 yards.
Army is averaging 24.5 points per game and allowing 20.2 defensively. The Black Knights are currently on a three game slide, with losses to Syracuse, Boston College and Troy. Linebacker Leo Lowin leads the team in tackles with 35 on the year, and fellow linebacker Jimmy Ciarlo leads the team in sacks with three. The defense has generated eight takeaways on the season, with four interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
Injury Report:
Questionable: QB Bryson Daily (712 passing yards, 412 rushing yards), WR Isaiah Alston (266 receiving yards), RB Miles Steward (10 carries, 42 yards).
Free Daily NCAA Lock Pick, Wednesday October 18th: New Mexico State vs UTEP 9:00pmET CLICK TO SEE PICK NOW