Mountain West Conference play is soon to be underway! In an edition of Friday night lights, the Air Force Falcons will travel to the west coast to take on the San Jose State Spartans. Let's check out our College Football odds series where our Air Force-San Jose State prediction and pick will be revealed.
Entering play with a flawless 3-0 record, the Air Force Falcons got a taste of conference play a week early with a 39-21 beating of Utah State. With a high-powered option attack that is hard for opposing defenses to figure out, the Falcons have conference title aspirations and have certainly shown it up to this point!
Meanwhile, the Spartans will be kicking off their Mountain West scheduled slate this weekend after going 1-3 in non-conference play. In their defense, SJSU had a tough stretch with half of those games coming against ranked squads. However, the Spartans have no choice but to get back up on their feet and try to salvage their season in conference play.
Here are the college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Air Force-San Jose State Odds
Air Force: -4.5 (-108)
San Jose State: +4.5 (-112)
Over: 46.5 (-105)
Under: 46.5 (-115)
How to Watch Air Force vs. San Jose State
TV: FS1
Stream: Fox Sports App
Time: 10:30 ET/7:30 PT
*Watch college football LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Air Force Will Cover The Spread
Run the football, pound the rock, and control the line of scrimmage. Picking up on a theme? Just like in most of the games they play, the Falcons' bread and butter comes in the form of a triple option attack that many teams around the nation are not used to facing defensively. While this means that Air Force's passing attack is often irrelevant, they are still averaging an unfathomable 320 rushing yards per game. Simply put, dominating the time of possession and playing a physical brand of football will surely guarantee covering the spread.
In addition, something that also may be a difference-maker in this late-night Friday clash will be the Falcons ability to show off their underrated defense. Last year, Air Force was a force defensively, as they led the nation in total defense. While a big reason for this is due to the fact that they bleed game clock on the other side of the football, don't be sleeping on this defense to fly around and make some plays!
Another fast start could ultimately be the nail in the coffin against the Spartans. With 22 first quarter points coming in their victory against Utah State last weekend, another swift start would eliminate SJSU's confidence and ultimately oblige them to naturally force things, resulting in mistakes on the football field.
Why San Jose State Will Cover The Spread
On the other side of things, nothing would boost the morale of the San Jose State football program than a fundamentally sound victory over Air Force with a sprinkle of covering the spread on top. Entering this matchup as narrow 4.5-point underdogs, the Spartans will hope that their home-field advantage and stingy play can put them over the top on Friday.
Above all else, San Jose State is benefited by a six-year quarterback under center in QB Chevan Cordeiro. While the Spartans have some major holes to fix on both sides of the ball, they at least have a field general that has faced adversity and knows how to respond to it. A former signal caller at Hawaii, Cordeiro has posted a stat line of six touchdown passes to go along with 783 yards through the air and only one interception to boot. Since offensive possessions will most likely be limited, the Spartans need all they can get from their quarterback.
The main area of concern for this team heading into Friday is their inability to stop the running game, which is obviously a huge red flag against an option-led Air Force squad. The key to beating the Falcons is to force them to third-and-longs and make their quarterbacks throw the ball down the field. This is often things that Air Force struggled with, so stopping the run ultimately come decide whether or not San Jose State is able to cover.
Final Air Force-San Jose State Prediction & Pick
Having not squared off since 2020 which resulted in a Spartans win, it will be much different this time. While Chevan Cordeiro will do his best to keep San Jose State in it, it will ultimately be Air Force's rushing attack that will be too much to stop.
Final Air Force-San Jose State Prediction & Pick: Air Force -4.5 (-108)
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