College Football Picks and Odds December 3rd – Louisiana Tech vs North Texas, Air Force vs Utah State

• A pair of games on Thursday, Dec. 3 get Week 14 of College Football underway, with Louisiana Tech vs North Texas and Air Force vs Utah State
• One game has a juicy 65.5 over/under, while the other figures to feature much more defense
• Find odds for the games and key information about both matchups in the article below

The NFL won’t have a Thursday night game this week, but fortunately you can fill that void with a pair of college games. On Dec. 3rd, Louisiana Tech will face North Texas (6 pm ET) and Air Force will battle Utah State (9:30 pm ET).

One game is expected to be loaded with offense, and the teams are separated on the spread by less than a field goal. The other game should be more defensively sound, and oddsmakers have the teams separated by two scores.

More importantly, it’s football. On a Thursday. Let’s take a closer look at the odds and see what these matchups have in store.

Louisiana Tech vs North Texas Week 14 Odds

All odds as of Dec. 1 at FanDuel

We know there are lots of oddities this college football season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This matchup between Louisiana Tech and North Texas serves as a perfect example.

The Bulldogs are slight favorites over the Mean Green despite not having played since Oct. 31st. Louisiana Tech has missed four consecutive weeks of action due to COVID-19 related issues. Now they’re back, thankfully, to face North Texas.

Louisiana Tech has suffered a notable loss since their last game, as receiver Adrian Hardy opted out a couple of weeks ago to focus on preparing for the NFL draft. Hardy led the team in catches (33), yards (440) and touchdowns (four).

https://twitter.com/sixforsixgod/status/1329434106485202949?s=20

On the other side, the Mean Green have had some cancellations of their own — but they’ve been plugging along the past two weeks, splitting games against Rice and UT San Antonio. North Texas was actually a 1.5-point road favorite against UTSA, but lost 49-17.

For the second time – WR @JDFlash1x was responsible for this week's @tiffstreats Sweetest Play of the Game – a 75-yard catch-and-run. Darden's 31st career TD catch ties the program record (Ron Shanklin 1967-69) #GMG pic.twitter.com/DuohvRV7Rx

— North Texas Football (@MeanGreenFB) December 1, 2020

North Texas has an electric offense (536.9 yards/game) and a generous defense (535.3 yards/game), which means this will probably be an interesting game no matter what. Their defense should be aided by the fact Hardy won’t be on the field, and the fact that Louisiana Tech hasn’t played since Halloween night.

For those reasons, we like North Texas to win this one outright.

Pick: North Texas Moneyline (+114)

Air Force vs Utah State Week 14 Odds

Anyone who has watched an Air Force game in recent years knows what the Falcons are trying to do: control the clock by running the ball down the opponent’s throat.

So far, Air Force has mostly taken care of that, with the No. 1 ranked rush offense in FBS football (336.5 yards/game). Utah State allows over 200 rushing yards per game, which is a lot when you consider most teams have a fairly even run/pass balance, so that aspect of the matchup favors the Falcons.

Friday night lights dub ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/cTim62IkDF

— Air Force Football (@AF_Football) November 22, 2020

Another aspect that favors the Falcons is their defense vs. the Aggies’ offense. Utah State is gaining just 284.6 yards/game on offense (122nd), while Air Force is allowing just 326.3 yards/game (18th).

Both schools have one player carrying a “questionable” distinction into the game: Air Force fullback Timothy Jackson (178 yards in two games) and Utah State defensive lineman Marcus Moore (16 tackles, two sacks in five games).

Last year, Air Force was a three-point favorite and covered easily in a 31-7 win. The past four favorites in this matchup have won — and covered — which bodes well for the Falcons. We’ll stick with the favored Falcons here, with the belief that the under will hit as long as Air Force gets to play the way it wants.

Pick: Air Force -9.5 (-118); Under 51.5 (-118)