2023 Frisco Bowl Odds, Picks and Score Prediction

The lone bowl matchup around college football on Tuesday features UTSA of the American Athletic Conference against Marshall of the Sun Belt in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl from the Dallas area. The Roadrunners are double-digit favorites on the NCAAF odds. 2023 Frisco Bowl Betting & Expert Analysis UTSA vs. Marshall | MyBookie Sportsbook Bowls Odds, 2023/24 CFP College Bowl Game Lines

How to Bet UTSA vs. Marshall NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 9 PM ET
Where: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAF Lines: UTSA -11.5 (52.5)

Series History

UTSA and Marshall will meet for the fourth time on Tuesday in a series led by the Thundering Herd, 2-1. They haven’t played since 2018, a 23-0 Marshall home win. The Frisco Bowl originated in Miami as the Miami Beach Bowl before moving to Frisco in 2017. A year ago, Boise State of the Mountain West Conference beat Conference USA’s North Texas in a thrilling 35-32 victory to win the 2022 Frisco Bowl.

NCAAF Frisco Bowl Betting	SPREAD	MONEYLINE	TOTAL
Marshall Thundering Herd	+12	+375	U 52.5
UT San Antonio Roadrunners	-12	-500	O 52.5

Why Bet on UTSA?

UTSA will make its fourth straight and fifth overall bowl appearance on Tuesday. This will mark the Roadrunners’ second showing in the Frisco Bowl in the past three years, as they played San Diego State in the 2021 game and lost 38-24. UTSA is 0-4 in bowl games with three of the contests decided by seven or fewer points. The Roadrunners are 38-14 (.731) overall in the Jeff Traylor era, the most wins and best winning percentage by a UTSA head coach. Traylor was linked to a few bigger head coaching openings but stayed put.

UTSA will play on a weekday for the fourth time this season and 11th time under Traylor. The only previous Tuesday contest in program history was that loss two years ago in the Frisco Bowl to SDSU. The Roadrunners have played 15 non-Saturday games in their 13-year history and they tote an 8-7 mark in such games.

UTSA features redshirt sophomore Trey Moore, who was voted the AAC Defensive Player of the Year. Moore posted 45 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss and a school-record 14 sacks – only one half sack shy of the AAC single season record. However, he has entered the transfer portal and apparently won’t play. Moore also earned a spot on the All-AAC First Team, joining cornerback Kam Alexander, wide receiver Joshua Cephus, quarterback Frank Harris and safety Rashad Wisdom.

Cephus is available for UTSA’s bowl game. Amidst a busy December including many portal entries and draft declarations, Cephus will stay put for at least one more game with UTSA. Cephus logged 26 receptions for 368 yards and two touchdowns during November and has 81 catches for 1,047 yards and nine TDs overall. After missing the last two games to a neck injury, fellow WR Willie McCoy has been listed on the team’s depth chart. Across nine games this season, he totaled 17 receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Harris has completed 218 of 336 passes for 2,506 yards and 18 touchdowns and also rushed for 323 yards and four TDs in 10 contests this season. He has eclipsed the 300-yard mark through the air three times, including throwing for 411 yards and three TDs and adding 112 and three scores on the ground for a program-record 523 yards of offense in the 49-21 win over South Florida for which he earned Davey O’Brien, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose and AAC Offensive Player of the Week accolades.

The Roadrunners have scored 380 points through 12 games in 2023, good for an average of 31.7 per contest. UTSA posted 34-plus points during a seven-game winning streak to start American Athletic Conference play. UTSA has scored 20-plus points in 40 of the last 44 games dating back to the 2020 campaign. The Roadrunners have tallied 1,750 points in 52 games under Traylor, good for an average of 33.7 points per game.

Traylor’s team is no stranger to close contests in the Traylor era, as 30 of the 52 have been one-score games in the fourth quarter. The Roadrunners own a 21-9 record in those games. Dating back to the 2021 campaign, UTSA has seen 17 of the last 30 contests decided in the fourth quarter or later. Additionally, the Roadrunners are 13-4 in games decided by eight points or less since 2021.

Why Bet on Marshall?

The Thundering Herd enter the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl with a 6-6 record. It’s Marshall’s seventh straight bowl trip, a school record surpassing the old mark of six consecutive years set from 1997 to 2002. This will be Marshall’s 2nd appearance in a bowl game in Texas – the 1st being the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl. The Herd have a 13-5 mark in NCAA-sanctioned bowl games overall, which is a .722 winning percentage. That’s the top bowl winning percentage in FBS among teams who have appeared in at least 10 bowl games or more.

Marshall is averaging 23.3 points and 357.8 yards of offense per game while allowing 28.2 points and 375.8 yards per contest. Rasheen Ali is the top rusher with 1,043 yards and 14 touchdowns on 203 attempts (5.1 ypc), while Caleb Coombs has a team-high 39 receptions for 310 yards and a pair of scores. Ali’s 14 rushing touchdowns and his 15 total touchdowns are each top-15 in FBS and he’s scored multiple touchdowns in six of 11 games he’s played in this season.

Marshall defensive linemen Owen Porter, Sam Burton and Elijah Alston have been living in the opponents’ backfield all season long. Porter, who was named as an All-SBC First Team selection and Team MVP at the 2023 Football Banquet, leads Marshall with 15 tackles for loss and also has 5.0 sacks. He is top-10 all-time in Marshall history for sacks with 19.0 in his career.

Burton, who has played in 57 career games with the Herd, could join Porter in that top-10 with a big performance in the Frisco Bowl. Currently, Burton leads the Herd with 6.5 sacks on the year and is 13th in Marshall career history with 18.0 sacks, but is just one sack from top-10 status. He was an All-SBC Honorable Mention selection. Alston currently has 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks in 2023 and was named an All-SBC Third Team selection.

Defensively, Eli Neal paces the team with 85 tackles, including 8.5 for loss and two sacks, while Owen Porter owns 57 tackles, 15 TFLs and five sacks. Micah Abraham leads the Thundering Herd with three interceptions and also has 13 pass breakups on the season. Abraham’s 16 passes defended rank him tied for 3rd in FBS in 2023 and it gives him three consecutive seasons with at least 15 passes defended. The redshirt senior is the only current player in FBS to have three straight seasons with at least 15 passes defended. Abraham is currently tied for No. 2 in Marshall history in pass breakups (41) and passes defended (52).

Jayden Harrison leads FBS in kick return average at 31.9 yards per return. The junior has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season – a 94-yard return against James Madison and a 98-yard kickoff return in the win over Georgia Southern. For the season, Harrison has 669 kickoff return yards on 21 returns. Harrison also has 22 catches for 278 yards and a score on the year.

Starting QB Cam Fancher is in the transfer portal and won’t play with Cole Pennington taking his place under center. Fancher got the Thundering Herd off to a quick 4-0 start in 2023, including a 24-17 win over Virginia Tech. Then he appeared to be injured and the team went several quarters of game action without an offensive touchdown amid a five-game losing streak before finishing 6-6. The disappointing record led to the dismissal of several coaches, including Fancher’s offensive coordinator, Clint Trickett. Assistants Bill Legg, Shannon Morrison and Jovon Bouknight were also let go.