Frisco Bowl point spread: Picking UTSA Roadrunners vs. Marshall Thundering Herd
UTSA has jumped out as 11.5-point betting favorites over Marshall in the 2023 Frisco Bowl, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The over/under total is set at 61.5 points.
How to watch the Frisco Bowl
Time: 9 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Toyota Stadium – Frisco, Texas
The Roadrunners dropped their first game since September, losing to Tulane 29-16 in the season finale right before Thanksgiving. They will be looking for their ninth win of the season under head coach Jeff Traylor, who was a candidate for the recent Texas A&M opening.
Meanwhile, the Thundering Herd have started playing their best football of the season in recent weeks, winning two of its last three games after a 4-5 start to the year. Marshall squeezed in its sixth win of the year by defeating a bowl-eligible Arkansas State team by two touchdowns in the season finale.
For On3’s Andy Staples, this game comes down to one thing: quarterback play for the Thundering Herd.
“But when Cam Fancher, the Marshall quarterback, went into the transfer portal, Charles Huff, the head coach, said the kid was miserable and fans hate him,” Staples said. “Now, Huff has come back and apologized for those statements and said, ‘Hey, I was projecting and I didn’t mean to paint with a broad brush.’ But basically, he wasn’t lying that there was a vocal portion of the very vocal minority in the fan base that was very critical of Cam Fancher.
“There’s not a ton of money at Marshall, and so he went to the portal. Cole Pennington, son of Chad Pennington, would be the starter for Marshall in this game. UTSA trade war is not playing the edge rusher who is the AC Defensive Player of the Year. … But given the situation with the portal at Marshall, I’m gonna go with UTSA here and pick them to cover.”
Pennington has played sparingly this season behind Fancher. The former three-star product out of Lexington, Kentucky. He threw six interceptions during the regular season but is still looking for his touchdown pass of the year.
The opening kickoff between the Roadrunners and Thundering Herd is scheduled for Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET live on ESPN. It will be the seventh edition of the Frisco Bowl, which has been played annually since 2017.