The highlight of this weekend’s slate is also a rematch of the 2015 national championship game. Ohio State won that game 42-20, with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones leading the Buckeyes, who got 246 yards and 4 TD from Ezekiel Elliott.
These teams have not faced off in six years, but they did have similar week one results. The #3 ranked team in the country, Ohio State went into Minnesota and won an early Big 10 conference game 45-31 as a -14 road favorite, for a push on the spread. Oregon, now number 12 in the nation, entered last week’s home contest with Fresno State as a -19.5 home favorite but the Ducks were lucky to squeak away with the win in a game that was tied 24-24 after three quarters.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day has to love what he saw last week from his new QB, teenage freshman C.J. Stroud, who threw for 294 yards on 13 of 22 passing with 4 TD passes. Star wideout Chris Olave, arguably the best in the nation, had 117 receiving yards and 2 TD and Miyan Williams had 125 yards and a TD on the ground on only 9 carries.
Oregon’s opponent was not of the same quality as the Minnesota team that the Buckeyes faced, as they hosted the Fresno State Bulldogs, a non-Power 5 conference team. Quarterback Anthony Brown was a serviceable 15 for 24 for 172 yards and a TD, while running for another 56 yards and a score. CJ Verdell and Travis Dye also had solid days that included a rushing TD apiece. The Ducks defense managed four sacks but their offensive line allowed Brown to be sacked three times.
The Ducks were an underdog two times last season, knocking off USC 31-24 in their regular season finale as a +3 underdog, but then losing 34-17 in the Fiesta Bowl to Iowa State as a +4.5 underdog.
This line is only a half point off of Ohio State’s -14.5 spread against the Golden Gophers last week. Last season, OSU went 3-3 as a double digit favorite, though four of those spreads were three or more touchdown lines.
It stands to reason that the number 12 ranked Ducks are a superior team to Minnesota, so even though this game is at home, that extra half point makes a bet on Oregon very appealing.
You don’t often see a Sun Belt team 26.5 point road favorites over a Big 12 team, but that is the state of affairs for Kansas Jayhawks football, as they host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, the number 17 team in the nation, on Friday night.
Last weekend, Coastal Carolina beat The Citadel 52-14. Quarterback Grayson McCall was 16 for 19, throwing for 262 yards and a TD. Sherman Jones and Reese White each ran for two scores, with Jones racking up 100 yards on just 9 carries. Jaivon Heiligh caught 6 passes for 133 yards and a TD.
Even a rebuilding Kansas squad will be a different type of test for the Chanticleers, after playing a run-first team in The Citadel, who attempted just 6 passes last week for a total of 14 yards, while running the ball a whopping 55 times for 223 yards.
Kansas snapped a 13 game losing streak last weekend with a 17-14 win over South Dakota. The Jayhawks had gone winless last season, finishing the COVID-shortened schedule 0-9 and had also lost four straight games to end 2019. Though they failed to cover, the win over South Dakota marked an auspicious debut for new Kansas coach Lance Leipold who went 37-33 as the Buffalo head coach from 2015-2020.
Kansas QB Jason Bean was 17 for 26 for 163 yards and 2 TD last week, while also running 15 times for 54 yards against the Coyotes. Freshman wideout Lawrence Arnold caught a pair of TD passes from Bean.
These teams opened up last season by facing off and the Chanticleers won 38-23 in Lawrence as a +6 road underdog, en route to an 11-0 regular season. Incredibly, the 15 point loss was Kansas’s closest game all season until their season finale against Texas Tech. Coastal Carolina also beat the Jayhawks 12-7 in 2019. In 2019, Coastal Carolina was a +7 underdog and won 12-7. The Chanticleers covered the spread against The Citadel in Week 1, winning 52-14 as a -33.5 favorite, while Kansas beat South Dakota 17-14 as a -11.5 home favorite.
The over/under is set at 52 points for Friday night. Last year, the 61 points scored meant the teams hit the over of 55.5 points. With both teams looking competently defensively last week, the under appears to be the play.
This game will take place at Mile High Stadium, instead of Colorado’s traditional home of Folsom Field. In addition to holding a larger capacity, the altitude makes this game trickier for the Aggies, who moved into the top five of the rankings after a 41-10 Week 1 victory over Kent State.
With a new QB debuting, the Aggies struggled for most of the first half, taking just a 10-3 lead over the Golden Flashes into the break. The team started to gel in the second half as they scored 24 unanswered points to take a 34-3 lead.
For the game, Haynes King completed 21 of 33 passes for 292 yards and 2 TD but he did throw a trio of interceptions. Devon Achane ran for 124 yards and 2 scores on just 12 carries and Isaiah Spiller added 113 yards on the ground as well. Junior wideout Ainias Smith had 8 catches for 100 yards and 2 scores for the Aggies.
Meanwhile, the Buffaloes had little problem dispatching in-state rivals Northern Colorado last week, as they romped to a 35-7 win. Colorado ran the ball 49 times for 281 yards and 4 TD while passing just 15 times for 102 yards. The Buffaloes also had a whopping 12 penalties last week for 118 yards, angering head coach Karl Dorrell.
The Aggies defeated Kent State 41-10 last week as a -29.5 home favorite, narrowly covering the spread. It was the ninth consecutive win for the Aggies, dating back to last season. They have covered four straight games, and seven of the nine games during their current win streak.
The Buffaloes failed to cover the massive -37.5 spread last week in their 35-7 win. Colorado was not a double digit underdog at all last season, but they did go 2-2 both overall and ATS as an underdog last season.
The last time these teams played was back in 2009, with the Buffaloes eking out a 35-34 victory at home. Note that you can get this line in many places at +17, if you prefer that number at -110 to the +16 at +100.
With the combination of high altitude, and Colorado’s strong running game, 16 points just feels like too many for the Buffaloes to be getting. Take the home team.
The over/under for the game between the number three Georgia Bulldogs and the UAB Blazers is 46 points. Last week, Georgia beat the then-second ranked Clemson Tigers 10-3, while UAB rolled against Jacksonville State, 31-0.
Combined the two teams scored 44 points, so you can understand the optimism of the under for this line. Though it was fifteen years ago, when these teams last matched up in 2006, Georgia blanked UAB 34-0.
So, why is the over the correct play here? Georgia will be able to move the ball against UAB. On offense against Clemson, the Bulldogs mostly stuck to short passes, as quarterback J.T. Daniels completed 22 of 30 passes for 135 yards and an interception. Daniels is expected to air the ball out more against a lesser defense.
For UAB, head coach Bill Clark has brought the Blazers back to respectability, less than a decade after the school had announced it was ending the football program. The Blazers have had four consecutive winning seasons, including a 6-3 mark last year.
Last week against Jacksonville State, quarterback Tyler Johnston III threw for 320 yards on just 21 attempts, throwing a pair of TD passes. Jermaine Brown Jr. ran for 78 yards and a TD, and Trea Shopshire caught 5 passes for 128 yards and a score.
Georgia is a -24.5 home favorite against UAB. Georgia was last a 25+ point favorite last season against Mississippi State, and they failed to cover a 26.5 line, winning 31-24. Dating back to last season, Georgia has won five straight games, though they’ve failed to cover in their past two wins. The Blazers have a three game winning streak, dating back to last season. UAB beat Jacksonville State 31-0 last week as a -16 favorite. The Blazers are 6-2 in their past eight games, and have gone 4-4 against the spread in that span.
There are two ways for this game to go over: either the Bulldogs run roughshod on the Blazers, in which case they can go over without any help, or UAB is able to move the football, in which case a 35-14 game also hits the over.
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