Best Bets For College Football Week 2

By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

Betting is the best and the worst. I feel like I will win every bet, and then I lose a bet. I feel like such an idiot. Last week was a rollercoaster. I finished going 2-3. Not great, but I have grinded this week to find my top five bets for week 2 of college football.

Temple @ Navy -12

Laying 12 points with a service academy is tough. They run the football a ton, so there aren’t a lot of possessions. This is a bet against Temple, who I think may be the worst team in the nation. It’s hard to take anything away from Navy’s game against Bucknell in week one, but Temple performed exactly how I thought they would. Badly. Temple played Oklahoma, who’s a good team, and only scored three points. What I’m looking at is the running Oklahoma did on Temple. The Sooners ran for 6.1 yards per rush. I expect Navy to do the same thing.

Sam Houston State @ UCF -21.5

Lots of money is coming in on Sam Houston State, and it makes sense. They had a great week one, defeating Rice on the road. But this is a bet on Gus Malzahn and his performance against teams like Sam Houston State. In the three seasons he’s been the head coach at UCF, his Knights have been a home favorite of 23 or more points six times. In those games, he’s 7-0 ATS. This spread is not up to 23 points, but it’s close. UCF and Malzahn crush these teams at home and run the score up. UCF is a sneaky team to win the Big 12, and I think they continue their dominating ways against Sam Houston State in week two.

Colorado +8 @ Nebraska

Give me Coach Prime in this spot. The world watched Colorado barely beat North Dakota State in week one, and there was a lot of criticism that came their way. I don’t get it. North Dakota State is a good team, and we knew the game would be close. Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola of Nebraska had a great debut. 238 yards and two touchdowns against UTEP. The Colorado secondary isn’t great, but the defensive line was much better in week one than I thought they would be. I need that to happen again. If Colorado can stop the run and make Raiola have to pass the ball to beat them, I like Colorado plus the points.

Appalachian State +17.5 @ Clemson

I predicted on the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano that Clemson would end this season unranked. Clemson wins this game, but they are not a great team at all. Dabo Swinney refuses to adapt to the times. Cade Klubnik isn’t a great quarterback. App State is a team that is not going to be scared to travel to Clemson. This is a bet against Dabo and Clemson. I think Clemson wins the game, but App State stays within the number.

Mississippi State +5.5, +180 @ Arizona State

This has upset written all over it to me. Arizona State wasn’t expected to be great this season. The Sun Devils dominated Wyoming in week one, 48-7. Now there are expectations for the Sun Devils in week two. Mississippi State may be at the bottom of the SEC, but they are still an SEC team. New coach Jeff Lebby is the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator, and I loved the hire from the Bulldogs. The offense for Mississippi State is competent. Transfer quarterback Blake Shapen, from Baylor, is the starting quarterback. Shapen was the starting quarterback for Baylor when they won the Big 12 championship in 2021. I like what he brings to the table. Arizona State beat up a lesser team and forced three turnovers in their win. I don’t think they can replicate the turnover edge, and Mississippi State will be able to hang in this game and ultimately win the game outright.

Season record: 2-3

@steven_von