Let’s take a look at 4 Week 2 favorites who appear poised to crush overmatched dogs. As tempting as it is to take these favorites against the spread, caution is in order.
Florida (-28) at South Florida
USF was of the very worst looking teams in week 1. The Bulls made North Carolina State look like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, getting outgained 525-271. USF has to be wondering why they ever hired Jeff Scott. The 2nd-year coach has not yet won an FBS game (USF fans are very thankful for last year’s Citadel game!) and their fans cannot be blamed for checking his buyout amount — Scott was signed for 5 years and $12.5 million.
The game in Tampa will not even be a “true” home game as we expect Gator fans to heavily attend. The Odyssey fondly remembers attending a spine tingling, 31-28 USF win in 2003 over a good Louisville team. The place was rocking! No more. However, Florida cannot help but looking forward to whom they host in the Swamp the following Saturday: ALABAMA! When you factor in that the USF players from the Sunshine State will want to show well against the school that did not offer them, giving the 4 touchdowns does not look like easy money to the Odyssey.
Purdue (-34) at UConn
After Saturday’s 38-28 loss to Holy Cross, Randy Edsall promptly announced his retirement. Very smart, Randy, to get ahead of the posse! Purdue may be preoccupied by their date the following Saturday at Notre Dame. The Notre Dame game was always a huge game on the Purdue schedule until the Irish decided not to play the Boilermakers annually. This will be the 85th installment in the series, Notre Dame leading 56-26-2. Purdue is always fired up to play the Irish.
UTEP at Boise (-26)
Boise State will be jazzed to have a rare home date on September 18th against a Power 5 team in Oklahoma State on the blue turf! Will there be a significant chance of overlooking UTEP with UTEP’s lightweight pedigree. Probably not as the Miners are actually 2-0 (a deceptive mark because their victims were the underwhelming duo of New Mexico State and Bethune Cookman). Further, Boise will want to get the bitter taste of their come-from-ahead loss to UCF out of their mouth. Still, Boise may hibernate a bit in the 2nd half as they look forward to the Cowboy game.
UNLV at Arizona State (-33)
Like UTEP, UNLV is a perennially downtrodden program. ASU may be looking forward to its first big game of the year the following Saturday at BYU. UNLV actually showed a pulse against a strong Eastern Washington team. Despite being outmatched on the offensive line, the Rebels held a strong offense in check for most of the game. We would only back UNLV in this spot.
Speaking of UNLV, their opener showed why sports gamblers can go insane. The total for the game ranged between 66 and 69. When only 9 points were scored in the first half, wouldn’t you feel awesome if you had a ticket on the under? The game ends in regulation at 20-20. Final score in double OT: Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33.
BE CAUTIOUS OUT THERE!
MIKE ROEDER
The Odyssey seems to place a lot of weight on “trap games,” is there data that backs this up?
Rick
Great question, Mike! Bobby Bowden once said that a team could only get “sky high” for several games a year. If the favorites here get well ahead, they are likely to “shut it down” in the 2nd half