Week 2 Betting Info ...

[New York Knight]

Auburn - Sean White, Suspension - is out Saturday (9/9) at Clemson

[New York Knight]

UGA - Jacob Eason, Ankle - is out indefinitely

[New York Knight]

Texas - Shane Buechele, Shoulder - is questionable Saturday (9/9) vs. San Jose State

[New York Knight]

USC -6 home favorite vs. Stanford Saturday after being -9 on early summer line

Cardinal romped in Australia, Trojans struggled vs. WMU

[New York Knight]

Jimbo Fisher: "James Blackman is the No. 1 QB."

[New York Knight]

Teams that lose by 7+ points to a top-10 team in Week 1 have gone 46-30 (61%) ATS in Week 2


Tulsa / UTEP / Indiana / Akron

[New York Knight]

[New York Knight]

Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State (ACC Network, 12:00 p.m. ET)

The Warhawks of ULM saunter into Tallahassee as decisive underdogs after dropping a 37-29 decision in Memphis last weekend. They'll meet an angry Florida State side which had its tail kicked by Alabama in the opener by a 24-7 count, and they lost starting QB Deondre Francois to a season-ending knee injury. Even with FSU down their top signall caller, Vegas has the 'Noles installed as a 33 1/2-point favorite as of Wednesday afternoon. While the Warhawks are 6-2-1 ATS over their past nine games against non-conference foes, they are a dismal 1-5 ATS following a straight-up loss. The Seminoles tend to be much better, going 4-1 ATS over their past five following an L in the previous week, while posting a 4-1 ATS mark over their past five non-conference tilts.

[New York Knight]

Louisville at North Carolina (ESPN, 12:00 p.m. ET)

Louisville and defending Heisman Trophy winner QB Lamar Jackson received all they could handle from Purdue in Indianapolis last weekend, sneaking away with a 35-28 victory. Meanwhile, North Carolina was tripped up in its opener against California, and they'll try to avoid an 0-2 start at Kenan. These teams haven't met since Sept. 15, 2012, hooking up this week for the first time as ACC foes. Louisville won the most recent meeting 39-34 in Kentucky, but that can mostly be discounted considering none of the players on the field Saturday were actually on the field in the most recent meeting. The line opened at six, quickly getting bet up into double digits. That's interesting considering the Cardinals are 0-5 ATS over their past five, and 1-4-1 ATS in their past six trips away from home. Meanwhile, UNC is 4-0 ATS in their past four following a straight-up loss and 5-0 ATS in their past five following a non-cover.

[New York Knight]

Northwestern at Duke (ESPNU, 12:00 p.m. ET)

In a 'Brain Bowl', the Wildcats and Blue Devils do battle trying to each get to 2-0 on the season. The Wildcats topped Nevada 31-20 last week, failing to cover a 24-point number, while Duke smashed fellow Durham resident and FCS opponent North Carolina Central by a 60-7 count. The Wildcats came away with a 24-13 win last season in Evanston, and they won 19-10 in their last trip to Wallace Wade on a steamy day in 2015. Northwestern has covered the previous two meetings, too, and they're a perfect 6-0 ATS in their past six against ACC opponents. However, Duke is an impressive 20-6-1 ATS in their past 27 outside of the conference.

[New York Knight]

Wake Forest at Boston College (ACC Network, 1:00 p.m.)

Both the Deacons and Eagles have a chance to get out to a hot start, not only moving to 2-0 overall, but 1-0 in the conference. Wake Forest is 6-1 ATS over their past seven road outings and 5-1 ATS in their past six against ACC foes. It's the complete opposite for BC, who failed to cover last week in a win over Northern Illinois. The Eagles are 2-8-1 ATS in their past 11 inside the conference, 1-4-2 ATS in their past seven in September and 3-8-2 ATS in their past 13 played in Chestnut Hill. Total bettors will be interested to know the 'under' has connected in seven straight meetings in this series.

[New York Knight]

Pittsburgh at Penn State (ABC, 3:30 p.m.)

Pitt eased past FCS opponent Youngstown State last week by a 28-21 score, needing overtime to survive. Meanwhile, Penn State mauled visiting Akron by a 52-0 count, proving their Top 5 ranking is certainly no fluke. These clubs met last Sept. 10 in an entertaining 42-39 track meet in the Steel City, and the Panthers piled up 341 rushing yards. On the other side, Heisman hopeful Saquon Barkley found the end zone four times in the victory. The line opened at 18 1/2 and is quickly up to the three-touchdown neighborhood. That's likely because the Panthers are 3-13 ATS in their past 16 non-conference tilts and 1-5 ATS across the past six vs. Big Ten foes. Penn State is an impressive 8-0 ATS following a cover, 6-0-1 ATS in their past seven against winning teams and 6-0-1 ATS over the past seven in Happy Valley. Keep in mind that the underdog is a perfect 5-0 ATS across the past five in this series.

[New York Knight]

Indiana at Virginia (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.)

The Hoosiers of IU might not have topped Ohio State last Thursday, but they received plenty of good words following their tough showing for the first three quarters. Indiana moved the ball well through the air and actually held a 14-13 lead midway through the third before talent took over. Meanwhile, UVA churned out a 28-10 win over FCS William & Mary, a solid mid-level opponent. The Hoosiers missed the cover last week with a late second half run by Ohio State. They're 2-6 ATS in their past eight against the ACC, and 3-9 ATS in their past 12 on grass. Something's got to give, as the Hoos are 0-5 ATS in their past five and 1-4 ATS in their past five in Charlottesville.

[New York Knight]

Marshall at North Carolina State (ACC Network, 6:00 p.m.)

Marshall found themselves as rare home underdogs against Miami (Ohio) last week, but they opened the game with a 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown and finished with a 31-26 victory. One thing to note, however, is that despite scoring 31 points, the Herd had two long kickoff returns for score and one pick-six. The offense was actually outgained 429-267 in total yardage and Marshall accounted for just 15 first downs. N.C. State is going to be an ornery bunch after falling short against South Carolina in Charlotte in an entertaining affair. The Wolfpack is an impressive 11-3 ATS in their past 14 non-conference battles, 9-2 ATS across the past 11 in September and 7-3 ATS in their past 10 on a grass surface. The Herd has covered just twice over their past seven road trips while going 0-7 ATS in their past seven following a cover in the previous outing.

[New York Knight]

Auburn at Clemson (ESPN, 7:00 p.m.)

It's a battle of Tigers in the upstate, as Auburn invades Clemson looking to hand the defending champs their first L since the 2016 National Championship game. Clemson is installed as a five-point favorite as of Wednesday afternoon, so Vegas expects a tight affair similar to their previous meeting. Clemson won a hard-fought 19-13 battle on the Plains last season, outperforming Auburn 399-262 in total yardage. Auburn is 10-4-1 ATS in their past 15 games overall, and 5-1-1 ATS in the past seven outside of the conference, while going 6-2-1 ATS in their past nine on a grass surface. Meanwhile, Clemson is 4-1 ATS in their past five at Death Valley, while going 11-5 ATS in their past 16 following a straight-up victory. They're also 5-0 ATS in their past five outside of the conference, including two playoff games last season and a decisive 56-3 victory over Kent State in the opener last Saturday in front of the home faithful.

[New York Knight]

Ohio at Purdue (-3.5) - (Friday, FS1, 8:00 p.m. ET)

Ohio – The Bobcats picked up an easy 59-0 win last week at home vs Hampton. They rushed for 248 yards and 7 TD’s in the game. The defense walled off Hampton for just 108 total yards on a paltry 1.9 yards per play. Hampton trailed 20-0 at half and was able to muster only 15 total yards in 7 second half possessions. The Bobcats have covered 6 of their last 7 road games dating back to last season.

Purdue – The Boilers fared much better than many thought in their opener under new head coach Jeff Brohm. They were 26.5 point underdogs to the Louisville Cardinals and actually had the lead into the 4th quarter. Louisville scored the final 10 points of the game, in the final 9:00 minutes, and won 35-28. The final 7-point margin was the Cards largest lead of the game. Despite the tight contest throughout, neither team ever led by more than 8 points, Louisville dominated the statistics. The Birds rolled up 524 yards on 6.6 yards per play. Heisman trophy returning QB Lamar Jackson accounted for a whopping 485 of Louisville’s 524 yards. Purdue had 344 total yards on 4.4 yards per play. The Boilers will probably try and establish a running game in this one as 293 of their 344 yards vs Louisville came through the air. They did so with 2 QB’s with Elijah Sindelar getting the first start of his career (118 yards & 2 TD’s) with last year’s starter David Blough (175 yards & 2 TD’s) entering in the 2nd quarter. Blough played through the 3rd quarter and Sindelar came back in the 4th and finished the game. Can Purdue bounce back after the disappointing loss with a game at Missouri on deck? That will play a key role in this one. If you subtract their games vs FCS opponents, Purdue has been a favorite just 4 times in the last 4 seasons (2-2 both SU and ATS).

[New York Knight]

Saturday Florida Atlantic at Wisconsin (-31.5) - (Big Ten, 12:00 p.m. ET)

FAU – Lane Kiffin’s lid lifter as the FAU head coach didn’t go well. In a game that lasted nearly 6 hours due to 3 lightning delays, the Owls were trounced by Navy 42-19. Kiffin’s debut saw his team get outrushed to the tune of 416 yards to 40! Navy held the ball for 40 minutes to just 20 for FAU. Those are all bad signs for this weekend as the Owls travel to Wisconsin to face the Badgers who will obviously look to run the ball a lot on Saturday. With a defense that was worn down last Saturday facing 68 Navy rushing attempts, Wisconsin is not the ideal opponent to have to enter the ring against just a week later. FAU comes into this game having lost 24 of their last 30 games dating back to the 2014 season.

Wisconsin – The Badgers started more than slowly last Saturday as they trailed Utah State 10-0 with just over 1:00 minute remaining the first half. Wisconsin’s offense was out of synch putting up only 40 total yards (0 points) on their first four drives of the game. After the slow start, UW’s offense rolled up 59 points in 31 minutes on 438 yards. They scored points on 8 of their final 9 drives with their only non-scoring possession ending in a Wisconsin fumble. Sophomore QB Alex Hornibrook was solid and it looks like the Badgers will have a 3 headed monster at RB with Bradrick Shaw, Chris James, and true freshman Jonathan Taylor, who averaged nearly 10 YPC last Friday. Taylor very well may get more work this weekend (9 carries last week) as starter Shaw injured his leg and is listed as questionable. Update – Shaw has been getting some work in practice and may play on Saturday. We’re guessing with a blowout expected, the coaches will be careful with him.

[New York Knight]

Northwestern (-3.5) at Duke - (ESPNU, 12:00 p.m. ET)

Duke – There wasn’t much to be gained on our end from Duke’s 60-7 win over NC Central last weekend. The Devils looked great on both sides of the ball outgaining NCC by 364 yards in a game they led 40-0 midway through the 2nd quarter. However, the competition was obviously poor so we won’t get a solid gauge on Duke until after this week’s game. Remember, the Devils basically did the same last year routing NC Central to open the season winning 49-6 but went on to lose 8 of their next 11 games. Between November of 2004 and September of 2013, Duke was a home dog 38 times. The pulled off an upset a grand total of TWICE in those 38 games (2-36 SU record). However, from September of 2013 through last season, they were a home dog just 5 times but won 3 of those games outright (3-2 SU record).

Northwestern - This will be the 3rd consecutive years these high level academic schools have met on the gridiron. Northwestern has taken the first two meetings 19-10 in 2015 and 24-13 last year. The spread in this year’s contest is an interesting number. The Cats are currently favored by -3.5 on the road. For comparison’s sake, last year NW was favored by 4 at home which is basically the same number as we are seeing this year except the game is at Duke. Two years ago the Devils were a -3.5 point favorite at home so this spread is definitely not in line with those previous odds. Despite NW winning both of those games, the combined stat sheet of those two games were almost identical (Northwestern 37 first downs & 677 total yards / Duke 39 first downs & 721 total yards). The Wildcats were shaky at best in their opener vs Nevada. They came into the game at 24 point favorites and never came close to that number. Their biggest lead of the game was the final score of 31-20 and NW grabbed that margin with only 52 seconds remaining in the game. They did outgain the Wolfpack 508 to 341 but the Wildcats also ran 88 offensive plays to just 63 for Nevada. With that the yards per play average was very close with Northwestern at 5.7 and Nevada 5.4. Since 1980, the Wildcats have been a road favorite 34 times covering the spread in 20 of those games (59%).

[New York Knight]

Cincinnati at Michigan (-34) - (ABC, 12:00 p.m. ET)

Cincinnati – The new head coach at Cincinnati is Luke Fickell who was an assistant at Ohio State since 2002. He should have a good feel for Michigan to say the least. The Bearcats were less than impressive in their season opener. They topped Austin Peay 26-14 but were outplayed from beginning to end. Cincinnati had 5 fewer first downs, 65 fewer total yards and they were -15:00 minutes in time of possession. They were also outrushed 224 to 97 by the FCS team. The Governors fumbled at the Cincy 34 yard line, threw an interception at the Bearcat 2 yard line, and were shut out on downs at the Cincinnati 3 yard line. If not for those three crucial mistakes deep into Cincinnati territory resulting in no points, we could have been talking about an upset here. The Bearcats have not been a dog of more than 30 points since the 1999 season and only twice since 1991.

Michigan – The Wolverines dominated Florida more than the 33-17 score would indicate. The Gator offense did next to nothing the entire day. They had just 192 total yards and just 11 on the ground. The Florida offense didn’t score a single TD in the game as their two trips to the endzone came on interception returns. Not bad for a defense that lost 10 of their 11 starters from last season. With the score Florida 17, Michigan 13 at halftime, the Wolverines came out and scored a TD and two FG’s in the first 6:00 minutes of the 2nd half. Florida’s offense had only 3 first downs the entire 2nd half before their meaningless final possession which started with 1:37 left in the game. Offensively Michigan played well with the exception of starting QB Wilton Speight. He had only 11 completions in 25 attempts and threw two pick 6’s on back to back plays in the 2nd quarter to give Florida their only TD’s of the game as we mentioned earlier. Harbaugh has given Speight a vote of confidence and he will start again this week vs Cincinnati. On a sidenote, it was Florida’s first season opening loss since 1990, a run of 27 straight wins! Michigan is just 12-21 ATS (36%) as a home favorite of -28 or more dating back to 1980.

[New York Knight]

Iowa (-2.5) at Iowa State - (ESPN2, 12:00 p.m. ET)

Iowa State – The Cyclones play their second of back to back in-state teams this Saturday. After beating Northern Iowa 42-24 last Saturday ISU hosts Iowa this week. The Cyclones have been waiting for this one after getting embarrassed last year in Iowa City 42-3. The Hawkeyes dominated that game outgaining ISU 435 to 291. Surprisingly it was the first time since 2011 that the home team actually took home the CyHawk Trophy which goes to the winner of this intense rivalry. The road team had won 4 straight entering last season. The Clones relatively easy win over UNI last week was a solid start. Northern Iowa is one of the top programs in FCS and actually beat Iowa State last season. The stats were fairly close however Iowa State had two interceptions returned for TD’s which gave them 14 of their 42 points in the win.

Iowa – The Hawkeyes thwarted a solid Wyoming offense and QB Josh Allen last week. Allen is rated by some NFL scouts as the top QB in college this season. Iowa held Allen to only 173 yards passing on just 4.4 yards per pass attempt. The Hawkeyes defensive goal coming into the game was to take away the big play. They did just that as Allen completed a grand total of ONE pass for more than 14 yards the entire game. The Cowboys rushing attack did next to nothing to help him out (59 yards rushing). That was an impressive performance by the Iowa defense. The concern? The offense looked pedestrian at best. New QB Nate Stanley was “OK” completing 8 of his 15 pass attempts. The running game wasn’t great either as they put up 138 yards on just 3.8 YPC. Iowa running backs Akrum Wadley and James Butler had a grand total of TWO runs of more than 10 yards the entire game. That was against a defense that allowed nearly 470 total yards per game last season. It’s obvious Iowa’s defense will carry them this year but they’ll need some help from the offense when they start facing better competition. After dominating this series from 1983 – 1997 with a perfect 15-0 record, Iowa has a record of just 9-10 vs Iowa State from 1998 – current.