Takes on College Football: Against the Spread, Week Three

Now the season truly revs its engine. As we enter Week Three, the contenders begin to put some gas into the tank and ensure they have enough for the finish line. It’s early, yet. There is a lot of season left. And the two who make the bets are tied for the season after last week. As always, we are here every Friday to give you our best guesses at some games against the spread. Let Week Three begin. 

2021 ATS Record
Blaine Duncan: 3-3 (Week Two: 1-2)
TD Wood: 3-3 (Week Two: 2-1)

Blaine Duncan
Damn. Only one win last week and that was with the complete underdog Stanford, who, as it turns out, probably wasn’t an underdog in the least. (Goodbye for now, Clay Helton.) Iowa State couldn’t get the home win against in-state rival and the N.C. State/Mississippi State game wasn’t the scoring festival I suspected. Where does that put me? 

Alabama at Florida (UNDER 60) — I love how this one is trending up and up. It started at 54.5! And I would’ve taken the over then, maybe! Bama’s defense this year seems to be one of the good ones (as if anyone needed to be told that) and Saban’s defenses always travel well. I see this one ending with a 35-21 Bama win in a worse-case scenario.  

Auburn at Penn State (-5) — Know what’s fun? Cheering for whoever’s playing Auburn! Harsin may be in over his head as a first-year coach going into an environment like Happy Valley at night. It’s not that Auburn can’t win. They surely could and surely might. But you’re catching a pumped up home team at night with a pumped up fanbase and giving less than a touchdown! And it’s against Auburn! Who doesn’t want that?!

Stanford (-12.5) at Vanderbilt — This one and several other lines had me scratching my head this week, which is never a good sign. I’m probably very wrong here, but Stanford looks like they’re being overlooked after solidly beating a conference foe, even if that foe was USC. This line opened at Stanford-9, which would’ve been truly ideal. I still think there’s no way they aren’t winning in Nashville by fourteen points.  

***

TD Wood

Well, turns out Oregon might be a legit national title contender after all, and the panic surrounding Washington is merited. This week will really set the stage for the season, as teams start to round into their true form — giving us a better idea (hopefully) of where to place our bets.

*Friday Night Special* Maryland (-7) at Illinois — It may seem risky to take the Terps as a full touchdown road favorite, but Illinois has lost to UTSA and Virginia since their opening week win over Nebraska. Meanwhile for Maryland, Taulia Tagovailoa is looking better every game, throwing for over 600 yards with a 76.2% completion rate, with 6 touchdowns to no picks in their first two games.

Utah at San Diego State (+8.5) — This line really jumped out at me. The Aztecs love themselves a good win over a Pac-12 school, earning six wins over them in the past six seasons. Utah will want to bounce back after last week’s lost to rival BYU, but SDSU is no cakewalk, particularly at home. I like the Aztecs to keep it real close and maybe even steal the win.

*Game of the Week* Alabama at Florida (+14.5) — I’ve been torn on this one all week. On the one hand, the Gators haven’t really looked like a team that could give the Tide a good game. On the other, Bama has played a clearly overmatched Miami squad and a FCS foe (and looked sloppy in that one to boot). So who the hell knows what the real versions of these teams look like? I don’t think the Gators have a shot to win, really, which makes me hesitant to pick them even with all those points. But the crowd will be hyped, and a limited Will Anderson might be enough for the Gators to keep it close until late.

 

Note: All games are Against the Spread. Odds are taken from the MGM Sportsbook.