Now that we've seen every team take the field, will the performances we saw in Week 1 be outliers or trends for the rest of the season? Will Davis Warren rebound from a lackluster first start against the Texas Longhorns? Will Omarion Hampton put up another huge rushing performance against the Charlotte 49ers? And will Nico Iamaleava take advantage of a weak North Carolina State Wolfpack defense?
Here are the best college football PrizePicks plays for Week 2's Saturday slate.
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Now that we've seen every team take the field, will the performances we saw in Week 1 be outliers or trends for the rest of the season? Will Davis Warren rebound from a lackluster first start against the Texas Longhorns? Will Omarion Hampton put up another huge rushing performance against the Charlotte 49ers? And will Nico Iamaleava take advantage of a weak North Carolina State Wolfpack defense?
Here are the best college football PrizePicks plays for Week 2's Saturday slate.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
College Football Week 2: PrizePicks Player Predictions (2024)
This Season: 5-4-0
Davis Warren Over 150.5 passing yards
This number is way too low, no matter what you think of Davis Warren’s first performance. Warren didn't look great in his first start with the Michigan Wolverines. He completed just 15 of his 25 pass attempts and finished with only 118 yards. These rough numbers happened against the Fresno State Bulldogs, so how is he going to hit this number on Saturday?
It's a long college football season, and we're not going to write off a player who had never attempted more than four passes in a game just because they struggled a bit in their first start. The Longhorns are obviously a better team than Fresno State, but that works to Warren's advantage. The Wolverines won't be able to lean on the run as much in this game, as they play from behind and ask more of their young quarterback. Some may feel that Alex Orji could take over at quarterback if Warren struggles early, but it was clear in Week 1 that this is Warren's team, and he's going to see most of the playing time.
Omarion Hampton Over 115.5 rushing yards
Until Hampton finds himself in a tough matchup, we're taking his over every week. When Max Johnson struggled in Week 1 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Hampton took over as the key component of the North Carolina Tar Heels' offense. He finished the game with 30 carries for 129 yards, accounting for more than half of North Carolina's offensive yards.
The biggest concern in this game is that the Tar Heels beat the 49ers by so much that Hampton barely sees the field in the second half. However, based on what we saw in Week 1, the only way the Tar Heels are going to build up a huge lead is if Hampton runs wild. The 49ers allowed 194 rushing yards to the James Madison Dukes in Week 1. Hampton is going to have a performance very similar to his Week 1 stat line.
Nico Iamaleava Over 253.5 passing yards
This is my favorite player prop of the weekend. The Tennessee Volunteers have to head on the road to face another top-25 team, but it's clear after Week 1 that the Wolfpack's time with a number next to their name will be short-lived. They gave up 21 points and 361 yards to the Western Carolina Catamounts in Week 1. Quarterback Cole Gonzales threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
Iamaleava was untested in Week 1, but he still threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns. The Wolfpack have serious defensive issues, and Iamaleava and the Volunteers are going to exploit those deficiencies for a full 60 minutes. We would take this number up to 275.
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
