Five weeks of the college football season (including Week 0) are in the books, and there has been plenty of games and data to sift through when it comes to making our College Football Week 5 Player Prop Bets and Picks.
Read on for our Top College Football Week 5 Player Prop Bets for Saturday.
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Saturday's Best College Football Player Prop Bets & Picks
Let’s dive into our top college football Week 5 player prop bet picks on Saturday’s slate of games.
(College football player prop bet odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook)
Devin Mockobee (Purdue) to record 7+ receiving yards (-115)
Nebraska is coming off a 31-24 overtime loss to Illinois. But prior to that first loss of the season, the Cornhuskers had allowed just 20 points in three games, and ranked in the top 20 nationally in both Finishing and Quality Drives.
Nebraska's two biggest strengths defensively are its defensive front that has recorded 11 sacks thus far, and a secondary that entered last week 42nd in Passing Success Rate. Thus, Purdue is not likely to move the ball consistently on the ground or by throwing the ball to the perimeter.
I expect the Boilermakers to involve their running backs more in the passing game this week, utilizing checkdowns and screen passes to negate Nebraska's pass rush. Devin Mockobee has just three catches for eight yards this season, but he went over this projected total in four of nine Big Ten games last year, and had five games with catches of 11-plus yards last season.
DraftKings offers +400 odds for Mockobee to record at least 25 receiving yards, but I will instead back the lower total as a safer wager.
RJ Harvey (UCF) Over 115.5 rushing yards (-114)
The Knights would not have the FBS-best rushing attack if they did not have mobile quarterbacks, and KJ Jefferson and company have combined to make up 20.4% of the team's rushing yards. And while two other running backs (Peny Boone and Myles Montgomery) have each rushed for 141 or more yards, the Buffaloes should expect to face a heavy dose of RJ Harvey in this game.
Harvey has run for 126-plus yards in all three games this season, and he had a bye week to recover from a season-high 29 carries against TCU. Harvey makes the most of his opportunities, as his 59 carries are the fifth-fewest among the 18 running backs with 400-plus rushing yards this season.
I was tempted to back his odds to score two or more touchdowns given that he has multiple touchdowns in all three games this season, but those odds are even steeper (-140) than just backing his rushing total. It would take Harvey's worst game of the season, while facing a defense that ranks 11th in the Big 12 in rushing yards per game, to stay under this projected total.
Jalen Milroe (Alabama) Over 201.5 passing yards (-114)
This article would not be complete if we did not involve in some way the AP top-4 SEC showdown between Georgia and Alabama.
We know that Kalen DeBoer loves his quarterbacks throwing deep, back to his days of letting Michael Penix Jr. air it out at Washington. Now DeBoer may have the best deep-passing quarterback in the country in Jalen Milroe.
Milroe's 52% completion percentage on passes of 20-plus yards was third-best in the country last year behind Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and national championship winner JJ McCarthy. In addition, Milroe had a 14-1 TD-INT ratio on passes 20-plus air yards.
I expect Alabama's offense to be able to move the ball, especially since Milroe became the fifth quarterback since 2008 with two or more passing touchdowns and multiple rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games after his incredible performance at Wisconsin. If Georgia's stout front is shutting down Alabama's physical running game, look for Milroe to take plenty of shots downfield.
I would not put anyone off waiting to see if a longest completion O/U prop becomes available, as that might be the more profitable way to back Milroe in this matchup. However, there is good value with this line, as other sportsbooks like Caesars has Milroe's O/U for passing yards set four yards higher at 205.5.
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.