College Football: Best Bet for Saturday, September 5th (2020)
Against all the odds, we’ve actually made it to the college football season — sort of. The 2020 college football season has officially begun — three of the five power five conferences are slated for action, one (Big 10) is trending in that direction, and the last (Pac-12) seeming unlikely to play.
Before the big boys in the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 get started, we have some lower-profile games first. Conference USA, the Sun Belt, and the American Athletic Conference will kick things off in “Week Zero†of the 2020-21 season.
Injury reports will play a bigger role this year than most, as we’ll need to monitor which players and teams are struggling with COVID. We’ll also have to keep track of the players who “opt-out†as the season goes on.
With all that said, I couldn’t be more excited! This will be a roller coaster ride of betting week-in and week-out.
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
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Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Army Black Knights (-3.5, O/U55.5), 1:30 PM EST
In his 15th year at the helm, MTSU coach Rick Stockstill is by far CUSA’s longest-tenured coach. And with his resume, it’s easy to see why. Stockstill is coming off his first losing season since 2011, so I expect him to bounce back with a ton of returning talent.
At the quarterback position, dual-threat Asher O’Hara returns. So do four offensive line starters. Unfortunately, the Raiders will return just five defensive starters, giving them a depleted front seven.
For Army, not much should change in the way of preparation. The military academies largely live in a bubble as-is, which I see as a major advantage for these programs. A run-first team historically, Army should produce more of the same this year. That said, I’m not sure exactly from whom the production will come. The Knights lost their ace in the triple-option this season, as Kelvin Hopkins has departed.
In addition to his departure, the Knights will roll out a very young offense. They have just five returning starters, and they all must learn that triple option with no spring practices and a shortened fall camp. Thankfully for head coach Jeff Monken, Army’s defense returns seven starters. Although their leading tackler left, their time-eating approach on offense should limit the number of defensive snaps they have to play.
I expect a lot of sloppy football to start the season, and we could see a 16-10-type performance here. As Army works out the kinks in their scheme, look for the clock to run consistently, leading the score to sail under the total.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.