#ncaaf #collegefootball #fieldgoal #snap #touchdown #auburn#auburntigers #louisianatech #WKU #bulldogs #hilltoppers #hoosier #utah#utahstate #southernutah #Michigan #michiganstate #OregonDucks#Ohiostate #Buckeyes #Middletennessee #Olemiss #Northernillinois
Week Two of college football is in the books and two of the most important things we can take from the results is to pay attention to hangover and look aheads. The writing was on the wall early in the week with the Thursday night offering of Louisiana Tech at Western Kentucky. The Bulldogs had hammered FBS tomato can Southern in its opener and expected to roll through the much improved Hilltoppers who they pummeled 59-10 in 2014. La Tech, with a signature game at Kansas State on deck, barely showed and was down 14-0 off the git go before some late scores made the 41-38 final respectable. Western Kentucky was off a huge confidence building win over SEC door mat Vanderbilt and in revenge mode off last year’s beat down. WKU was also in a good spot to leave it on the field with extra time to prepare before a trip to Big Ten Indiana. Now 2-0 and with a road game vs. a beatable Hoosier outfit on deck, the Hilltoppers are in a nice spot in conference and with some nice non-conference style points come Bowl time in December. From a betting perspective, Western Kentucky opened up as a two point favorite that was quickly bet to La Tech -1 during the week and closing LT -2/2.5 at game time. On Friday night, Utah sleepwalked its way to a 24-14 win over state rival Utah State. The Utes burst out to a 7-0 lead scoring on its first possession but a Chuckie Keeton TD drive in the final two minutes sent the Aggies to the locker room tied at 14. Utah was coming off an emotional National TV game vs Michigan last week in Jim Harbaugh’s debut and the Utes never to took their in-state rivals seriously. Utah State was off a 12-9 opening day win over Southern Utah, needing an 88-yard punt return late in the fourth quarter to escape with a win as 32-point favorite. The Mountain West Aggies obviously never took the Thunderbirds seriously, looking ahead instead to this National TV game that would be so important in terms of recruiting in the Beehive State. Utah never seriously threatened to cover their -12 impost. Looking back in retrospect to Friday, September 4th, we saw a game played that involved a look ahead and a hangover. Michigan State was a 17-point favorite at Western Michigan with Oregon at home in a revenge game on deck and a game they eventually won. The Spartans used the game essentially as a tune up but the Broncos, who were it most of the way, played hard with Georgia State and Murray State on deck. QB Zack Terrell threw for 365 yards against the Spartans and would have had 500 if not for wide open drops by his wideouts. WMU was flat as a pancake Saturday, getting smoked at Georgia State as a 5-point road favorite. Perhaps the biggest hangover/look ahead in history involved Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers were off a hard fought win over Louisville in their opener with LSU on deck. Auburn’s game against Jacksonville State (+44) should have been just a light practice but Auburn was forced to overtime before finally winning 27-20. The Gamecocks were so lightly regarded that a $100 money line bet in Vegas would have returned a whopping $65,000. Two highly ranked team were not smart money this week fit these profiles including top-ranked Ohio State. The No.1 Buckeyes (-43) coasted to a disinterested 38-0 win over Hawaii after their big win at Virginia Tech last week. With Northern Illinois on deck, all that effort cost OSU was a couple of first-place AP votes that went to Michigan State. Alabama went through the motions in 37-10 win over Middle Tennessee State. The Tide hosts Ole Miss (the first team in NCAA history to post B2B 70 point games) this Saturday in a key SEC West showdown. If the first two weeks of the college season are any indication …. look aheads, hangovers and scheduling spots (sandwich) in general are going to be important considerations in your college football handicapping if they haven’t been already.