Raise your hand if you've heard this statement before. This week's college football slate is absolutely LOADED! Hardcore fans will have plenty of reasons to stay parked in front of their televisions from Noon to Midnight this Saturday.
Need help betting the Week 8 card? That's why we're here. Check out our 4 best bets for Saturday, October 21. Good luck, folks!
Penn State +4.5 over Ohio State
#7 Penn State is 6-0 on the year with 1 quality win over then #24 Iowa. The defense has been absolutely dominating and is holding opponents to an average of just 8ppg. That is good enough for 3rd in the entire country.
The offense has not been a slouch either as they are putting up over 44ppg which is good enough for 6th in the country. Drew Allar has thrown 12 touchdowns while averaging 209ypg through the air and added 3 more scores on the ground.
However, the more impressive stat is the fact that he has yet to throw an interception this season. Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton have been holding down the rushing attack and averaging 122.8ypg on the ground.
#3 Ohio State are also undefeated on the year at 6-0. Much like PSU, the Buckeyes have 1 quality win over then #9 Notre Dame. Now, that could have easily been their 1st loss as ND failed to have 10 men on the field on the last 2 plays of the game which was where OSU scored the game winning touchdown.
Junior quarterback, Kyle McCord, has the offense humming while averaging close to 300ypg which ranks them 20th in the country. His top target and future 1st round NFL pick, Marvin Harrison Jr, has caught 31 passes for over 600 yards and 5 touchdowns. The defense has been nearly as good as PSU as they sit in 4th in the country, allowing 9.67ppg to opponents.
This game is lining up to be the matchup of the week and hopefully it lives up to the hype. It has been 7 years since PSU has been able to defeat the Buckeyes. This Saturday, we believe PSU will finally break through and get a win over OSU here on the road. That said, we feel much more comfortable taking the points here. It is likely to come to who does not turn the ball over and that will be your winning team.
Key Betting Trends for Penn St at Ohio St
- PSU is 12-0-1 ATS in their last 13 games.
- PSU is 11-3 ATS in their last 14 games on the road.
- OSU is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against Penn State.
- OSU is 0-4 ATS in their last 7 games as a 7 point or less favorite.
Alabama -8.5 over Tennessee
#17 Tennessee is 5-1 on the year with their lone loss coming to Florida on the road in mid-September. The final score was better than what the game truly was. With 9 minutes to go, the Vols trailed 29-10 before Joe Milton III connected with Bru McCoy for a meaningless 55yd touchdown pass.
They could not stop Trevor Etienne who took his 23 carries for 172 yards and a touchdown. Graham Mertz completed almost 80% of his passes and did not force anything against this Vols secondary.
Alabama is 11th in the country and 6-1 on the year. That loss came to Texas back in early September. They did defeat a solid Ole Miss squad 24-10 and most recently defeated Arkansas 24-21.
Jalen Milroe has looked like a new quarterback from what he looked like earlier in the season. Their team statistics will not wow anyone like they have had in the past couple of years, but they are good enough for Bama to continue to get the job done.
Any time Bama loses, which is few and far between, the public loves to jump all over it and call for head coach, Nick Saban’s head. He and his team always seem to respond and go on another run of solid wins.
With Milroe looking more matured in his decision making. We believe Bama can hold Milton III in check while also winning the field position battle. A 10-point victory here is definitely not out of the realm of possibility.
Key Betting Trends for Tennessee at Alabama
- Tenn is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games when playing as the underdog.
- Tenn is 5-12 ATS in their last 17 games against Alabama.
- Bama is 14-6 ATS in their last 20 games played in October.
- Bama is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games played in week 8.
Florida State -13.5 over Duke
The #16 Duke Blue Devils are 5-1 on the year and their only loss was to Notre Dame 21-14. After the loss, they had a bye before facing NCST at home the next week. The defense shut down the Wolfpack while the offense ran for nearly 200 yards on the ground.
Despite going just 1/9 on 3rd down, the offense was able to put up 24 points while the defense stifled NCST, allowing just 3 points. They did this without Riley Leonard who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Henry Berlin IV struggled in replacing him but Jordan Waters carried the load for 123 yards and a score.
The 6-0 Noles are currently ranked 4th in the country and already have a signature win over then #5 LSU in the opener. Jordan Travis is averaging nearly 250ypg and has tossed 13 touchdowns to just 1 interception.
His main target has been Keon Coleman who has racked up over 400 yards on 29 catches along with 7 touchdowns. They have been averaging over 42ppg which is 10th best in the country. The defense ranks in the Top 40, allowing only 18ppg.
The fact that FSU has opened as such a large favorite lead us to believe that Riley Leonard will be held out once again. That being the case, FSU is a far superior team compared to NCST who Duke was able to defeat without Riley. The Noles are going to be able to put up points and truly hold Duke to a season low if Riley is out.
Key Betting Trends for Duke at Florida State
- Duke is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against Florida State.
- Duke is 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games on the road.
- FSU is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against an opponent in the Coastal Division
- FSU is 12-6 ATS in their last 18 games.
Utah +7 over USC
#14 Utah is coming off a solid 34-14 win over Cal. The game prior, Utah picked up their 1st loss of the season to #19 Oregon State on the road 21-7. After a bye week to get right, Utah bounced back with the win over Cal.
The Utes defense is holding teams under 13ppg which is 8th in the country. We could see the 1st start by Cam Rising who has been out since last season with a knee injury. The Utes have leaned heavily on the run game to move the ball offensively and will utilize it again here against USC.
USC has fallen to #18 after losing to Notre Dame last week. Caleb Williams had his worst game of the season. He finished with 3 interceptions and under 200 yards passing.
The defense did their best to hold ND out of the endzone but the short fields due to turnovers were too much to overcome. On the season, the defense is struggling and is ranked 192nd allowing 30ppg.
This should end up being one of the best games of the day along with PSU/OSU. The presence or lack thereof from Cam Rising will not matter here. The story will be the Utes defense that learned a lot from the ND game and how to slow down this USC offense.
That combined with the fact that USC struggles against the run and keeping the opponents off the scoreboard will be their demise. They may still win this game but should fail to cover.
Key Betting Trends for Utah at USC
- Utah is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against an opponent in the South Division
- Utah is 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games played in October.
- USC is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games.
- USC is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games when playing as the favorite.
