College Football Week 4: Best Bets for Saturday, September 20

Make your Week 4 of college football a little sweeter by digesting our betting preview. Our top analyst has 2 best bets for Saturday, September 20. Check out those below and enjoy the games this weekend.

Texas Tech Red Raiders vs Utah Utes

Texas Tech rolls into Utah with a 3-0 record and a #17 ranking on Saturday. They are coming off a 45-14 dismantling of Oregon State last week. That was the fewest number of points they put up on the season to date. With 67-7 and 62-14 wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Kent State coming in the weeks prior, the 45 they put up last week was a bit underwhelming.

Behren Morton has been spectacular for the Red Raiders and put up over 450 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air last week. He has now thrown 11 touchdowns and just 1 interception on the season. Granted, the offense has been so efficient that they have forced opponents to throw more, but their run defense has been one of the best in the country. They have allowed a total of just 88 rushing yards over their last 2 games.

Utah is also 3-0 and ranked a spot ahead at #16. Their offense has also been humming with an average of 45.6ppg to this point. While Devon Dampier has been solid through the air with 7 touchdowns to 0 interceptions, he and the running backs have been the engine that is driving this offense.

They are averaging nearly 300 yards per game on the ground. On defense, they have been tough against the pass, and part of that is due to facing weak opponents, but they led most of their games, so the numbers should be higher than the Utes have allowed.

Best Bet: Utah -3

We are backing the home squad here in this top 20 matchup. Texas Tech’s defense is going to be seriously tested on the ground with Utah’s ability to pound the rock and use Dampier’s legs to make something out of nothing when passing plays break down.

Utah’s pass defense should be able to do enough to slow down Morton and company enough for the Utes to control time of possession and win by about a touchdown here at home.

Key Trends for Texas Tech at Utah

• Utah is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games.
• Utah is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games played in week 4.

Illinois Fighting Illini vs Indiana Hoosiers

#9 Illinois is 3-0 on the year and have collected those wins over Western Illinois, Duke, and most recently, Western Michigan. The offense has been led by Luke Altmyer who has thrown for over 700 yards, 8 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and over a 71% completion percentage.

While their win over Duke was by 26 points, it could have been a much different story had the Blue Devils not turned the ball over 5 times. They put up over 430 yards of total offense, but those turnovers made the difference in the game. They will need to be tougher in this one and not rely on just hoping to get turnovers to make the difference in the game.

Indiana is now ranked just inside the top 20 at #19 but have not played a strong opponent to this point. Wins over Kennesaw St (56-9) and last week over Indiana St (73-0) are not that impressive. In their opener, they snuck past Old Dominion with a 27-14 win but gave up over 200 yards on the ground in that one.

However, offensively, they have been firing on all cylinders. Fernando Mendoza has thrown for better numbers than Altmyer and he also has a 2-headed monster in his backfield to lean on. Kaelon Black, Lee Beebe Jr, and Roman Hemby have all rushed for over 200 yards through these 1st three games.

Best Bet: Indiana -6

Illinois is going into a hostile environment with a defense that needed 5 turnovers to defeat their toughest opponent on the year. If the Duke offense can put up over 400 yards of total offense, we expect this Hoosiers offense to do even better.

Indiana also has a +4 turnover ratio which bodes well for them in this matchup. We are backing the home favs here in this Big 10 clash. Look for Altmyer to struggle and Mendoza to outshine him in this one.

Key Trends for Illinois at Indiana

• Illinois is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games against Indiana.
• Illinois is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Indiana.
• Indiana is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games at home.
• Indiana is 15-6 ATS in its last 21 games.