College Football Results Against The Spread Week 2 2017
By Mike Marteny
College Football Results Against The Spread Week 2 2017
We had 46 FBS vs. FBS games in the second weekend of college football. 51 games were on the schedule, but Hurricane Irma wiped out five of those games. Irma is still wreaking havoc this week, so stay tuned for cancellation updates.
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I racked up 54 out of 55 points in ESPN College Pick Em last week, so hopefully I did as well against the spread.
I was the leading scorer in the Fantasy CPR Reader’s group this week as I missed just the Stanford-USC game. My two week score of 99 leads the group now by one point over my old rival Gamebreaker_boz.
Here we will recap my picks against the spread. The winner against the spread will be in BOLD. My result will follow. Let’s get to it!
In case you want to follow along:
Friday
Early Saturday
Late Saturday
Oklahoma State(-28.5) at South Alabama: HIT! The Big 12(10) isn’t a one horse race this year. Oklahoma State is lethal on offense, and the defense isn’t half bad.
Ohio at Purdue(-3.5): HIT! This money was so easy it was like stealing from the casino…legally!
Cincinnati at Michigan(-34.5): HIT! Michigan’s offense better be glad they don’t have to play a good team for a while. They just got lucky with Florida’s offense being even worse than their own.
Florida Atlantic at Wisconsin(-33.5): MISS! I knew better. They let Hornibrook throw too much.
Louisville(-9.5) at North Carolina: HIT! The Tarheels gave up a school record in yards allowed. This season is going to get a whole lot worse for Carolina because Louisville didn’t get out of their own way until the second half.
Charlotte at Kansas State(-34.5): HIT! The Wildcats should be well tested rested for Vanderbilt.
Northwestern(-2.5) at Duke: MISS! The household names are gone from Duke, but David Cutcliffe has put together another stout team. Remember the name Daniel Jones. He is going to put up Lamar Jackson type numbers on Baylor this week.
East Carolina at West Virginia(-24.5): HIT! Now the question is, was it the talent around Will Grier, or was it the system holding him back? I will say that the Mountaineer receivers are better than anything Florida had while he was there, but are they that much better? Jim McElwain better figure it out soon or he will be fishing for a job soon.
Buffalo at Army(-15.5): HIT! I let the huge spread sway my bet when I should have went even larger. I actually liked Buffalo straight up, so this was an error in judgment on my part.
Iowa(-3.5) at Iowa State: MISS! That stupid half….and the stupid archaic laws that don’t allow them to kick an extra point in overtime…..
Wake Forest at Boston College(EVEN): MISS! Okay Wake, I see you! That is the way to make a statement.
Texas State at Colorado(-35.5): MISS! Too bad the Colorado offense waited until halftime to take the field…..
UAB at Ball State(-13.5): HIT! UAB looked pretty good though. Well, the offense, at least. Defense and special teams may be a continuing problem.
Fresno State at Alabama(-43.5): HIT! Bama rarely covers lines like this, but they still thoroughly dominated the game from every aspect.
Pittsburgh at Penn State(-21.5): That garbage TD by Pitt hurt. The score shouldn’t have been that close. Penn State dominated the game.
TCU(-2.5) at Arkansas: HIT! TCU didn’t even play that well, and they still dominated. Arkansas is going to have a really rough go in the SEC West. There are at least three teams in that division better than the one they just lost to.
Tulane at Navy(-11.5): MISS! That Tulane option often looked better than Navy’s.
Indiana(-3.5) at Virginia: HIT! Indiana still looks sloppy on offense. Well, they did until Peyton Ramsey took over. Is the Richard Lagow era over in Bloomington?
Middle Tennessee State at Syracuse(-10.5): HIT! Many were surprised that the Blue Raiders won outright. I wasn’t. They have a solid offense, but the defense still needs work.
Old Dominion(-3.5) at Massachusetts: HIT! UMass is the worst FBS team, and I’m not even sure it’s close.
Western Michigan at Michigan State(-7.5): MISS! This was a strong showing by Brian Lewerke and the Michigan State defense. L.J. Scott didn’t rack up yards, but he had some big time carries down the stretch in this one.
Eastern Michigan at Rutgers(-5.5): HIT! Don’t be surprised. Eastern Michigan is a solid team on both sides of the ball.
San Jose State at Texas(-25.5): MISS! Leave it to Texas to lose their starting quarterback, then proceed to look like the 1999 Rams. Chris Warren is a freaking beast!
Central Michigan at Kansas(-5.5): HIT! Kansas is better than last year, which really isn’t saying much. That said, they were torn apart by Michigan transfer Shane Morris. Kansas needs to work on that pass defense because there are at least three quarterbacks in the conference that are better than Morris.
Louisiana at Tulsa(-14.5): HIT! DeAngelo Brewer had a career day against the Cajuns as Tulsa hung 66 on Louisiana…..and they still barely covered.
Nebraska at Oregon(-13.5): MISS! Oregon did everything they could to give this game to the visitors, but Tanner Lee kept throwing it back. The Nebraska defense did do a great job in the second half. They held Oregon scoreless after the break to take away my win.
Hawaii at UCLA(-23.5): HIT! Josh Rosen looked the part of Heisman contender shredding the Rainbows defense. I know they dropped the rainbow a few years back, but Hawaii needs to earn the Warriors back after this one.
Marshall at North Carolina State(-23.5): MISS! Or not…..
Auburn at Clemson(-5.5): HIT! That Clemson defensive line just ate Auburn alive. The Tigers may not be the wonder to watch on offense, but they are plenty capable with the hordes of good receivers. If Clemson goes to the playoff again, it will be on the strength of the defense this year, not the offense.
Toledo(-10.5) at Nevada: MISS! I knew Toledo had the better players, and I gave Northwestern too much credit. Terry Swanson isn’t going to make anyone forget about Kareem Hunt, but he is going to be a good back in this offense.
UNLV at Idaho(-6.5): MISS! Good grief. Thanks Idaho!
North Texas at SMU(-13.5): MISS! This was a good old fashioned Texas shootout, and if you missed it, I’m sorry you did. Courtland Sutton is the best receiver you have never heard of. Can he do it against a real defense like TCU though?
South Carolina at Missouri: HIT! This young team played strong down the stretch last year, but it seems like no one remembers. That’s fine with me! I’ll keep making my bread off of backwards lines against the Cocks!
Oklahoma at Ohio State(-7.5): HIT! I expected Oklahoma to show up, and I even thought they had a better than 50/50 chance at a win. I never expected a blowout, especially after the mistakes of the first half. By the way, singing your fight song after a road win is mostly gamesmanship. It happens a lot. Planting your flag at midfield and dancing on the other team’s logo does not. Oklahoma took it a little too far there, and I really hope we don’t face them again in the playoff. What Ohio State did in Norman last year was earned. I don’t know that you ever earn the right to desecrate another team’s midfield logo.
Georgia at Notre Dame(-5.5): HIT! The Irish are a lot better than last year, but their offensive line needs to do a better job of protecting. Josh Adams had little running room, and Brandon Wimbush was harassed all night. This is likely the best defensive line the Irish will see, but Georgia certainly exposed some flaws.
Mississippi State(-9.5) at Louisiana Tech: HIT! Wow, that was a beating. However, Mississippi State wont get far in the SEC if the quarterback is leading the team in rushing every game. Fitzgerald is really good and fun to watch, but he will get hurt pulling that against Alabama, Auburn, and LSU.
UTSA at Baylor(-16.5): HIT! I told you this was bogus! More stealing from the Vegas vaults!
Western Kentucky(-7.5) at Illinois: MISS! The Illini defense looked stout here against a pretty solid offense. Can they keep it up, or will they look like they did against Ball State in the opener?
Rice at UTEP(-1.5): MISS! Well, at least we know Rice isn’t the worst team in Texas.
New Mexico State at New Mexico(-7.5): HIT! Hey kids, how about Tyler Rogers? The Lobos held Larry Rose under 100 yards, and the Aggies still won. Call me crazy, but I think the Aggies go bowling this year!
Minnesota at Oregon State(-2.5): HIT! This was one of the easiest bets I have ever made. Thank you Vegas for this gift!
Utah(-2.5) at BYU: HIT! It is unusual seeing BYU struggle like this, but you can’t say it isn’t warranted. As for Utah, that defense makes them a player in the Pac 12 race, but the offense needs to do more.
Boise State at Washington State(-9.5): MISS! You know, for a game this great, I’m almost not that disappointed that I lost the bet. What a game by both sides! I want to say that this game wouldn’t have been close with Luke Falk healthy, but the offense was stagnant with Falk under center. Oh, and I’m guessing that Brett Rypien is not the starter anymore. For the second straight game, Montell Cozart outplayed him.
Houston at Arizona: HIT! I never would have pegged this as a defensive battle, but a win is a win. Honestly, I think it has more to do with the disorganization of the offenses than actual defense, but it is what it is.
San Diego State at Arizona State(-3.5): HIT! On more than one occasion last year, Rashaad Penny outplayed one of the best players in program history, Donnel Pumphrey. The Aztecs are still a force this year!
I had a much better week this week, going 28-18 to bring my season tally to 48-42. Six above is not all that great, but it’s a better start than last year. The real indicator of success is the point system though. How did that go?
This week’s totals follow the number. The season totals are in parentheses.
1. 2-4 (5-8) = -3
2. 9-6 (15-15) = 0
3. 11-3 (17-9) = 24
4. 3-3 (6-7) = -4
5. 3-2 (5-3) = 10
I gained 33 points this week to put my season total at 27. I am still down 16 points since I started doing the point system at the start of the 2015 season. That can be fixed with another strong week like this!
Next: ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 3 2017
Make sure to come back for this week’s picks against the spread, our ESPN College Pick Em Picks, and our DFS picks for MLB, NFL, the PGA tour, and even the EPL! We have all of your needs covered!