*CFB(1u): Nebraska/Illinois UNDER 54.5(-110)–Saturday Noon CT
This is an interesting handicap to open up the 2021 College Football season. Nebraska has had issues with the NCAA in recent weeks, and the Scott Frost camp is starting to grow thinner and thinner. Meanwhile, Illinois feels like they got their guy with Bret Bielema taking the reins in Champaign. Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez is entering his 4th season, but he has failed to live up to the Heisman hype he was once receiving. He lost his most dangerous weapon in Wan’Dale Robinson to the transfer portal and will be best served relying on his TE’s, especially early in the season. However, Illinois’ strength on defense is their Linebackers, and I think they’ll be able to stall out Nebraska’s offense and force Martinez into some mistakes. Illinois’ best chance at winning this game is to run the clock and try to shorten this game. They have a game-manager, pro-style QB in Brandon Peters to go along with 2 solid RB’s. Wide Receiver is a complete mystery for the Illini, so I’d expect to see lots of ground-and-pound football from them. Does Nebraska have the potential to break out offensively and show signs of improvement this season? Of course they do. However, I’ve yet to see any reason to trust them, and this won’t be a cake walk game for them. Early in the season and context considered, I think the Under is the best look in this game.
*CFB(1.5u): Fresno State 1H TT OVER 24.5(-115) vs UCONN–Saturday 1 PM CT
If you don’t remember much about UCONN’s 2020 season, it’s because they didn’t have one. The last time the Huskies took the field was November 30th, 2019, a game that saw them lose 49-17 to Temple. That season, they went just 2-10(wins over Wagner and UMASS); in those 10 losses, their average margin of defeat was an astonishing 28.3 PPG. Point being, this was a bad team before, and we can only expect them to be worse coming off a year of no competition. Fresno State’s offense projects to be one of the best in the Mountain West this season with senior QB Jake Haener(336.8 YPG last year) leading the way. The Bulldogs WR room features 3 separate options that could emerge as leading receivers this season, and the running game found its rhythm towards the end of last season. Fresno State ran the 5th most plays per game in the country last season, meaning they should go fast and give themselves plenty of opportunities to reach this number. Perhaps the UCONN offense could surprise us in this game, but I’m almost certain the UCONN defense will be ill-prepared to match up with this potentially prolific Fresno State offense. I think the Bulldogs come out hot and reach the 30 point barrier by Halftime, covering this 1st Half team total with ease.
