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College Football

Betting Recap – Week 1

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
9 minute read
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College Football Week 1 Results
WAGER Favorites-Underdogs
Straight Up 80-9
Against the Spread 41-46-2
WAGER Home-Away
Straight Up 70-15
Against the Spread 39-44-2
WAGER Totals (O/U)
Over-Under 39-49-2
WAGER Favorites-Underdogs
Straight Up (neutral site) 3-1
WAGER Favorites-Underdogs
Against the spread (neutral site) 2-2
WAGER Totals (O/U)
Over-Under 0-4

The largest underdogs to win straight up

Georgia State (+24.5, ML +1750) at Tennessee, 38-30
Wyoming (+17.5, ML +600) vs. Missouri, 37-31
North Carolina (+11.5, ML +375) vs. South Carolina, 24-20
Nevada (+11, ML +320) vs. Purdue, 34-31
Hawaii (+10.5, ML +300) vs. Arizona, 45-38
Central Arkansas (+10.5, ML +265) at Western Kentucky, 35-28

The largest favorites to cover

UCF (-44) vs. Florida A&M, 62-0
Temple (-42) vs. Bucknell, 56-12
Penn State (-41.5) vs. Idaho, 79-7
Clemson (-36.5) vs. Georgia Tech, 52-14
Alabama (-35) vs. Duke, 42-3

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (AAC)

-- Tulane opened the season with an impressive 42-14 thumping of visiting Florida International as three-point favorites as the 'under' (58.5) just came through. ... UCF hammered on FCS Florida A&M by a 62-0 count in Orlando, as the Rattlers were unable to help out 'over' (66) bettors. The Knights will travel to Boca Raton to battle FAU next week in another battle against an in-state foe. ... East Carolina was overpowered by a 34-6 score at N.C. State, as the Wolfpack have now outscored the Pirates 92-9 in the past two meetings. ... Temple smashed FCS Bucknell by a 56-12 count, covering a 40.5-point number. The Owls were also able to take care of the 'over' (56.5) themselves.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE (ACC)

-- Boston College picked up a 35-28 victory at home against Virginia Tech as four-point underdogs. The key was a 21-point second quarter, as the Eagles beat the Hokies for the second consecutive season. ... Clemson registered a 52-14 victory over Georgia Tech in Death Valley. With 6:11 to go, the Tigers hit a 51-yard field goal to increase their lead from 49-14, and they covered as a result. ... Florida State had their game against Boise State moved from TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville to their home stadium in Tallahassee due to the approaching Hurricane Dorian. The Seminoles took a 31-19 lead into halftime, but they were outscored 17-0 in the second half to lose to the Broncos. ... Syracuse hit the road for Liberty to open the season, winning 24-0 to cover a 19 1/2-point number.

BIG TEN

-- Wisconsin opened on the road Friday night at South Florida, and the heat and humidity of Florida was no obstacle for the Badgers. They ran roughshod over the Bulls to win 49-0 as the 'under' (58) cashed. ... Minnesota struggled with FCS South Dakota State on Thursday, trailing 21-20 after three quarters. The Gophers picked up a touchdown and two-point conversion to avoid the upset. ... Michigan State fired out to a 25-0 lead in Friday's home opener against Tulsa, and it looked like the rout was on. However, there were a total of just three points between the two teams, as the 'under' (47.5) easily connected. ... Ohio State also fired out of the box in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic, taking a 28-0 lead midway through the first 15 minutes. The Owls settled down and outscored the Buckeyes 21-17 in the final three quarters, earning the cover. ... Rutgers fell behind by a 21-7 score after one quarter, but they rattled off 31 points in the second quarter, and the Scarlet Knights outscored Massachusetts by a 41-0 count to end the game.

BIG 12

-- Oklahoma received an impressive performance from QB Jalen Hurts in his team debut, as the Sooners exacted a little revenge against Houston on Sunday night, winning 49-31. If you were holding an 'under' (80) ticket, you were probably none too pleased with how this one ended. ... West Virginia won 20-13 over FCS James Madison, and that might raise some eyebrows. However, the Mountaineers were only favored by seven, so this was a push. The Dukes of JMU are a solid FCS club, as they entered ranked No. 2 in the FCS. ... Iowa State also avoided the upset bug against FCS Northern Iowa, needing triple-overtime to push aside the Panthers by a 29-26 count. It was 13-13 after regulation, but the three-overtime run ended up pushing this total over (41.5). ... Kansas kicked off the Les Miles era with a narrow 24-17 win against FCS Indiana State, nearly losing to a lower-division team for the second straight season after Nicholls got 'em in 2018. Speaking of Nicholls, they fell 49-14 against Kansas State, as they avoided the upset bid from a lesser team.

CONFERENCE USA

-- The conference didn't have the best of weeks, going 8-6 SU and 5-9 ATS. Texas-San Antonio earned the 35-7 win against FCS Incarnate Word to easily cover a 9 1/2-point number. ... Western Kentucky wasn't as fortunate, losing in front of the home faithful against FCS Central Arkansas, a team outside of the Top 25 in the FCS preseason poll. ... Alabama-Birmingham was able to avoid a major upset at home against FCS Alabama State. The Blazers were favored by 40, but only squeaked out a 24-19 win. ... Florida International suffered a lopsided loss at Tulane, and this was a bad beat as far as the total is concerned. ...Texas-El Paso certainly didn't dominate, but they topped FCS Houston Baptist to move to 1-0 SU for the first time since Sept. 3, 2016. It was their first win in front of the home fans since Nov. 26, 2016, too.

MID-AMERICAN (MAC)

-- Bowling Green roughed up FCS Morgan state by a 46-3 score at Doyt Perry Stadium as the 'under' (50.5) just came in. ... Akron got off to an extremely sluggish start, getting buried at Illinois by a 42-3 count. The Zips allowed 14 points in each of the first three quarters before a scoreless fourth for both sides. ... Eastern Michigan hit the beach on Saturday, scratching out a 30-23 win at Coastal Carolina. ... Ball State hung on for a cover as 18-point underdogs against Indiana, falling 34-24 in Muncie.

MOUNTAIN WEST

-- San Jose State posted a 35-18 win against FCS Northern Colorado, narrowly missing a cover as 17 1/2-point favorites. ... Utah State was able to pick up a cover as five-point 'dogs at Wake Forest, falling 38-35 in the Triad. ... Nevada stunned Purdue in Reno, outscoring the Boilermakers by a 17-0 count in the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack scored 10 points in the final :52, as the total cashed, as well as making winners of moneyline bettors in a crazy finish. ... Hawaii kicked off the season in Week 0 with a 45-38 shootout victory against Arizona as the over (70) easily cashed. 

PAC-12

-- USC might have picked up the 31-23 win against Fresno State of the MWC, but the Trojans ended up losing QB JT Daniels for the season due to a knee injury. The Bulldogs outscored the Trojans 10-0 in the fourth quarter to earn the road cover. ... UCLA opened with a 24-14 road loss against Cincinnati as the Bearcats covered the 2 1/2-point number as the 'under' (55.5) connected. ... Oregon looked to have their neutral-site game against Auburn in the bag at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex. ... Utah opened the season with an impressive 30-12 road win against Brigham Young in the Holy War, easily covering a five-point number. ... Washington State rubbed out New Mexico State by a 58-7 count to cover 33 points, but just missed the over (65.5).  

SOUTHEASTERN (SEC)

-- Mississippi struggled offensively in their trip to the Liberty Bowl, falling 15-10 to Memphis. The Tigers fired out to a 13-0 lead and ended up hanging on, getting a safety with 2:44 to go to change a push at most shops into a cover. ... Alabama was a little sluggish out of the gate, leading just 14-3 against Duke at halftime after a scoreless first quarter. However, the Crimson Tide roughed up the Blue Devils by a 28-0 count in the second half to run away with a 42-3 win and cover the 33 1/2-point spread. ... The big upset of the weekend was Georgia State winning at Tennessee as 24 1/2-point underdogs, cashing a huge check and taking a win back to Atlanta. ... South Carolina blew a 20-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter, as North Carolina stormed back 15-0 at Bank of America Stadium to cause Mack Brown to bust a move after the win.

SUN BELT

-- Outside of Georgia State's win, there wasn't a lot to crow about for Sun Belt teams. As mentioned, Coastal Carolina lost at home to EMU, and Arkansas State was upended by a 37-30 count against SMU. ... Texas State played the entire 60 minutes, much to the dismay of Texas A&M side bettors. The Aggies made it 41-0 with 4:57 to go, but the Bobcats hit a 27-yard pass play for score to cause a push at most shops.

Bad Beats

-- Toledo scored a touchdown with 62 seconds remaining at Kentucky, cutting the Wildcats' lead to 38-24. Kentucky ended up still covering, but the late score caused the total to flip.

-- If you were holding an 'over' ticket in FIU-Tulane, you weren't a happy camper. At the end of three quarters there were 56 points on the board with a total of 58.5. That's exactly how it ended, too, after a scoreless fourth quarter.

-- Stanford led 10-7 over Northwestern, but the Cardinal had a sack, fumble and recovery for touchdown with just 20 seconds left to flip a sure Wildcats cover in to a winning ticket for Cardinal side bettors.

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