Proving yourself in week 2

Week 2 of College Football brings us 2 matchups of ranked teams.

7:30 pm ET, under the lights, #14 Tennessee faces #24 North Carolina State. That game is on ABC. That is not the game we are here to talk about today.

#3 Texas @ #10 Michigan

Yes, this is the game we are here to talk about.

For the second time ever, these two teams will be on the same football field.

The last time they faced each other was almost twenty years ago, when Texas beat Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl on a game-ending field goal.

It seems almost made up that these teams have never faced each other more than once, but that’s changing today.

Noon on FOX, these teams will meet at The Big House in Ann Arbor.

Texas is currently favored by 7 full points, making Michigan the home underdog.

Michigan only returned four starters from last year's squad, and it was noticeable in their week 1 win over Fresno State. The Wolverines got a 30-10 win, but they did it the Michigan way. They held Fresno St. to just 9 rushing yards, and Michigan got almost 150 on the ground themselves. The Michigan defense did give up some explosive passing plays, and you can be sure Texas will look to exploit that.

Texas looked as explosive in week 1 as they did last year. The Longhorns got a Texas-sized win over Colorado State. 52-0 if you didn’t watch last weekend. That’s not a typo either. 52-0 was the final score after Texas racked up 545 total yards on offense and held CSU to just 182 total yards. It’s always hard to know what your defense looks like when they face an opponent like CSU for the first game, but it’s good to know that the offense can fire on all cylinders.

You can look at last year’s records, this year’s stats from the opening weekend, and you can also look at the experience on the field. Texas checks the box for experience at QB with Quinn Ewers, and Michigan is seeing what they got with first-time starter Davis Warren. You have to think that for Texas to be successful, Ewers will have to play great. On the flip side, Michigan might not need Warren to be spectacular, but they’ll need more from the backfield, specifically Donovan Edwards. If Michigan can control the run game and get their defense to pressure Ewers, they’ll have a chance.

Of course, if Ewers can mesh with his new receiving core and the Texas defense can stop the Michigan run, the Texas offense can find its stride if the Michigan defense is on the field too much.

The recipe for a win for either side is clear and almost cliche. Michigan needs to possess the ball and limit explosive plays on defense. Texas just needs to get the ball back in the hands of Ewers, which means stopping the Michigan run and forcing drop backs. It’s simple, depending on who you are rooting for.

The O/U on this one is 42.5 and here’s my prediction.

Michigan 20, Texas 17.

I’ll be taking Michigan ATS tomorrow but I won’t be touching the points total.

For a full slate of other games, check this out.

Speaking of other games, if you’re looking for something to bet, Vegas is on top of week 2 with some crazy spreads. Here are a couple of things we like.

🏈 Oregon covering the 19 point spread against Boise State

🏈 Appalachian State is getting 16.5 against Clemson. This might be an overreaction, but this could be the year for App State to get another big upset.

🏈 We also like Kansas covering the 4.5-point spread against Illinois. Both teams scored a ton of points last week, so the over at 57.5 could be in play, too. We’ll probably wait until the game starts to get in line with the live betting.

🏈 We’ve got a noon game on ABC tomorrow where #16 Oklahoma State will host Arkansas. OKST is favored by 10 points. I’m not sure if that’s appropriate but I’ll tell you what I think is…the O/U being 61.5. I think this is going to be a high scoring affair that easily goes into the 70s on the points total. It’s worth a bet in my book.

Alright, that’s going to be all for today. Things are still heating up in the college football land but the games are always worth watching. Enjoy the action and don’t forget to check out our NFL preview that we released on Thursday.

Cheers!

-The DB