As we enter week 9 of the college football season, we take a glance at the Friday games that will serve as a springboard to Saturday’s packed college football menu.
Navy at Tulsa Sportsbook Odds
Our Pick: Over 47 (-110)
NCAAF · Fri (12/16) @ 11:35am ET
| MIAO Miami (OH) | at | UAB UAB |
| H.A. Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, OK | ||
Navy (1-6) has improved on offense, averaging 23 points over its past five games. Tulsa’s defense has allowed 0.481 points per play, a bottom-25 figure that dropped to 0.503 in its 32-31 victory at South Florida two weeks ago.
The Middies will score.
Tulsa averages a top-20 459 yards of offense, buoyed by the 535 it rang up against the Bulls. The Golden Hurricane was idle last weekend, so it should be well-rested to take advantage of a Navy defense that’s yielding 32 points a game.
Since these two began playing regularly in 2015, five of the six games saw a scoring average of 65 points. ESPN2 could be airing a track meet.
UNLV at Nevada Sportsbook Odds
Our Pick: UNLV +20½ (-110)
NCAAF · Fri (12/16) @ 11:35am ET
| MIAO Miami (OH) | at | UAB UAB |
| Mackay Stadium, Reno, NV | ||
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This wouldn’t be a Silver State affair without some sort of political punting, and Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman dropped the gauntlet Monday afternoon by trying to bait Reno mayor Hillary Schieve into a T-shirt wager.
At press time, there was no word of an agreement.
Goodman immediately came under social-media fire for not holding out, maybe getting 21 points later in the week. Others chided her for not snatching a moneyline that would be in the +1100 range. What, for 11 T-shirts?
Both the 5-2 Wolf Pack and 0-7 UNLV are 5-2 against the spread, so that shows some spirit in the Rebels.
After an early-week deluge in the area, weather doesn’t appear to play a factor. What will affect the game is the Rebels’ shoddy pass defense. They have allowed a bottom-25 8.6 yards per pass, even worse (8.8) over their past three games.
Nevada junior quarterback Carson Strong might have a field day. He threw for a career-best 476 yards last week in a defeat at Fresno State, the fourth time in his career he surpassed 400 yards.
He is tied for eighth with LSU’s Max Johnson with 20 TDs, and Strong has had only four picked off.
But this is a respect selection, especially on a national (CBSSN) TV feed. UNLV Super Senior tailback Charles Williams averages 5 yards per rush. He’s run for 172 yards against Eastern Washington and 221 against Utah State this season.
The past two seasons, he has totaled 237 yards against the Pack. Nevada’s per-rush average yield of 4.6 yards is 92nd in the nation. Pride and Williams keep this one within the spread.
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