The first week of the college football season provided a friendly reminder of why I have my principles. Week 1 was good to me aside from taking favorites, something I rarely do, and watching the Illini lose, pitifully, on the field and San Diego State scuffle to a win but not a cover has scared me straight.
We’re getting back to our principles for five Week 2 plays, which includes the glory of a service academy under and a home underdog catching more than five touchdowns in a semi-rivalry game. Here’s how we did last week:
Last Week: 2-3
2021 Season: 2-3
It’s time to right the ship quickly and get back to winners.
UMass (+37) vs. Boston College (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
The Minutemen are horrific, but we cannot let Boston College be a 37-point road favorite. I don’t care that Pitt beat UMass by 44 in Week 1. I don’t care that the Minutemen plus the points are my own personal Lucy with the football. This is about refusing to believe Boston College can cover this number if UMass scores any points at all, and as such we are going down with the ship.
Air Force at Navy UNDER 40.5 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Service academy unders are really the only principle you need in life. Yeah the number is low but they come in under the total at something approaching an 80 percent clip, so just hold your nose and take it. Wind that clock, fellas.
Cal at TCU UNDER 47.5 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Two teams that play fundamentally sound defense and like to run the dang ball? Sounds like an under to me. Cal struggled to put up points against Nevada last week and while we can’t take a lot from TCU beating up on Duquesne, I’m going to make the relatively safe assumption they’re still a Gary Patterson team. This number feels three points high and we’ll hope we can slide in without too much of a sweat.
Iowa (+4) at Iowa State (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
I’m not sure why this is above a field goal given that the Hawkeyes looked better last week than the Cyclones did, but I’m happy to take the candy. This rivalry game is almost always just a “take the underdog” game anyways, because it tends to come down to the last possession on either side.
Appalachian State (+8.5) at Miami (FL) (Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET)
Teams that play Alabama in Week 1 tend to not be right for a couple of weeks after getting physically (and emotionally) worn down by the Tide. This seems to be a popular bounceback pick given that the line keeps moving towards the Canes, but I’m going to work the other direction and take the Mountaineers who had a nice, breezy win over ECU in their opener and come in much fresher and happier. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘Eers have a late lead in this one, in fact.
