College Football Betting: Week 3

The following article contains information that is not representative of the opinions of CommRadio. It solely expresses the opinions of Antonio Fondacaro.

They say time flies when you're having fun, and it sure does when two weeks of an amazing slate of college football has passed.

In these short two weeks, we’ve seen the rise of Deion Sanders’ potential Colorado powerhouse, an impressive Florida State team led by Jordan Travis, and a good ol’ week 2 smackdown by Penn State against Delaware.

Now that there are enough games of 2023 tape to see, the world wants to know: what are the bets to make for week three?

Penn State (-14.5) against Illinois

Penn State has seemingly broken the school's quarterback deficiency in the form of the illustrious Drew Allar. Allar has proven to be a threat within the pocket, as well as a threat outside the pocket with his arm or with his legs.

With this dynamic player at quarterback, less developed defenses are going to have fits trying to stop a multi-dimensional offense with the best backfield in college football.

The Penn State spread is now 14-1 since the beginning of last season in which a lonesome blowout loss to Michigan stood in the way of perfection ATS.

The Illini have lost various leaders on offense and defense due to departures in the transfer portal and the NFL draft. Most Notably standout playmaker CB Devon Witherspoon going fifth overall.

Last week's devastating loss to Kansas by the Illini and week one’s disappointing performance against Toledo show that all signs point to a second consecutive beatdown for the Nittany Lions.

If you are a single-game type of bettor, this spread for Penn State has “Hammer it” written all over it.

Colorado State at Colorado (OVER 60)

Deion’s Colorado football team is irresistible. Shadeur Sanders’ stat line has put him in the Heisman conversation and Travis Hunter is an exceptional talent on both sides of the football.

As great as this Colorado team has looked so far, I'm hesitant to take their spread since there is still so much they have to prove and this is a rivalry game.

Tensions for this game have already reached a personal level with Colorado State coach Jay Norvell’s comment on Deion's professionalism.

Norvell said, “When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and glasses off.”

Something tells me after that personal Jab, Sander’s is going to want to run up that score.

While the CSU Rams were only able to muster 23 points against Washington State, I do believe WSU’s line of scrimmage play is superior to Colorado’s, which could open up the run game CSU desperately needed to score more points.

As long as Deion does his thing and scores over 40, most of the heavy lifting for this bet will be done. All that's left is to pray CSU has enough in the tank to score around 20 points and this will cash.

LSU at Mississippi State (+300)

It’s time for my dog of the week! Most of the underdogs this week are against drastic favorites so this one is the only dog we really have to work with.

Besides that, I actually feel great about this underdog because they're at home. College home-field advantage is very impactful when a majority of players on the field are 18 to 21-year-old kids.

LSU has vastly underperformed this season. Losing as badly as they did in Orlando against Florida State set the tone for how pressure can overwhelm even one of the most talented teams.

Sure did they blow the doors off Grambling State, yes. But Mississippi State is used to a tough SEC schedule and is often trying to play spoiler at home.

The Mississippi game plan has been simple, let quarterback Will Rogers game manage and feed stud running back Jo’quavious Marks the rock. The game may get close, but this formula can work as long as that running game is humming.

This bet is definitely a longshot but if any 300+ dog is going to win this week, it's the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

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Antonio Fondacaro is a Junior studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email adf5400@psu.edu