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College football Week 3 over/under best bets

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Every week during the college football season, we'll cover our five best over/under bets. Let's take a look at Week 3:

Maryland at Temple

Total: 64

There's a difference between selling high and fading the public. The former approach can make you a lot of money; the latter is often blindly making a move just to make it. When dealing with the Maryland Terrapins' offense, Week 3 feels like the ideal time to jump ship on a unit that's scored 141 points through the team's first two games.

The Terrapins made quick work of Howard, winning 79-0 in their opener, and they're coming off a convincing 63-20 victory over ranked Syracuse at home. Temple should give Maryland its first legitimate test, with the Terrapins drawing their first S&P+ top 50 defense of the season away from home. Temple has also been preparing for two weeks after an early bye.

Offensively, Temple will be good, but not great. The team is built around its defense, even after the coaching change from Geoff Collins to Rod Carey.

Due to Maryland's early offensive success, this total feels a bit inflated.

Pick: Under 64

North Texas at Cal

Total: 50.5

North Texas' pass defense is going to struggle. That was evident last weekend when the Mean Green allowed 292 yards through the air to SMU, and 503 total yards during a 22-point loss.

Fortunately for the North Texas defense, it draws a Cal offense this weekend that seldom beats opponents by passing. The defensive-minded Golden Bears are one of the hottest under teams - they're currently on a 10-1 run on the total - and despite the shootout-prone Mean Green coming to town, this one should be a low-scoring affair.

Pick: Under 50.5

Hawaii at Washington

Total: 59

Now to Washington, the most recent victim for Cal's defense.

After looking like a dark-horse Heisman candidate in the making against Eastern Washington, Huskies quarterback Jacob Eason performed miserably against the Golden Bears this past Saturday. The transfer went 18-of-30 passing for just 164 yards and a pick, and Washington lost as a 14-point favorite. That all came one week after Eason lit up an FCS defense to the tune of 349 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Hawaii's defense seems to be improved against the run this season, which could lead to Washington passing more and making Eason's stat line this upcoming Saturday look more like Week 1 than the Cal game. The Rainbow Warriors' pass defense is always susceptible to chunk plays, which should be the perfect remedy for what ails Washington after playing one of the best secondaries in the country.

Over bettors likely won't need more than a couple of scores from Hawaii, which is always a possibility when Cole McDonald is chucking the ball to his underrated receivers.

The Rainbow Warriors have also been a great over play when getting points under head coach Nick Rolovich.

Pick: Over 59

Ohio at Marshall

Total: 49.5

Ohio and Marshall have been able to stop the run early this season. That should spell bad news for the offenses here, as both teams prefer to keep the ball on the ground.

The Bobcats forced Pitt to beat them through the air in Week 2, while the Thundering Herd limited a high-powered Boise squad to just 3.3 yards per carry in a loss last Friday. This is your typical strength-on-strength matchup, and one that should feature a moving clock given the running tendencies.

Pick: Under 49.5

Duke at Middle Tennessee State

Total: 50.5

It's crazy how the complexion of an offense changes when it plays a top 10 defense in Week 1 and an FCS opponent seven days later.

Middle Tennessee State came into The Big House inexperienced and undersized on offense to face Michigan for their opener. Despite posting three touchdowns - and covering! - against the Wolverines, it was evident the Blue Raiders are undergoing a rebuild after losing multi-year starting quarterback Brent Stockstill, who broke plenty of school records. That wasn't on display when they hung 45 on Tennessee State last Saturday, but the Blue Raiders will struggle against competent defenses, which will happen again when Duke comes to town this weekend.

The Blue Devils are still ironing out a relatively new offense that lost its starting quarterback and No. 1 wide receiver from last year. S&P+ wasn't that high on their offense coming into the season, ranking Duke No. 89, but it did peg the defense as a top-40 unit in the country.

This one may have featured some fireworks if it was played with the rosters from last season, but the under is the play.

Play: Under 50.5

Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 12 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AlexKoIodziej.

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