Rather amazingly, there isn’t single matchup in Week 3 of the college football season that features a pair of Top 25 teams. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some good value. Here are two picks with College Football odds.
2019 College Football Week 3 Odds, Overview & Picks
No. 9 Florida at Kentucky (+8)
- When: Saturday, 7 PM ET
- TV: ESPN
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
Last year, Kentucky pulled a stunner in Gainesville in upsetting ranked Florida 27-16. It was the Cats’ first win in Gainesville since 1979 and first in the series since 1986. That 31-game losing streak was the fourth-longest in NCAA history in an uninterrupted series, behind Notre Dame over Navy (43 games, 1964-2006), Nebraska over Kansas (36, 1969-2004) and Oklahoma over Kansas State (32, 1937-68).
Terry Wilson accounted for three touchdowns, and Benny Snell ran for 175 yards. However, none of those will play Saturday. Snell is in the NFL, while Wilson was lost to a season-ending knee injury last week. Wilson suffered the injury during the third quarter of a 38-17 win over Eastern Michigan. He was carted off the field following a horse-collar tackle and didn’t return. In two games this season, Wilson, who is 12-3 as the team’s starting signal caller, completed 33 of 52 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 44 net rushing yards and a TD.
Wilson will be replaced by junior Sawyer Smith, a transfer from Troy. Last year, he played in all 13 games for the Trojans, taking over as the starting quarterback seven games into the season after junior Kaleb Barker was lost for the year with a knee injury. Smith went 5-2 as a starter and completed 144 of 229 passes with 1,669 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also rushed 74 times with 191 yards and one rushing TD.
Florida will be without two starters in this one in receiver Kadarius Toney and cornerback CJ Henderson. Toney will miss a couple of weeks because of a left shoulder injury and Henderson is doubtful to play at Kentucky because of a sprained left ankle. Henderson is arguably Florida’s best defensive player. The two, who both wear No. 1 because of their play-making ability, were injured during a 45-0 victory over Tennessee-Martin.
The Gators have 500-plus yards of total offense in four of their last six games (Miami [304] and Michigan [427] are the only outliers). Florida had just three games of 500-plus yards from 2015-17, and only five such games from 2011-14.
Florida has won six consecutive games for the first time since its seven-game winning streak since 2015, when it won the Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 3 and started the 2015 season 6-0. UF has not lost consecutive games to Kentucky since 1976 and 1977.
No. 12 Texas at Rice (+30.5)
- When: Saturday, 8 PM ET
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Live Stream: CBS Sports Live
Could be a big letdown game for Texas after the Horns lost a Top 10 home showdown to LSU last week, 45-38 to fall from No. 9 in the polls. Still, every year but one in the College Football Playoff Era has the national champion had one loss so UT isn’t out of that chase yet.
Sam Ehlinger threw his name into the Heisman conversation in the loss by throwing for 401 yards and accounting for five scores. It marked only the sixth 400-yard passing game by a Texas quarterback in program history. He passed for a career-high tying four touchdowns and rushed for one. Over his last 15 games, he has thrown 31 touchdowns to only three interceptions. Devin Duvernay and Brennan Eagles each finished with over 100 yards receiving, which is the 16th time Texas has had pair of 100-yard receivers in a single game. Nine of Texas’ 11 losses under Tom Herman have come by 10 points or fewer, while eight of them have been by seven points or fewer.
This weekend’s contest will mark the first time Texas and Rice have squared off since 2015, when the Horns bested the Owls, 42-28, in Austin. Saturday’s game will mark Texas’ sixth game in an NFL Stadium since the start of the 2017 season. It will be the Horns’ second game at NRG Stadium in that stretch. This is UT’s first true road game of the year.
Rice lost Week 1 14-7 at Army and then this past Friday 41-21 to Wake Forest. Tom Stewart threw for one touchdown and rushed for a second after coming on in relief of starter Wiley Green, but Wake Forest Jamie Newman three for three scores to lead the Demon Deacons.
Stewart was 19-of-30 for 185 yards and a touchdown. It was his 16th career touchdown and his first at Rice. Stewart also scored on a 10-yard run. It was his second career touchdown and the first at Rice. WR Brad Rozner caught six passes for 103 yards. It was his first career 100-yard game.
This is the 95th meeting between Texas and Rice, a series that began on October 17, 1914 when Texas blanked Rice 41-0 in Austin. Texas leads the all-time series 72-21-1, including a 28-13-1 mark in Houston and 3-0 at NRG Stadium. Texas has won 13 straight in the overall series. Rice’s last win over Texas came in 1994 at Rice Stadium (19-17) in a game moved to a Sunday night broadcast on ESPN to fill a slot vacated by the cancellation of the remainder of the 1994 MLB season because of the strike by players.
Expert College Football Week 3 Betting Picks
Back Florida for payback and Rice to cover that big number.
