Top College Football Week 5 Betting Underdogs

Posted by Jordan Walters on Tuesday,September 27, 2016 9:50, EDT in

Week 5 is a big one in college football because it’s when every team that hasn’t already will have begun conference play. There are three games where I would recommend going against the betting favorite on college football lines.

Top College Football Week 5 Betting Underdogs

No. 22 Texas at Oklahoma State (-2.5)

OSU comes off a 35-24 loss at Baylor last week to fall to 2-2 and Coach Mike Gundy isn’t happy. The Cowboys committed four turnovers and twice failed to score inside the Baylor 5-yard line in the fourth quarter, when a touchdown would have given OSU the lead. Baylor ran only 65 plays; nine went for at least 23 yards. “I’m not going to try to hide it,” Gundy said. “You can tell by looking at me, and I told the team the same thing. You have to learn to take care of the ball and you have to learn to quit giving up so many big plays on defense.” Texas had the advantage of being off last week. The Longhorns enter the game with a 2-1 record. Coming off a bye week, the game against the Cowboys will mark their first game in a stretch where they play games in nine consecutive weeks to finish the regular season, all against conference foes. Texas and Oklahoma State will meet for the 31st time on Saturday, with the Longhorns holding a 24-6 advantage in the all-time series. The Longhorns have won eight consecutive games in Stillwater and hold an 8-1 record on the road against the Cowboys. The lone loss on the road in the series was a 1997 setback. The visiting team has won seven straight games in the series.

Virginia at Duke (-3.5)

This seems like a trap game for Duke off a huge 38-35 upset at Notre Dame on Saturday. A.J. Reed hit the winning field goal with 1:27 left and fourth-and- goal on the Irish 1. Daniel Jones threw for three touchdowns, including a 64-yard scoring pass to Anthony Nash midway through the fourth quarter to tie the score as Duke (2-2) beat the Irish for just the second time in five tries. Jones was 24 of 32 passing for 290 yards and Duke rushed for 208 yards. Nash caught a personal-best two touchdowns and registered a career-high 123 yards on six receptions. Nash has turned into one of Jones’ favorite targets with 18 receptions for 285 yards in the last three contests. Virginia (1-3) beat Central Michigan 49-35 last week. Kurt Benkert threw five touchdown passes, the last three after Virginia had squandered all of a 28-0 lead. Benkert hit Olamide Zaccheaus with a go-ahead 82-yard pass after the Cavaliers defense forced its first punt since the opening quarter. Virginia leads the series with Duke by a narrow 34-33 margin. Virginia’s 42-34 victory over Duke at Scott Stadium in 2015 snapped a three-game winning streak in the series by the Blue Devils.

Minnesota at Penn State (-3)

The Gophers (3-0) beat Colorado State 31-24 last week. Rodney Smith rushed 17 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Shannon Brooks, the team’s leading rusher last year, returned from a broken foot that kept him out of the first two games and netted 85 yards and a score on 13 carries for the Gophers. QB Mitch Leidner completed 16 of 20 passes for 174 yards and ran the ball 10 times for 50 yards and a touchdown. Penn State (2-2) was crushed by Michigan 49-10 last week.

Saquon Barkley totaled 136 all-purpose yards, sneaking out of the backfield for a career-high 77 receiving yards to lead Penn State in both rushing and receiving, but it was not enough against the Wolverines. It will be the Golden Gophers’ first trip to Happy Valley since 2009, ending the longest gap between trips of any Penn State Big Ten opponent, and it is only the second meeting since 2010. Penn State had won four straight until Minnesota won the last contest in 2013. I like Minnesota in the minor upset in NCAA Football lines.