2 College Football Best Bets for Saturday, November 2: Will Pribula Start for Penn State?
The Week 10 college football slate is jampacked with marquee matchups. Our CFB expert examines two of those in his best bets column for Saturday, November 2.
Ohio State Buckeyes vs Penn State Nittany Lions
In what will be the best matchup of the weekend, the #4 Ohio State Buckeyes head to Happy Valley to take on #3 Penn State. While it will not be the great atmosphere that takes place at night inside Beaver Stadium, it should still be a great game.
Ohio State was able to shake off the loss to #1 Oregon two weeks ago by sneaking by a mediocre Nebraska team last week 21-17. Trailing by 3 with under 7 minutes to play, the Buckeyes struck when Will Howard connected with Quinshon Judkins for a 9-yard touchdown pass that ultimately would be the final score of the game.
Nebraska was able to hold OSU to under 70 rushing yards on the day and just 1/10 on 3rd down. While the win was underwhelming, it was a tough spot for OSU as it was a sandwich game for them between Oregon and PSU, so a win in any way was a positive.
Penn State still holds an undefeated record after dismantling Wisconsin in the 2nd half of their matchup last weekend. Quarterback, Drew Allar, was lost to injury but backup Beau Pribula looked great in his stead.
Pribula completed almost 85% of his passes and used his legs to pick up 28 yards on 6 carries in the win. Allar is a most classic pocket passer and Pribula gives the PSU offense a spark with his ability to tuck and run. Allar is questionable for this game and is forcing OSU to prepare for both QBs.
Best Bet: Penn State Nittany Lions +3.5
Ohio State has looked susceptible in their last 2 games. For Penn State, not all their wins have been pretty, but they have seemingly found ways to get the win one way or another.
Ohio State is the road favorite here which leads one to believe that they should take this one on the road. We believe the opposite is true and Penn State will continue their winning ways by making this one ugly and squeaking out another victory.
That said, we will still be taking the points in this one to be safe.
Key Trends:
- OSU is 0-5-1 ATS in their last 6 games played in week 10.
- OSU is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games against Penn State.
- PSU is 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games played in November.
- PSU is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games when playing at home against Ohio State.
Oregon Ducks vs. Michigan Wolverines
#1 Oregon heads to the big house Saturday afternoon to take on the Michigan Wolverines. The Ducks are coming off another blowout victory last week. They held Illinois to just under 300 yards of total offense and just 9 points in the 38-9 victory.
Dillon Gabriel threw for nearly 300 yards and 3 touchdowns while getting picked off just once. On the ground, the Ducks went off for 229 yards and were converting on 3rd down over 50% of the time. The Ducks have just 4 more opponents in the regular season, all of which are currently unranked, on their way to the Big 10 title game.
Michigan is coming off a nice win over in-state rival Michigan State last week. After trailing 7-0 after the 1st quarter, the Wolverines cameback to take a 16-7 lead that they extended to 24-10 in the 4th before a late MSU touchdown cut the lead in half. Michigan walked away with a 24-17 win, which was their 5th of the season.
The 146 passing yards the Wolverines accumulated was one of the most productive games they have had through the air. This will begin the toughest 3 game stretch for any team in the Big 10. They have #1 Oregon, then #13 Indiana before Northwestern and then finishing at #4 OSU.
Best Bet: Oregon Ducks -14.5
This Michigan team is a shell of themselves from last season. Not surprising, with most of last year’s roster now in the NFL. The lack of a true QB has been a problem all year but will be more so evident in this contest.
Oregon is going to score in the 30s and this Michigan team is just not equipped to keep pace with that type of scoring. We believe the Ducks run away with this one in the big house.
Key Trends:
- Oregon is 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games on the road.
- Oregon is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games against an opponent in the Big Ten conference.
- Oregon is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games played in week 10.
- Michigan is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games.
Bill Christy
Sports Betting Contributor
Bill is a high-volume sports bettor who runs his own sports investing business. He has an uncanny ability to find tons of mathematical edges on each day’s sports betting card. Bill covers all sports but his bread and butter is UFC, Golf, and College Hoops. Find him on X at @LarrysLocks2