College Football Week 7 Rewind

Daniel Dobish Sports Betting Expert

5 minute read

I don't know about you, but I am STILL catching my breath after this weekend's amazing games. The Alabama-Tennessee game was an instant classic, with fans flooding the field, goal posts being carried through the streets of Knoxville, etc. It felt like the first 'real' weekend of normalcy after a couple of bummer years with COVID, etc. We've had stadiums full of fans for a while now, and some good games, but this was when we REALLY got back, and it's great to see and feel.

The Utah-USC and Oklahoma State-TCU games were pretty amazing, too, and some other teams made statements, too, like the Michigan Wolverines, Syracuse Orange and the Illinois Fighting Illini, too. It's good to see some proud teams from the past on the comeback. College football needs certain programs to be relevant again, and a new generation of fans to enjoy some of the limelight after years of domination by the same old schools.

It was also a weekend of underdogs, with 17 winning outright, and a whopping 41 cashing in 54 games, or an amazing 75.9% cash rate.

Updated on 12/22/2024

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 7 RESULTS

WAGER (Favorites-Underdogs)
Straight Up (SU): 37-17
Against the Spread (ATS): 13-41
WAGER (Home-Away)
Straight Up (SU): 36-18
Against the Spread (ATS): 27-27
WAGER (Totals O/U)
Over-Under: 25-29

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON RESULTS

WAGER (Favorites-Underdogs)
Straight Up (SU): 381-104
Against the Spread (ATS): 232-253-1
WAGER (Home-Away)
Straight Up (SU): 338-143
Against the Spread (ATS): 249-232-1
WAGER (Totals O/U)
Over-Under: 242-243

BIGGEST UNDERDOGS TO CASH

Stanford (+16.5, ML +550) 16 @ Notre Dame 14
Colorado (+14.5, ML +470) 20 vs. California 13 (OT)
Georgia Southern (+13, ML +370) 45 vs. James Madison 38
Old Dominion (+11.5, ML +325) 49 at Coastal Carolina 21
Louisiana (+10.5, ML +300) 23 at Marshall 13
Tennessee (+9, ML +265) 52 vs. Alabama 49
Bowling Green (+7.5, ML +220) vs. Miami-Ohio 13
New Mexico State (+7, ML +220) 21 vs. New Mexico 9
Hawaii (+6, ML +180) 31 vs. Nevada 16
Fresno State (+5, ML +220) 17 vs. San Jose State 10
Michigan State (+4.5, ML +215) 34 vs. Wisconsin 28

BIGGEST FAVORITES TO CASH

Georgia (-37.5) 55 vs. Vanderbilt 0
UCF (-23.5) 70 vs. Temple 13
Buffalo (-16) 34 @ UMass 7
Tulane (-12) 45 @ South Florida 31
Air Force (-10) 42 @ UNLV 7
Toledo (-8) 52 vs. Kent State 31
Michigan (-7.5) 41 vs. Penn State 17
North Texas (-6.5) 47 vs. Louisiana Tech 27
Clemson (-4.5) 34 @ Florida State 28

BIGGEST ROAD FAVORITES TO CASH

Buffalo (-16) 34 @ UMass 7
Tulane (-12) 45 @ South Florida 31
Air Force (-10) 42 @ UNLV 7
Western Kentucky (-6.5) 35 @ Middle Tennessee 17
Clemson (-4.5) 34 @ Florida State 28

BIGGEST BAD BEAT OF THE WEEK

This was a wild game on Friday night. Navy led this game 14-13 early in the third quarter with a QB Tai Lavatai touchdown run at 11:13 to go. SMU quickly answered, putting up three touchdowns to close out the third, going up 33-14. OVER bettors obviously loved what they saw, but Navy side bettors weren't liking it one bit.

Navy struck through the air! Lavatai hit WR Jayden Umbarger for a 26-yard surprise passing touchdown, his first of the season, and that cut the lead to 33-20. SMU answered with a QB Tanner Mordecai touchdown, going up 40-20, but it wasn't over yet.

Navy closed to within 40-27 with a 3-yard touchdown run at 2:31 to go, and then the Middies got it back after a three-and-out by the Mustangs.

The Middies moved quickly down the field, capping off the scoring drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge by Lavatai, cutting the lead to 40-34. You'll definitely see this one on SVP's Bad Beats this Monday night, the second consecutive Friday night AAC bad beat in a row.

BAD BEAT HONORABLE MENTIONS

UCONN at BALL STATE (-9.5)

I can't really explain myself, but I watched a good chunk of the Connecticut-Ball State game on Saturday. I turned on my streaming service, saw this game first, it was close, so I watched. I got busy doing a few things on the computer, and the game just stayed on. And it was interesting, and stayed close. And sometimes, I get a little lazy with the remote control, and don't feel like flipping around.

Anyway, if you were on UConn (+9.5), you should really feel pretty fortunate. The Huskies did fire out to a 7-0 lead with a Turner to Turner connection, as Fort Lauderdale QB Zion Turner hit Baltimore-area WR Aaron Turner for a 19-yard score. The Florida Turner won three high-school state championships with St. Thomas Aquinas, so he is a winner, and head coach Jim Mora Jr. has brought a winner to the Nutmeg State.

The Huskies led 21-10 at halftime, so you were on the right side for the first 30 minutes. Ball State notched a field goal from 38 yards out to cut the lead to 21-13, but you were still all right. Then the fourth quarter happened.

Ball State RB Carson Steele took over, rumbling for a pair of rushing touchdowns, with one at 7:24 to go, and one at 2:40 to go. Ball State made UConn ML bettors see their day go up in smoke. It was about to get worse for Huskies bettors.

UConn was in desperation mode. On their own 20, the Huskies misfired on fourth down, turning it over to the Cardinals with less than two minutes to go, and an instant red zone chance for Ball State.

Steele ran it down to the 15 on first down, and UConn called timeout with 1:14 to go. But that was their final timeout, and the Cardinals elected to take a knee twice rather than attempt to punch another score in. UConn bettors hung on. It was ALMOST a bad beat for the Huskies, and a tough pill to swallow for Cardinals side bettors, but not quite a bad beat for them, either.

KANSAS at OKLAHOMA (-10.5)

Again, this wasn't a textbook bad beat, as there was a decent amount of time on the clock, but it hurt just the same.

Oklahoma led 35-21 at halftime, so Sooners side bettors knew it would be a tight one. OU opened up a little bit of breathing room with a 49-28 lead after three quarters, but Kansas wouldn't go away quietly. The Jayhawks closed to within 49-35 at 10:33 to go in regulation before the Sooner tacked on a field goal at 5:18 to go, making it 52-35.

However, the Jayhawks answered back quickly, as QB Jason Bean hit TE Mason Fairchild for a 9-yard touchdown with 3:31 to go, cutting the lead to 52-42. That's how things finished. If you bet this at the open, if was still a cover for the Sooners. For most of the week you either grabbed a cover, or a push. But if you bet this late, you were catching the 10 and a hook, and suffered the bad beat.

MINNESOTA at ILLINOIS (Total - 39.5)

This game opened at 40.5, so the end result didn't bother the early-bird bettors, but anyone else who bet UNDER during the week, and up to close. Ouch.

We had a total of 20 points at halfway, so again, you knew this one was going to be close. With 11:45 to go in the third quarter, Illinois posted a touchdown to answer an early Minnesota score, making it 20-14. So, really, you probably should have felt lucky to have a chance in the closing minutes anyway.

The offense slowed to a crawl for the rest of the third quarter and into the fourth. The Illini saw PK Fabrizio Pinton spritz through a 23-yard field goal to make it 23-14. That was it until 3:22 to go, while Pinton knocked through another chip-shot field goal to make it 26-14. That was the crusher, however, flipping the total from UNDER to OVER, except for those opener bets.

Daniel Dobish

Dan is a handicapper and sports betting expert for VegasInsider with years of experience writing for a number of top publications in the industry. More from Daniel Dobish