On the board, I guess. And that softens the sting of missing the Notre Dame team total by half a point. Onward and upward.
I gave my thoughts on the Week 2 slate of games that jumped out to me earlier this week. While we don’t have a ton of massive, headline-making matchups in Week 2 like we did in Week 1, I think we’ll get some fantastic games nonetheless from this slate. We waited 8 months for football to come back; it seems silly to complain about the kinds of games we get to watch after only a week. This also feels like the kind of week that could have a sneaky impact on the College Football Playoff discussion. Week 2 last season saw 2 unranked teams (both from the state of Illinois) knock off ranked opponents.
From a bettor’s perspective, here’s what I’m targeting.
As always, the best price at the time of publication is listed in parentheses, but shop around at any of your preferred sports betting apps.
Last week: 1-2
2025 season: 1-4
2024 season: 33-37
Week 2 schedule, odds
SDS is your one-stop shop this season, with live, up-to-date college football betting odds. You can find point spreads, game totals, and money line odds for every Week 2 game below.
Bet Ole Miss -10.5 at Kentucky (even via ESPN Bet)
When Ole Miss lost to Kentucky in 2024, the Rebels couldn’t run the football. They totaled 92 yards on 29 rushing attempts. In the season-opening win over Georgia State last Saturday, a multi-faceted rushing attack emerged. Kewan Lacy broke a 42-yard run and scored 3 times. Logan Diggs broke a 51-yard run. Deuce Alexander had a 31-yard run. The Rebels had a rushing success rate of 63% in the game and won 63-7. That was after quarterback Austin Simmons threw interceptions on 2 of the Rebels’ first 3 drives.
Kentucky only gave up 3.1 sack-adjusted rushing yards in its 24-16 win over Toledo to open the season, but the Rockets only ran the ball 10 times in the second half as they tried to pull off an upset. While Kentucky stuffed the Rocket runs in the opening stanza — 19 attempts, 27 yards — I’m curious to see how that performance carries over to Week 2.
Quarterback Zach Calzada had an underwhelming opener. He missed 7 of his last 9 passes in the game and didn’t have a fourth-quarter completion. He went 1-for-7 with a pick when pressured and was 1-for-11 on pass attempts that traveled at least 10 yards. I expect Ole Miss to start hot on defense. A week after rarely blitzing Georgia State, maybe the Rebels send some extra bodies at Calzada to rattle him and force an early turnover.
I’m out on Kentucky this season and nothing from the opener did anything to change that belief. Toss in the revenge factor here with Ole Miss and I think we have the makings of a blowout.
Bet USC -28.5 vs. Georgia Southern (+100 via DraftKings)
Since taking the USC job prior to the 2022 season, Lincoln Riley has gone 6-2 against the spread as a favorite of 28 points or more. That included a smashing, 73-13 win over Missouri State last weekend to open the 2025 season with a bang. Starting quarterback Jayden Maiava completed 15 of his 18 pass attempts for 295 yards and 2 scores while also rushing for a touchdown. Backup quarterback Husan Longstreet entered the game in garbage time and went 9-for-9 for 69 yards with a score through the air while rushing 8 times for 54 yards and 2 more scores on the ground. USC popped huge runs on the ground and a few massive pass plays without having to air it out down the field.
Consider the opponent. Missouri State was playing its first game since joining the FBS ranks. USC might not see a worse defense all season. But Georgia Southern isn’t exactly a titan either. The Eagles gave up 351 rushing yards, 7.3 yards per play, and 42 points to Fresno State last week. This was the same Fresno State team that had just 7 points and 37 rushing yards the week prior in a loss to Kansas. Fresno State turned the ball over on 3 straight possessions in the first and second quarters, trailed at the half, and was then unstoppable in the second half.
USC was unbelievably efficient on standard downs in its opener, establishing the run in the first quarter and then going to the air with tremendous success in the second quarter to build a 42-10 halftime lead. It might be able to follow a similar script in Week 2.
Bet Nebraska vs. Akron total under 47.5 points (-110 via BetMGM)
Akron scored 0 points in its opener against Wyoming. At home. Against a Wyoming defense that ranked 90th in scoring last season and had to replace double-digit contributors. Akron’s longest run was 14 yards. Its longest pass went for 18 yards. It couldn’t protect its quarterback, who was pressured on 42% of his drop-backs, and its quarterback completed only 4 of 19 pass attempts that traveled at least 10 yards.
The Zips were actually quite lethargic. The ground game produced 89 yards on 28 carries. Quarterback Ben Finley completed 16 of his 38 passes for 139 yards with a pick.
Does Akron score more than once against Nebraska? I guess it is Nebraska, so we have to at least consider the possibility of the Huskers taking 2 steps backward after taking a big step forward in a 20-17 win over Cincinnati last week. But outside of the 96 rushing yards from quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the Bearcats’ offense did little against the Husker defense. The Huskers only had 2 tackles for loss, but they limited the Cincy pass game to 69 yards and the non-Sorsby run game to 106 yards while forcing 2 turnovers.
And the Huskers needed that defensive performance because they were largely underwhelming on offense. Sure, they outgained Cincy and quarterback Dylan Raiola completedly 79% of his pass attempts for 243 yards, but NU was outgained on a per-play basis and only had 1 play all game of 20 or more yards. Of Raiola’s 33 pass completions, 28 of them were within 9 yards of the line of scrimmage. We didn’t get any semblance of a downfield attack, and with the way the Huskers’ schedule sets up the next few weeks, there’s little reason for Nebraska to show one now.
Nebraska plays Houston Christian in Week 3 before welcoming Michigan to Lincoln on Sept. 20. After surviving Cincy, Nebraska can probably be as vanilla as possible on offense over these next 2 weeks, move to 3-0, and save most of its bullets for the Wolverines.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
