College Football Lines: Vegas Bets Week 5

Sep 21, 2013; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Stacy Coley (3) runs for a touchdown in the second quarter against Savannah State Tigers at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

The theme this week is underdogs playing away from home. In case this wasn’t obvious already, readers are not advised to bet as much as Floyd Mayweather.

Miami (FL) -20 at South Florida

You may remember South Florida as one of the several FBS schools to lose to an FCS team on opening weekend (USF got smacked by McNeese State 52-21). The Bulls followed it up with losses to Michigan State (21-6) and Florida Atlantic (28-10) to fall to 0-3 under first year head coach Willie Taggart. USF has been plagued by costly turnovers—in all three games, they’ve allowed the opponent to score twice on defense (five touchdowns and one safety). Only three FBS schools have more turnovers. Taggart is turning to his third starting quarterback this season, Penn State transfer Steven Bench, against the ’Canes.

South Carolina -7 at Central Florida

Central Florida is for real. The Knights are 3-0 and won at Penn State two weeks ago. I don’t think they will be completely overwhelmed in this game, but I do think the Gamecocks will get pressure on Blake Bortles and therefore limit the UCF offense and win by double digits. Both teams are coming off bye weeks.

Sep 21, 2013; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal running back Anthony Wilkerson (32) rushes for a 12 yard touchdown during the second quarter against the Arizona State Sun Devilsat Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

Stanford -10 vs. Washington State

Stanford led 39-7 against Arizona State last week before closing out a 42-28 victory in its first real test of the season. This one, being played in Seattle, might be lower scoring, but should result in a similar margin of victory for the Cardinal, a team still underappreciated.