In one of the most interesting college football games of Week 2 — for sickos, at least — the UAB Blazers will visit the Georgia Southern Eagles on Saturday. I’ll have this game up on my second screen during Texas-Alabama for sure. Every week, I’ll post my top college football picks by Monday and provide an update before each game — you can check out all of my college football Week 2 picks here. Let’s dig into today’s UAB-Georgia Southern odds as we make our predictions and pick the best college football Week 2 bet!
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UAB-Georgia Southern Pick & Betting Prediction | College Football Week 2
UAB-Georgia Southern Betting Odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
UAB: +220 | Georgia Southern: -275
UAB +7.5: -120 | Georgia Southern -7.5: -102
Over 61.5: -110 | Under 61.5: -110
Expert: Isaiah Sirois
UAB-Georgia Southern Pick & Prediction
Two of the Group of Five’s most interesting offenses will take the field in Statesboro on Saturday. Head coach Clay Helton returns for Georgia Southern after bringing the Eagles to a bowl in his first season by calling an aggressive, pass-happy offense that threw 62.8% of the time and ranked 24th in yards per play (6.1). Although quarterback Kyle Vantrease is gone, Tulsa transfer Davis Brin takes over under center. He outperformed Vantrease in passing efficiency last year with a 147.1 that ranked 36th. Georgia Southern kicked off the season by scoring 34 points and averaging 6.3 yards per play against FCS The Citadel. Brin completed 73% of his passes for 6.6 yards per attempt, two scores and a pick.
UAB lost several key pieces in the offseason, including star rusher DeWayne McBride, but the Blazers kept just enough pieces — and brought in an interesting new head coach — for me to trust their offense. Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer took over in the offseason and tabbed last year’s backup, Jacob Zeno, as the starter for UAB’s first season in the AAC. Zeno recorded a dismal passing efficiency grade of 126.5 in a limited sample last year but started this season by recording a 176.4 against FCS North Carolina A&T by completing 92.7% of his 41 passes for 7.1 yards per attempt and three touchdowns.
Both UAB and Georgia Southern play with tempo and struggle defensively. The Eagles ranked ninth in seconds per play last year (21.6). UAB ranked only 121st under the previous regime, but the Blazers worked at a much faster clip in Week 1, averaging only 26.1 seconds per play in a blowout win over an FCS team. Georgia Southern coughed up 4.2 yards per play to FCS The Citadel, much worse than UAB’s 3.3 yards per play allowed to FCS North Carolina A&T. The Eagles ended last season ranked 125th defensively in the FEI and should allow plenty of points to Dilfer’s offense.
I would have set this total up at around 62, but because UAB was such a slow-paced offense last year, some bettors likely haven’t realized how different Dilfer’s scheme should work in a competitive game. The Blazers were able to slow down and work the clock late, but they came out swinging early in Week 1. The Blazers averaged only 23.1 seconds per play on their opening two drives, and we should see more of that up-tempo pacing.
Check out our college football picks for Week 2! >>
I recommended the over 59 in the early week column, and the line has since ticked all the way up to 61.5 or 62, depending on the book you use. I said that I would buy it anywhere under the key number of 62, and I meant it — the 61.5 you can still buy at FanDuel is a great deal. Helton and Dilfer are two offense-first, defense-later coaches who should put on a show. They don’t have the best personnel, but their fast-paced offenses should ensure that both teams get plenty of chances to put points on the board even if some drives stall out.
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UAB-Georgia Southern Week 2 Pick: Over 61.5 -110 FanDuel
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