Fresno St. at Alabama College Football Week 2 Odds & Pick

Fresno St. at Alabama College Football Week 2 Odds & Pick

Written by on September 7, 2017

While the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide won’t have any problem beating the Fresno State Bulldogs when they square off in their College Football Week 2 matchup on Sunday, the big question that college football bettors need answered when it comes to this contest is whether or not the Tide can cover the NCAAF spread as six-touchdown-plus home favorites. Let’s find out right now.

Fresno St. at Alabama College Football Week 2 Odds & Pick

When: Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 3:30 pm Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium TV: ESPN2 Live Stream: WatchESPN College Football Week 2 Odds: Alabama Crimson Tide -43.5 / Total: 54 Weather Forecast
  • Partly Cloudy: 28°C/82°F
  • Humidity 41%
  • Precipitation: 0%
  • Cloud Cover 37%
  • Wind 11 mph NE
  • Stadium Type Open

Why Bet the Fresno State Bulldogs at +43.5?

The Fresno State Bulldogs rolled all over Incarnate Word in their 66-0 Week 1 shutout over their completely overmatched San Antonio-based opponents. Starting quarterback Chason Virgil completed 16 of 29 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown while backup Marcus McMaryion completed 6 of 7 passes for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore running back Josh Hokit added two rushing scores and threw a 65-yard TD pass for good measure. “I thought the team went in to the game tonight with the focus they needed. We needed to stay focused on this game and on ourselves, and we did that,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Jeff Tedford. Defensively, Fresno State held Incarnate Word to a pitiful -30 rushing yards and 155 passing yards while allowing the Cardinals to cross midfield just twice in the game. Fresno State forced their opponents to either go three-and-out, commit a safety, commit a turnover or have a field-goal blocked on every possession except two.

Team Statistics

  • Offensive total yards 613.00
  • Current Offensive rush yards 199.00
  • Offensive passing yards 414.00
  • Average Score For 66.00
  • Defensive total yards 148.00
  • Current Defensive rush yards -7.00
  • Defensive passing yards 155.00
  • Average Score Against 0.00

Boise St. at Washington St. NCAA Football Week 2 Odds & Expert Pick

Why Bet the Alabama Crimson Tide at -43.5?

The top-ranked Crimson Tide made my Week 1 pick of an upset against the Florida State Seminoles looks completely foolish as they rolled to an ‘easy’ 24-7 win over the third-ranked Noles, thanks in large part to a season-long injury suffered by gifted dual-threat signal-caller Deondre Francois. “It’s good to get a win, but we have a lot of work to do,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said, before adding ominously for the rest of the nation:

“We’ll get Better.”

Dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for 96 yards and a touchdown, while adding 55 rushing yards on 15 carries. Running back Damien Harris rushed for a team-high 73 yards and one score on nine carries, while fellow back Bo Scarbrough added 40 rushing yards on 15 carries. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley caught a team-high seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown while adding a two-point conversion catch in the win. College Football Week 2: Dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for 96 yards and a touchdown. “It’s one game. We have a long season,” Saban said. “The focus that we have right now is what’s ahead, not what’s behind.” Defensively, Alabama’s perennially powerful defense stuffed the Seminoles at almost every turn. Alabama picked off two passes by Francois in the second half while adding blocked punt, a blocked field goal and a fumble recovery on a kickoff return. The Tide held Florida State to just 65 total yards in the second half.

Team Statistics

  • Offensive total yards 269.00
  • Current Offensive rush yards 173.00
  • Offensive passing yards 96.00
  • Average Score For 24.00
  • Defensive total yards 250.00
  • Current Defensive rush yards 40.00
  • Defensive passing yards 210.00
  • Average Score Against 7.00

Latest College Football Week 2

  • Fresno State is 7-1 ATS in the last 8 games
  • Fresno State is 1-10 SU in the last 11 games
  • The total went OVER in 6 of Fresno State’s last 9 games on the road
  • Alabama is 8-3 ATS in the last 11 games
  • Alabama is 24-1 SU in the last 25 games
  • The total went UNDER in 4 of Alabama’s last 6 games

Expert College Football Week 2 Prediction

Fresno State may be 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall, but the Bulldogs are also a winless 0-4 ATS in their last four games against teams from the SEC. On the flip side of the coin, Alabama has gone 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games overall and just has too much five-star talent for the bulldogs to realistically deal with. I’m not real fond of the high, six-touchdown-plus point spread, but I’ve got to believe that Alabama is going to lay an even bigger smackdown on Fresno State than they did against a Florida State that was ranked third in the nation in their regular season opener.  It’s going to be close, but the Tide narrowly cover the big point spread. College Football Week 2 Pick: Alabama -43.5