Best College Football Bets for October 3, 2020

The action is picking up. We’re still waiting for the Big Ten and Pac-12 to join the fray, but Saturday’s full slate of games is your indicator that college football is back. The majority of the teams in the Big 12 are playing their third game of the year, while the SEC enters the second week of their truncated season.

Pinning our attention to the games taking place across the country on Saturday, let’s key in on the best college football bets of the week.

After a bit of scoping, four are standing out.

Let’s keep this one short and sweet because there’s a ton of value built-in if you nab the under in the Navy vs. Air Force game.

Both of these offenses rely primarily on the option attack, which means the clock never stops moving. That alone suggests a lower final tally on the scoreboard, but there’s more.

These two programs battle every year – typically on the first Saturday of October – and we haven’t seen 46 points scored since 2011. To take it another step further, when the three notable service academies (Navy, Air Force, Army) are battling for the Commander-In-Chief Trophy, the under is 35-9-1 in the last 45 games.

The only thing that scares me about endorsing the Sooners as one of the best college football bets this week is that the general public is in agreement. Nevertheless, Spencer Rattler is highly explosive and Oklahoma will be seething after letting one slip away versus Kansas State.

Simply put, Lincoln Riley’s bunch should be able to cover this touchdown spread with plenty of room to spare. The Iowa State team they’re facing got blasted by Louisiana-Lafayette before barely edging past TCU.

Any concerns as to how Coach Riley plans to avenge last Saturday’s loss, know that he kept his thoughts brief after the game.

Lincoln Riley: "We know how to respond to a loss around here"

— Curtis Fitzpatrick (@cfitzfox) September 26, 2020

The Panthers are for real in 2020. Kenny Pickett doesn’t knock anyone’s socks off, but the senior QB has been efficient enough to lead his team to a 3-0 start. As for Pittsburgh’s defense – it has been nothing short of relentless.

Pittsburgh: Only team this season with 80+ grades in both pass-rush AND coverage pic.twitter.com/7y5ik3JuEq

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 30, 2020

Pitt’s 17 sacks in this season are six more than any other school, which isn’t surprising for a Pat Narduzzi-coached group. The Panthers ranked third in the nation in 2019 with 49 sacks.

What makes matters worse for NC State is that their offensive line is coming off a miserable performance in Blacksburg. The Hokies sacked Wolfpack quarterbacks six times and were able to apply maximum pressure.

Look out for Pittsburgh’s D to smother whoever Dave Doeren decides to start under center.

While most of the top bookies have Mike Leach’s squad sitting as a 17-point favorite Saturday at home, one of the top sites is letting us in at a pleasant discount.

K.J. Costello absolutely shredded a fast and disciplined LSU defense last Saturday on national television. Considering the Bulldogs QB threw for an SEC-record 623 yards his last time out, expect him to toy around with the Razorbacks secondary – and then some. Arkansas finished dead-last in the conference last season in points allowed (36.8/game) and yards surrendered (450.7/game).

The Razorbacks looked awful on offense last Saturday at home, and it’s unlikely they improve traveling on the road to Starkville. By the time this one reaches the fourth quarter, MSU should have opened this up to an insurmountable lead.