No. 5 Indiana had an opportunity to flex their muscle as a 20.5-point favourite versus Northwestern on Friday night.
Instead, the Hoosiers offence struggled in front of their home fans, failing to reach 20 points until the final frame.
Indiana ultimately pulled away with a 29-23 victory to extend its win streak to 20 in a row.
However, Josh Hoover’s Heisman stock remained static, and now the Hoosiers will have to travel to Rutgers and Nebraska back-to-back before their Big Ten showdown versus Ohio State on October 17th.
Indiana’s schedule ramps up with games against the Buckeyes, No. 18 Michigan, and No. 12 USC in a span of a few weeks starting in mid-October.
The Hoosiers are +950 to win the College Football Playoff National Championship as the sixth choice on the board at FanDuel this morning.
Ohio State remains the favourite to win the FBS title at +500, ahead of No. 1 Texas at +550 despite dropping their head-to-head meeting back on September 12th.
The top-ranked Longhorns will host No. 14 Tennessee at noon ET on TSN4.
Texas is a 4.5-point favourite at FanDuel this morning.
The Buckeyes are a 27.5-point favourite versus Illinois.
For Ohio State, the expectation is that Jeremiah Smith and the offence will continue to put up big numbers in a lopsided win over a conference rival they’ve dominated.
For the Longhorns, this will be the first true road test for Arch Manning as the No. 1 ranked team.
Texas went 0-5 against the spread on the road last season – the worst mark in the entire FBS.
However, true freshman quarterbacks have gone 1-16 straight up against AP No. 1 ranked teams over the last 10 seasons, with the lone exception being Trevor Lawrence in the 2019 national championship game.
Faizon Brandon struggled against Georgia Tech and if he isn’t effective on Saturday the Volunteers will be in tough to cover as a 4.5-point underdog.
Manning is the fifth choice to win the Heisman Trophy at +1200 at FanDuel.
Meanwhile, there’s a new Heisman favourite at FanDuel after Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss leapfrogged Darian Mensah following last week’s win over LSU.
The No. 4 Rebels visit No. 21 Florida in a game you can watch on TSN Premium at 3:30 PM ET.
The Gators are a 3.5-point home favourite at FanDuel.
It’s just the third time since at least 1995 that a top five team is an underdog versus an opponent ranked outside of the top 20.
In each of the previous two instances, the underdog lost in a blowout by 18 or more points.
If Chambliss struggles and Ole Miss loses, we should see another shakeup at the top of the Heisman board with Miami’s Darrian Mensah knocking on the door.
No. 6 Miami is a 41.5-point favourite for tonight’s game versus Central Michigan.
Meanwhile, Florida back Jadan Baugh has already moved from 200-to-1 to 60-to-1 to win the Heisman at FanDuel thanks to a 3-0 record and eight rushing touchdowns.
Baugh has averaged 8.5 yards per carry and will need to carry the Gators offence against a Rebels’ defence that could be vulnerable to a letdown following an emotional win over LSU last Saturday night.
The No. 10 Tigers will attempt to bounce back as an 8.5-point favourite versus Texas A&M at home.
Finally, No. 20 Oregon will attempt to get its season back on track on the road at No. 12 USC.
The Ducks already suffered an ugly 39-31 loss to Oklahoma State back in Week 2.
With games against Ohio State and Michigan in November, Oregon cannot afford a loss to USC.
The Ducks are a 2.5-point favourite on the road.
USC has lost six straight as a home underdog, including going 0-3 under head coach Lincoln Riley, so maybe there is hope for Oregon on Saturday night.
Enjoy the games, everyone!
