College Football Week 7 Preview: Spots to Target

As we head toward the halfway point of the college football season, we will continue to see great spot plays on the schedule. 

For those who missed last week’s article, I’m taking a look at teams who might show up flat in Week 7 and a couple of potential sandwich spots in which a team could be looking ahead to something bigger in Week 8.

All odds from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Flat spots

Miami @ North Carolina

Noon ET
UNC -3.5

There may not be a bigger letdown in the sport this season than Miami coming off the horrific loss to Georgia Tech at the last second. The Canes were set to move to 5-0, but instead of taking a knee, they fumbled the ball and let the Yellow Jackets drive down the field for the game-winning score. I’m very surprised this line is as tight as it is, because North Carolina has been very good and is coming off Drake Maye’s best performance of the season vs. Syracuse. Last year, Miami lost this game at home 27-24, but I just wonder how they’ll come into this after such a terrible loss. 

Texas A&M @ Tennessee

3:30 p.m. ET
Tennessee -3.5

The Aggies are coming off a tough 26-20 home loss to Alabama as they fell to 4-2 on the season. Last year, after losing to Alabama by four in Tuscaloosa, the Aggies hit the road to play South Carolina as a three-point favorite and lost by six. Tennessee is 4-1 and will be entering this one off a bye week. The Vols haven’t played A&M the last few seasons, but I expect them to be ultra focused off the bye even with Alabama up next. Look at the home team here. 

Louisville @ Pittsburgh

6:30 p.m. ET
Louisville -8

Louisville is 6-0 and had the national spotlight last week vs. Notre Dame. The stadium was rocking, and the team got up for the Fighting Irish in an impressive 33-20 victory. Now they hit the road to play Pittsburgh, who has had two weeks to hear how awful they are and how the season is over. The Panthers even moved Phil Jurkovec to tight end during this time off, so he can’t be awful at quarterback. I’m a firm believer in bad teams off a bye week allowing them to reset the season. Give me the points, as I think Pittsburgh shows up nicely in this spot. 

Arizona @ Washington State

7 p.m. ET
Wazzu -8

The last two weeks, Arizona has lost by seven at home to Washington and by two in triple overtime at USC. That’s two huge opportunities for the Wildcats, and they fell short in both of them. Last week, they were without Jayden de Laura at quarterback, so we’ll see what his availability is for this one. The problem is, I have to wonder what is in the tank after these last two contests. The Cougars are 4-1 and coming off a 25-17 loss at UCLA. They beat Arizona 31-20 last year, and I expect them to take out some frustrations on Saturday. 

The Letdown Bowl

Missouri @ Kentucky

Noon ET
Kentucky -2.5

Both Missouri and Kentucky enter this one fresh off a loss. At least the Wildcats knew early they didn’t have a shot in a 51-13 loss at Georgia. UK is 5-1, but four of those games were at home, and none of the wins were all that spectacular outside of beating Florida. The Tigers are also 5-1 but coming off a game they arguably should have won. Missouri lost 49-39 to LSU at home as the offense disappeared in the second half. These two met last year with Kentucky winning on the road 21-17. We’ll see who can put last week behind them quicker. 

Sandwich Spots

Ohio State @ Purdue

Noon ET
Ohio State -19.5

The Buckeyes are coming off a 37-17 victory over previously unbeaten Maryland and have a huge home contest with Penn State on October 21. Sandwiched in between is a road trip to Purdue this Saturday. The Boilers are 2-4 on the year, which makes this slightly tricky because we’ve seen them play pretty well in victories over Virginia Tech and Illinois. I fully expect Ohio State to win this one, but the backdoor could be open late if they worry more about the Nittany Lions. 

Marshall @ Georgia State

7 p.m. ET
Georgia State -1

The last three weeks, Marshall has played two ACC teams and had a close matchup with lowly Old Dominion. They get to host James Madison on October 19, which is a Thursday, and this weekend they have a road trip to sleepy Georgia State where the atmosphere isn’t that intimidating. The Thundering Herd has found their offense the last two weeks, putting up over 40 points in each game, but the defense has suddenly gotten a little leaky. The Panthers are 4-1 and have had two weeks to process the loss to Troy. I guess we’ll learn how “for real” this team is this week.