Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
It was not a great Week 1 for the FCS in their matchups with the FBS, as none of them produced victories and only five kept their contest within one score. Now that we’ve hit Week 2 though, scheduling spots come into play, as we have potential sandwiches and lookaheads to check out. There are also a couple of FBS teams playing an FCS opponent on short weeks. With that, let’s take a look at several potential spots that are of interest for Saturday’s slate.
Holy Cross @ Boston College
Noon ET Saturday
We start with the very first game, as the FCS team could be live here. The Crusaders beat Merrimack 42-20 in their opener and have an FBS win over Buffalo from last year to rely on as they knocked off the Bulls 37-31. Seven starters are back on offense including their quarterback who is very underrated. Boston College lost 27-24 in overtime to Northern Illinois last time out and has Florida State up next. They failed to cover as 31-point favorites last year against Maine in a 38-17 victory. I’ll need plenty of points, but if the books hang a high enough number, I could be on the road team here.
Youngstown State @ Ohio State
Noon ET Saturday
This one could see a lot of points with most of them coming from Ohio State. The Buckeyes only beat Indiana 23-3 last week and need to get Marvin Harrison Jr. and the rest of the offense going before Western Kentucky next week. It’s been a while since OSU played an FCS opponent, but they’ve typically pounded the teams they are better than at home. The Penguins beat Valparaiso 52-10 last week and have nine offensive starters back. I’m guessing we’ll get a big number for the spread and a slightly bigger total. If this thing is low 50s or middle 50s, I’m looking over with Ohio State winning something like 52-6.
New Hampshire @ Central Michigan
1:30 p.m. ET Saturday
The school out of the CAA should match up very nicely with the squad out of the MAC. New Hampshire is coming off a 51-17 win over Stonehill and has 19 starters back including their starting QB, six of their top seven receivers and four offensive linemen as well as 20 of their top 22 tacklers. The issue with the Wildcats is that last year we liked their chances in their FBS game against Western Michigan, and they lost 44-7. Central Michigan is 0-1 after a 31-7 loss to Michigan State. They handled their FCS opponent last year in a 41-0 win over Bucknell as a 40-point favorite. The one other thing to consider here is the Chippewas have Notre Dame on deck, but still, I’d need a healthy amount of points to feel comfortable to take UNH.
Eastern Illinois @ Bowling Green
2 p.m. ET Saturday
Tony Romo’s alma mater could be live with the right number Saturday. The Panthers are feeling good after a 27-0 win over Indiana State. They’ve got nine starters back on offense and won’t be intimidated by the Falcons after nearly knocking off NIU last year 34-27. Bowling Green looked all right in a 34-24 loss at Liberty, but they have already fallen to an FCS opponent recently losing 59-57 in seven overtimes to Eastern Kentucky in 2022. The Falcons have a road trip to Michigan next, but they should be focused on this one. A solid number will get me on the road team here though.
Texas Southern @ Toledo
3:30 p.m. ET Saturday
The over could come into play here as the Rockets look to bounce back after the tough 30-28 loss to Illinois. Toledo beat up on Long Island last year 37-0 as a 47-point favorite. They should be able to put up points on Texas Southern, who is coming off a 37-34 overtime loss to Prairie View. Last year TSU lost 59-27 to North Texas and have 10 starters back on offense. Give me a low 50s number and I’ll be heavily considering the over.
Southern Illinois @ Northern Illinois
3:30 p.m. ET Saturday
Could NIU be riding too high after their road win at an ACC school? The Huskies also have a road trip to Nebraska that they’ll definitely think they have a shot in so this could be a sleepy spot. As mentioned above, last year, NIU only beat EIU 34-27 as a 35-point favorite. Southern Illinois is feeling good after a 49-23 win over Austin Peay and knocked off Northwestern 31-24 in 2022. They have seven offensive starters back including their QB, top RB and top WR. I don’t think we’ll get a number over two touchdowns, but I’ll be on it if we do.
Austin Peay @ Tennessee
5 p.m. ET Saturday
The Vols have won their last few FCS games by the scores of 65-24 and 56-0, so expect plenty of points here. Sometimes you have to look at a coach’s history and how he treats these games to see if there’s a pattern. Tennessee doesn’t slow down at all, so expect them to keep scoring on an Austin Peay team that has just three defensive starters back. The Governors lost 49-23 to SIU last week and will struggle in this one. Once again, I’d love to get a low-50s number with Tennessee doing a lot of the work for us.
Idaho @ Nevada
7 p.m. ET Saturday
The Vandals are a potent bunch, as evidenced by their 42-17 win over Lamar last week. They have eight starters back on offense and lost a pair of FBS games last year 24-17 to Washington State and 35-22 to Indiana. Nevada is coming off a 66-14 loss to USC and has Kansas on deck. Meanwhile, they also have a recent FCS loss as Lindsay Scott and Incarnate Word beat them 55-41 in 2022.
Florida A&M @ South Florida
7 p.m. ET Saturday
This is arguably the biggest lookahead spot in this article Saturday, as South Florida hosts Florida A&M before welcoming Alabama to town next week. The Bulls lost 41-24 to Western Kentucky last week and didn’t cover last year as 39-point favorites in their 42-20 win over Howard. Still, how can they be focused for this one with the Crimson Tide coming to town up next. The Rattlers beat Jackson State 28-10 last week and have 10 starters back on offense. They did fall 56-24 to UNC in 2022 so either the over or the underdog could be the play here.
