Are you looking for some college football player props to boost your bankroll before the scheduled Saturday games of Week 1 of college football?
Mike Calabrese from the Action Network has this to say.
Coach Brees is looking to have two Tobacco Road superstars in North Carolina State quarterback Grayson McCall and University of North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton make big plays on the ground Thursday night.
College Football Player Props
The table below lists each of Mike Calabrese's top college football prop picks for Thursday's Week 1 games. Clicking on the pick or team logo will take you to the specific bet discussed in this article.
Western Carolina vs. NC State Player Predictions
QB Grayson McCall Anytime TD (+210)
I mentioned this on Green Dot Daily with Charlie Disturco, but I think this game between the Catamounts and Wolfpack has the potential to be a high-scoring game.
Western Carolina gave up 504.1 yards per game last fall, driven by quarterback Cole Gonzales, a Walter Payton Award finalist. If Gonzales and the Catamounts score 21 or more points in this game, McCall and NC State will be on the offensive for four quarters.
Nothing will knock a prop down or put you at a disadvantage more than having your starters replaced quickly after losing by a large margin, and despite the 32.5 point lead, I don't expect NC State to be dominated until at least the fourth quarter.
In terms of opportunity, McCall is in a system perfectly suited to rack up rushing touchdowns.
The former Coastal Carolina Chanticleer has 18 career rushing touchdowns and now joins Robert Anae on a team where over the past five years, 28.3% of the team's total carries came from the quarterback, the fifth-highest carry share in the country.
Over the past three seasons, his starting quarterbacks have recorded nine, nine and seven rushing touchdowns, respectively.
I’d bet McCall as a touchdown prop all the way down to +190, and if you want to get serious about betting on Week 1, the odds of McCall scoring two touchdowns in this game are in the +1600 range.
He made his first collegiate start against Kansas in 2020 and had two big plays. So, stranger things are happening.
Pick: Grayson McCall Anytime TD (+210)
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North Carolina vs. Minnesota roster predictions
Omarion Hampton 150+ yards rushing (+370)
There is reason to believe Hampton will receive more than 20 carries in this game.
First, North Carolina is expected to rotate quarterbacks, and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay will likely rely on both Max Johnson and Connor Harrell for some conservative play-calling early in this game.
Lindsay's offense split the pass and run 50/50 last season, providing Hampton with 24 or more carries in four games in 2023. In those “carry-plus” games, Hampton averaged 188 yards on the ground.
When given the opportunity, Hampton puts up big numbers.
Lindsay might have instructed Hampton to run the ball more than usual with the quarterback's timeshare coming up — and that was before he shared the weather forecast for Minneapolis Thursday night, which called for rain and wind in the Twin Cities as thunderstorms rolled through the region.
There's also a chance of a monsoon with wind gusts of 15-20 mph, so I don't want to get involved in receiving passes or props. I'm going to focus all my energy on the rush. The weather forecast only increases the chances that Hampton will get the ball early and often.
Minnesota's defensive decline also needs to be taken into account.
The Golden Gophers continue to rely on the defensive reputation they garnered under coach Joe Rossi, who led Minnesota's defense to a top-25 run defense three times from 2019-2022.
But it all fell apart last season, as they allowed 149 rushing yards per game (64th) and were rated the 107th-best run defense in the country by PFF.
The reason for their low ranking is likely their tendency to allow big runs. The Gophers allowed eight runs of 30 yards or more last season, highlighting their issues with run fitness.
Rossi left the team this offseason to take the directing position at Michigan State, and Corey Heatherman will take over as directing coach at Minnesota, his first play-calling role in three years.
Only time will tell if Heatherman is better than Rossi, who was a Broyles Award candidate just three years ago.
And finally, let's quantify what we already know: Hampton is a home run threat. His breakaway rate is 36.4%, meaning more than a third of his runs go for 15 yards or more.
He had the third-highest breakaway rate in the country among bell cowbacks who carried the ball at least 225 times last season, and while his prop line is decent at 95.5 yards, it's time to make some long runs and reap the dividends of 7-2 or more.
Pick: Omarion Hampton – 150+ yards rushing (+370)
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