The Top five teams are these: No. 1 Florida State Seminole 3-0 (1st ACC Atlantic) playing at NC State Wolfpack 4-0 (3rd ACC Atlantic), No. 2 Oregon Ducks 4-0 (1st Pac 12) a bye week and on Thursday, October 2nd they play the Arizona Wildcats 4-0 (1st Pac 12) at home, No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide 4-0 (1st SEC West) a bye week and on Saturday, October 4th they play Ole Miss Rebels 4-0 (1st SEC West) on the road, No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners 4-0 (1st Big 12) a bye week and on Saturday, October 4th they play the TCU Horned Frogs 2-0 ) 3rd Big 12) on the road, and the No. 5 Auburn Tigers at home, play the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 2-2 (1st C-USA West.
This Saturday, NCAA Football Week No. 5 offers a full schedule of games. Let’s review the betting action with the AP Top 5 teams who are playing this weekend.
Since three of the Top 5 teams have a bye week the review will include the reigning champions and this week No. 1 FSU Seminoles and the No. 5 Auburn Tigers.
Florida State Seminoles
The No. 1 Florida State Seminole’s 3-0, are on the road against the North Carolina State Wolfpack 4-0 with FSU favored at -19 with the O/U 58 and the game will be played at the Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina with the game on ABC/ESPN2 TV.
First, let’s look at the team leaders starting with FSU, whose QB Winston did not play last week, has completed 47 of 67 passes for 626 yards and 3 touchdowns in his two games, TB Williams has 42 carries for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns and receiver Green had 24 receptions for 418 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Wolfpack QB Brissett in three games has completed 83 of 119 passes for 1,005 yards for 10 touchdowns, RB Thornton has 42 carries for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns and receiver Hines has 16 receptions for 209 yards.
The No. 1 Florida State Seminoles return their Heisman QB Winston as a starter hoping to avoid an upset scare against the undefeated North Carolina State 4-0 with all wins against unranked teams. In last week’s win over No. 22 Clemson the Seminoles backup QB Maguire and the FSU struggled with their ground game with 13 yards on 27 carries, their worst rushing average since back in 2006. Not only in this game but this season they are next to last in the ACC in rushing yards per game. Last season QB Winston completed 16 of 26 passes for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns in their 49-7 win in Tallahassee.
The statistic that’s interesting is that the Wolfpack has won five of the last seven home games against FSU and in 2012 beat the Seminoles 17-16. They are seeking a win to go to 5-0 which has not happened since back in 2002 when they were 9-0 and finished the season at 11-3. Thus far in 2014 NC State leads the ACC for offensive yards per game at 502 and QB Brissett is the ACC leading passer with a rating of 166.7. Brissett is a transfer from the University of Florida. The Wolfpack is 0-3 all time when playing against the top ranked teams.
Auburn Tigers
The No. 5 Auburn Tigers 3-0 are playing the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 2-2 at the Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama this Saturday with the Tigers favored at -32 and the O/U is 61.
The leaders offensively tor the Bulldogs are QB Sokol who has passed for 84 of 134 for some 1,009 yards and 10 touchdowns, RB Dixon with 69 carries for 404 yards and 5 touchdowns and receiver Griffin with 19 receptions and 1 TD. The Auburn Tigers QB has completed 31 of 56 passes for 382 yards and 3 touchdowns, RB Artis-Payne has 64 carries for 352 yards and 4 touchdowns and receiver Williams has 21 receptions for 324 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Last week the Tigers had 359 yards offensively which happened to be the least amount of yards they produced in the 17 games in which coach Malzahn has been their leader. It was a close game, but they won as their Heisman QB candidate knows how to win. He however was suspended for the 1st half of their game against Arkansas. Last week the Tigers only produced 128 yards rushing which is the second fewest since Malzahn became head coach for Auburn. They won the game even with their offense not at its best, but found a way to win.
The Bulldogs were ready for the 3rd win last week with visiting Northwestern State, but were outscored in the fourth quarter to lose the game 30-27. The Bulldog QB Sokol threw 3 interceptions and fumbled twice which were the team’s most turnovers since back in 2007. Their Coach Holtz knows they have their work cut out for them playing against Auburn as the Tigers have won the last eight games the two teams played and all time against Louisiana Tech they are 11-0-1 in the series.
For the Auburn fans who bet on college football at a sportbook keep in mind that this Bulldogs team can produce a lot of yardage offensively and not too much has been reported on the strength of Auburns defense! Happy wagering!