Miscues were made at MetLife Stadium last weekend.
And, no, they surprisingly didn’t come from the New York Jets or the New York Giants.
Instead, those mistakes were made by Navy, who coughed up six turnovers in a 51-14 loss to Notre Dame. Those turnovers led to 27 points for the Fighting Irish.
The Midshipmen did not cover the spread as last week’s Group of Five Underdog of the Week. College football betting odds had them as a 13.5-point underdog.
With 14 G5 teams on a bye this week, the selection is a little more limited. But here’s this week’s G5 Underdog of the Week.
Tulsa (Spread +3, Moneyline +120) at UAB
Last week, the Golden Hurricane could have just folded over when it was trailing UTSA 42-17 midway through the third quarter. According to ESPN Analytics, the win probability for the Roadrunners at that point was 99.6%.
Instead, Tulsa rallied and Cooper Legas connected with Kamdyn Benjamin for three second-half touchdowns to spark the comeback and the 46-45 Golden Hurricane victory. That game showed me Tulsa still feels like it has something to play for.
UAB, on the other hand, doesn’t give me that indication.
Tha Blazers are on a six-game losing streak heading into this homecoming matchup, and Blazers head coach Trent Dilfer seems to have lost the UAB fanbase. I can’t imagine vibes are very high in the Blazers’ locker room.
UAB’s defense has been bad this season and is allowing 37.6 points per game, which ranks last in the AAC. It surrendered 35 points to USF last week, which had a combined 28 points in its previous three outings. The Blazers’ offense isn’t much better and is just scoring 21 PPG.
I think Tulsa can score on this defense, and last week’s win gave the offense some much-needed confidence. I don’t expect the Blazers’ offense to be able to keep pace.
Tulsa is 5-3-2 against the spread as a road underdog under head coach Kevin Wilson. The last time UAB was favored was in Week 2 against ULM, where it lost 32-6 as an 11.5-point favorite. The Golden Hurricane are 4-0 all-time against the Blazers, with the last matchup coming in 2012.
Sitting at 3-5, Tulsa still has a shot at a bowl game. Its schedule isn’t favorable, and it’s unlikely it does reach six wins. But it was also unlikely it would rally to beat UTSA.
Honorable Mentions
Troy (+4.5, +160) vs. Coastal Carolina
I don’t think Troy has been as bad this season as its record suggests. The Trojans have shown flashes of good things and have played quality teams well all season. However, there have certainly been bad stretches.
That especially happened in last week’s loss when Troy allowed Arkansas State to drive the field with less than two minutes to play for a go-ahead score.
The Trojans have had some issues at quarterback this season, but this Coastal Carolina pass defense isn’t anything to be scared of.
I don’t believe the Chanticleers have played that great this year, and their only conference win came when Old Dominion coughed up the game. I think the Trojans and their defense show up to play here in front of their home crowd.
Troy is 5-1 ATS against CCU in Sun Belt matchups.
Rice (+11.5, +310) vs. Navy
It sometimes seems like a program is rejuvenated following the firing of a head coach. That may be the case here after Mike Blomgren was let go following Rice’s loss to UConn last week. Associate head coach and special teams coordinator Pete Alamar is serving as the interim head coach.
Although it includes two losses, the Owls have actually played well in the last month — at least, better than they were playing the first month of the season. The offense has really struggled to find any traction, but perhaps it can find a few weaknesses in Navy’s defense that were exploited by Notre Dame last week. If not, then it could be difficult to score enough points to stay in this game.
I anticipate the Owls to respond to the firing well and not fold over against this Navy squad.
The underdog has covered the spread in three of the four games at Rice Stadium this season, and the Owls are 2-2-1 as an underdog this year.
