The Bantrym Board: College Football Week 3

The Board is 7-3-1 through two weeks, the Best Bet is a perfect 2-0, and we're heading into Week 3 with four plays we actually believe in.

Week 2 wasn't perfect, but we'll take 2-1.

Alabama handled Kentucky as our Best Bet, USF covered against Army, and Oregon didn't just miss the cover against Oklahoma State — they lost the fucking game.

That puts The Bantrym Board at 7-3-1 on the season and 2-0 on Best Bets.

We looked at more than four games this week. We could've forced a fifth pick onto the Board. We didn't.

If we don't believe in it, we're not betting it just to fill space.

Here's the Week 3 Board.

⭐ BEST BET: UNC +3.5 at Clemson

We're going into Death Valley and taking the points.

This one starts with Clemson's offense. The Tigers haven't looked right through two weeks, and now Dabo Swinney is handing the offense to true freshman Tait Reynolds for his first career start. Reynolds took over for an injured Christopher Vizzina against Georgia Southern and completed 16 of 27 passes for 178 yards.

Clemson managed five scoring drives with him running the offense — all five ended in field goals — and finished just 2-for-14 on third down.

Now he gets UNC.

The Tar Heels are 2-0, their defense has gone seven straight quarters without allowing a touchdown, and the defensive front has an opportunity to make Reynolds uncomfortable from the beginning.

And then there's the obvious storyline: Bill Belichick getting a week to prepare for a true freshman making his first collegiate start.

We're not blindly betting UNC because Belichick is on the sideline. Clemson at Death Valley is still Clemson at Death Valley, and UNC hasn't proven enough through two games for us to pretend this is some automatic upset.

But that's the beauty of the number.

We don't need UNC to win.

We're getting more than a field goal in a game where points could be difficult to come by. Clemson can win 20-17 and we're good. They can win 23-20 and we're good.

We think UNC can make this ugly enough to be there at the end.

Give us UNC +3.5 as the Week 3 Best Bet.

SMU at Louisville — OVER 59.5

When we first looked at this matchup, the immediate thought was shootout.

After digging into it, we're still on the Over — just for a slightly different reason.

This isn't necessarily about two teams playing at some insane tempo. It's about two offenses that have been efficient and explosive enough that they don't need 15 possessions apiece to get us there.

SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings just threw for 337 yards and five touchdowns in one half against UC Davis. He's also the active ACC leader in career passing yards and has led SMU to a 15-2 ACC record since the Mustangs joined the conference.

Louisville has shown it can score against real competition, too. The Cardinals put up 38 against Ole Miss in the opener, with Lincoln Kienholz helping erase a 14-point deficit late before Louisville eventually lost 41-38.

And 59.5 isn't asking for anything ridiculous.

31-30.

34-27.

35-28.

All winners.

Last year's 38-6 SMU beatdown also gives Louisville plenty of reason to show up for this one, but we're staying away from picking a side.

We just want points.

SMU/Louisville OVER 59.5.

Miami -20 at Wake Forest

This is the biggest number on the Board, and we're laying it on the road.

We still like it.

Miami has been fucking ridiculous offensively through two games. The Hurricanes have scored 122 points, are averaging more than 700 yards per game, and lead the country at 10.44 yards per play. Quarterback Darian Mensah has eight touchdown passes, zero interceptions and only four incompletions.

Yes, the competition matters. Stanford and FAMU aren't exactly a playoff gauntlet.

Wake Forest should provide a better test.

The Demon Deacons are also 2-0, and Gio Lopez gives them a legitimate quarterback. They scored 38 in both of their first two games and just survived Purdue 38-36 in double overtime.

But that Purdue game is also part of why we're comfortable laying the number.

Purdue moved the ball for 455 yards on 82 offensive plays against Wake. Ryan Browne completed 32 of 42 passes for 329 yards.

Now Wake has to deal with Mensah and an offense that's been substantially more explosive than anything they've seen so far.

Wake may score enough to make this interesting early.

We think Miami eventually makes the talent gap obvious.

We got this at -20, and we're taking it.

Miami -20.

Florida -2.5 at Auburn

This is the one that makes us the most uncomfortable.

And sometimes that's okay.

Florida and Auburn are both 2-0, both have first-year head coaches, and neither has really shown us exactly what it is yet. Florida's first two games came at home against FAU and Campbell. Auburn escaped Baylor 17-16 before beating Southern Miss 43-8.

Now the training wheels are off.

Florida goes into Jordan-Hare for its first road game of the season and the SEC opener for both teams.

Auburn can run the football. Against Southern Miss, three different Tigers ran for at least 80 yards, and playing at Jordan-Hare at night isn't something we're dismissing.

But we keep coming back to the number.

Florida quarterback Aaron Philo has thrown for 517 yards through two games, while Jadan Baugh has already rushed for 296.

We think Florida has enough offensively to go on the road and win this game.

And at -2.5, that's basically what we're betting.

We're not asking Florida to blow Auburn out in its own stadium. We're asking the Gators to leave with a win.

It might be ugly.

Florida -2.5.

The Week 3 Board

⭐ UNC +3.5 at Clemson — BEST BET

SMU/Louisville OVER 59.5

Miami -20 at Wake Forest

Florida -2.5 at Auburn

Season Record: 7-3-1

Best Bet Record: 2-0

Four picks made the Board.

Now we keep the receipts.

WE TALK SPORTS.