Arkansas State vs. Alabama Total Pick
Alabama used both of its quarterbacks in Week 1 to rack up 51 points against Louisville. Arkansas State also put on an offensive show in its first game, albeit versus a FCS opponent. Will the two teams combine for enough points to push the score over the total on Saturday?
Game Snapshot
351 Arkansas State Red Wolves vs. 352 Alabama Crimson Tide
3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 8, 2018
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Crimson Tide are 36.5-point favorites to beat the Red Wolves. The total, meanwhile, sits at 65.5 points. As of this writing, 77% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Tide.
Arkansas State Red Wolves
Arkansas State redshirt senior QB Justice Hansen completed 26-of-36 passes for 473 yards with six touchdowns and an interception in a 48-14 rout of Southeast Missouri State on Saturday. A sensational start to the season from one of the unheralded stars of college football. Of course, it comes against an FCS program, but anyone who watched the redshirt senior play last year knows he’s capable of this. Perhaps most impressive is that he was able to spread out all six scores to six different players. He also added 31 yards on five carries, showing that he’s a capable player as a runner as well. Hansen is a ton of fun to watch, and he’ll be on display for the Red Wolves next week against Alabama next Saturday.
Alabama Crimson Tide
In the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2018 season, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State paced the field Nos. 1-4. The first three teams in the poll held steady on their preseason ranks, while OSU scooted up one slot from No. 5 (flipping spots with Wisconsin). As for new entrants into the top 10, welcome Notre Dame (No. 8) and Stanford (No. 10), with those teams benefitting from their wins over Michigan and San Diego State, respectively. LSU was the biggest mover in the pool, taking the No. 11 spot all the way up from No. 25. And their Sunday victim in Miami? Tumbled all the way down from No. 8 to No. 22. In a final polling note, welcome both South Carolina (No. 24) and Florida (No. 25) to the proceedings. Both squads were unranked in the preseason incarnation of the Associated Press release.
Betting Trends
Arkansas State
The under is 8-3 in the Red Wolves’ last 11 road games.
Alabama
The over is 4-0 in the Crimson Tide’s last four games in September.
Prediction
As the Rotoworld blurb notes above, Hansen is one of the more unheralded players in college football. Granted, it came against Southeast Missouri State but the Red Wolves amassed 685 yards of total offense. Obviously, Arkansas State won’t find it as easy to find pay dirt on Saturday against Alabama and Nick Saban’s vaunted defense. That said, we know the Crimson Tide will score, regardless of who is under center. If Arkansas State can chip in 17 points against an Alabama team playing in a letdown spot following its win over Louisville, then the Tide should handle the rest to cover the over.
College Football Prediction: Arkansas State/Alabama over 65.5