Sam Avellone
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There’s just something about Friday night college football games. Maybe it’s the whole “Friday night lights” mantra, but I will never shy away from a small appetizer of college football before Saturday’s main course. There are a couple of Friday night games this week, but the focus will be on Manhattan, Kansas – as Arizona travels to Kansas State for the first time in program history. This battle of the Wildcats will also be the first time these teams play as fellow Big 12 members, but this game in particular will not count as a conference game because it was previously scheduled before the Big 12 expanded.
With a total nearing 60, oddsmakers project a bit of scoring in this matchup – making it a perfect candidate for an Arizona vs Kansas State Same Game Parlay. Check out a brief analysis for each leg below, and be sure to continue to visit Pickswise for our college football picks on all the big games this weekend and every weekend throughout the season!
Avery Johnson over 43.5 rushing yards (-121)
Dylan Edwards anytime touchdown scorer (+125)
Tetairoa McMillan anytime touchdown scorer (-187)
Arizona vs Kansas State Same Game Parlay odds: +550
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Avery Johnson (KST) over 43.5 rushing yards (-121)
Avery Johnson is still a work in progress as a down-field passer, but he is a fairly reliable asset in the ground game. He has rushed for 77 yards on 11 carries thus far this year, which is not the biggest sample size. However, it seemed Kansas State was preserving some of its offense in the first 2 weeks of the season for bigger games, so it would not surprise me if Johnson ran more in this matchup.
Replacing almost its entire defensive line, Arizona has not been very good against the run this year – especially against opposing quarterbacks. New Mexico’s Devon Dampier rushed for 130 yards on 15 carries against Arizona in Week 1, while FCS Northern Arizona’s Ty Pennington was close to surpassing this total last week against the Wildcats. With an expected uptick in Johnson’s usage as a runner, I love his upside this week and think including him in this Arizona vs Kansas State Same Game Parlay is a great pivot off Kansas State running back DJ Giddens.
Read our full Arizona vs Kansas State prediction
Dylan Edwards (KST) anytime touchdown scorer (+125)
Speaking of pivoting off Giddens, here’s another way to do that. Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards does not have the usage Giddens does, but he has a nose for the end zone this season with 3 touchdowns on 12 total touches. Whether he carries it or pulls in a reception, Edwards is averaging nearly 10 yards every time he touches the ball – so it would behoove the Kansas State staff to get him more touches as the season wears on. It’s unlikely Edwards maintains a 25% scoring rate on all of his touches, but at 5’9” and less than 170 lbs, Edwards offers another dimension to this Kansas State offense. Think of him as the lightning to Giddens’ thunder with the ability to gain chunk yards as a receiver out of the backfield. He should be a threat to score for the Wildcats at any point in the green zone given Johnson’s low aDOT and Arizona’s expected focus on Giddens and Johnson as runners.
Find out our expert’s college football best bets for Friday, featuring UNLV vs Kansas and Arizona vs Kansas State
Tetairoa McMillan (ARIZ) anytime touchdown (-187)
At 6’5” and 212 lbs, Tetairoa McMillan is an NFL-ready wide receiver playing what will likely be his last season of college football. On a team loaded with offensive talent last year, McMillan stood out as a go-to playmaker with 10 touchdowns – including 1 in each of Arizona’s final 5 regular season games. He picked up right where he left off in Week 1, pulling in 4 touchdowns on 10 receptions in Week 1 against New Mexico in addition to more than 300 receiving yards. He did not contribute much in Week 2 against Northern Arizona, but I suspect that was more load management against an FCS program than anything. McMillan has a massive size advantage over a Kansas State secondary that struggled mightily against the pass last week at Tulane and has an incredible rapport with quarterback Noah Fifita, making him the biggest red zone threat in this game and a great way to round out our Arizona vs Kansas State Same Game Parlay.
