Ricky Dimon
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Week 2 of the 2022 college football season dominates Saturday’s schedule, and the 12:00 pm ET slate of games includes the headliner. It’s the Alabama Crimson Tide going up against the Texas Longhorns. Although the matchup is huge on paper, the odds indicate that it isn’t expected to be competitive – even though the Longhorns have home-field advantage.
Below is our same game parlay for the matchup, and also be sure to check out our full Alabama-Texas preview in addition to all of our NCAAF predictions.
Alabama -20.5 (-110)
Over 65.5 (-115)
Jahmyr Gibbs to record 110+ rushing yards (+210)
Parlay odds: +450
Part of the value in same game parlays, of course, is that all of its components can be correlated if you so choose. That is the entire plan here, as Jahmyr Gibbs having a big day on the ground would obviously work well with both an Alabama cover and the over hitting. Let’s break down each of the three parlay legs one by one.
Alabama -20.5 (-110)
Alabama is the No. 1 team in the nation and although a 55-0 drubbing of Utah State means nothing, it has a game under its belt and should already be a well-oiled machine come this weekend. Bryce Young rushed for 100 yards in the opener and now he faces a Texas defense that gave up 57 points to lowly Kansas in 2021. On the other side of the ball, the Crimson Tide’s defense — led by linebacker Will Anderson — looks like a force. ‘Bama allowed only 87 rushing yards per game last season and racked up 57 sacks (17.5 courtesy of Anderson). Head coach Nick Saban’s squad is just on a different level from Texas, no matter where the game is played. Expect the visitors to dominate on both sides of the ball for a win and cover.
Over 65.5 (-115)
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian watched his team put up only 383 yards of offense in Week 1 despite facing Louisiana-Monroe. Still, the Longhorns exceeded the half-century mark in a 52-10 victory. If the ‘Horns can get to 20, that should be enough to push the total over. They can probably do it — even if they kind of get some help in the form of garbage-time points at the expense of Alabama’s backup defense. Bijan Robinson is good enough to produce even against the Crimson Tide and freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers has plenty of potential. Of course, Alabama is going to shoulder the load when it comes to taking this over the number. Assuming the Tide make any silly mistakes on offense (and that should be a safe assumption with Young at QB), they should score early and often.
Check out all of this week’s college football content and picks in our Week 2 betting guide
Jahmyr Gibbs to record 110+ rushing yards (+210)
Jahmyr Gibbs made the most of limited opportunities last season and he was especially impressive down the stretch. Starting in late October, the Dalton, Ga. native rushed for 132 yards against Virginia (on 13 carries), 113 yards against Virginia Tech (on 11 carries) and 96 yards against Boston College (on 19 carries). Gibbs had just 9 attempts against Utah State in the season opener but turned them into 93 yards. He will presumably get a lot more touches now that competition level is increasing in a major way. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he is facing a great defense. Texas got abused by Kansas in 2021 and its lone SEC contest resulted in a 41-20 loss to Arkansas. In that game the Razorbacks rushed for a ridiculous 333 yards.
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