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After an appetizer in Week 0, college football gets fully underway in Week 1. The action gets underway in earnest on Thursday and Friday, meaning there's plenty of games to bet on before Saturday's packed slate. Bruce Marshall, the longtime executive editor of The Gold Sheet, has shared what you need to know for college football betting ahead the biggest Week 1 games taking place on Thursday and Friday.

No. 25 Boise State at South Florida (8/28, 5:30 p.m. ET)

There seems to be groupthink in the analyst community that Boise State should continue to roll just fine this fall even with star running back Ashton Jeanty now off to the NFL. The rationale is sound -- the Broncos have been winning consistently for a quarter-century now, before Jeanty was even born, for a variety of head coaches, including current skipper Spencer Danielson. Thus, the thinking goes that Boise shouldn't miss a step this fall. But Jeanty's departure (and the staggering 2,601 rushing yards and 29 TDs he's taking with him) can't be minimized. After all, he couldn't be tackled by most of the foes on the Broncos' schedule, and a likely RB-by-committee approach won't provide quite the same dimension. 

Perhaps that impacts pocket-sized quarterback Maddux Madsen, who worked well off Jeanty's diversion and passed for better than 3,000 yards and 23 TDs in 2024. He won't have Jeanty this season, and that could impact the defense too as it could pin its ears back and rushes enemy passers who were playing from behind, thanks largely to Jeanty's exploits when Boise had the ball, to record nation's-best 55 sacks a year ago. Even with returnees like ultra-productive edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan, similar numbers might not be an easy repeat if the Broncos aren't playing from as far ahead if the offense backs up a bit from its 37 PPG output (ranking fifth nationally) a year ago.

It's worth noting Boise, even with Jeanty in the fold, had a mighty struggle in its opener at Georgia Southern a year ago, failing to handle a near-two touchdown impost. While the price is lower for the 2025 opener in Tampa, it might not be any easier for the Broncos to pull away.

Many observers are keeping a close eye on USF, which has hinted at breakthroughs the past two seasons under Alex Golesh, who moved from Josh Heupel's Tennessee staff in 2023 and installed a similar uptempo attack that Golesh used as OC in Knoxville with Hendon Hooker at QB. The Bulls have won bowl games each of the past two seasons, progressing to the postseason last year mostly behind capable backup QB Bryce Archie, on in relief of the dynamic but injured Byrum Brown, who burst upon the scene in 2023 when he and LSU's Heisman winner Jayden Daniels were the only quarterbacks in the country to pass for more than 3,000 yards and rush for more than 800 yards. A veteran line returning four starters should prove to be proper road-graders for Brown and a revamped RB corps led by bowling ball-like Charlotte transfer Cartevious Norton. How much a transfer-infused defense improves will likely tell the eventual tale of how far USF will progress this fall, and we'll probably know in a few weeks if Golesh has a legit contender on his hands as Sunshine State grudge matches at Florida and Miami are immediately on deck. 

Regional sources are suggesting confidence is over-the-top in Tampa with the return of Brown, and Golesh has his side expecting to win the opener. Combative efforts and covers the past two years vs. Alabama in early-season games fuels the optimism. This does not shape up as an easy game for Boise, and might not end up as a game the Broncos even win.

Miami (OH) at Wisconsin (8/28, 9 p.m. ET)

It can be hard work keeping track of all that went on in the transfer portal during the offseason, though we suspect one of the more-impactful moves has managed to mostly stayed off of the national radar. That would be the transfer of QB Dequan Finn from Baylor to Miami-Ohio, which has the potential to redefine the race in the MAC -- all of the way to the conference title game, perhaps, and then who knows with the "Group of 5" playoff rep. 

It's the same Finn whose brief tenure in Waco was cut short by a painful rib injury in Game 2 at Utah that opened the door for Sawyer Robertson to move into the cockpit for the Bears while Finn recuperated. That early injury, however, saved one more year of eligibility for Finn, whose college career began before the pandemic and stretches back to 2019, making him a rare seventh-year player. MAC foes and coaches know Finn pretty well as in his prior stint at Toledo earned him MAC MVP honors. He's a big-play threat whose speed became a nightmare to defend for rival defenses on speed-option and zone-read plays -- just what the RedHawks plan to do with Finn this fall. Finn is also able to chuck it downfield, and he's the only QB in Toledo history to pass for more than 2,000 yards and rush for more than 500 yards in multiple seasons. The speed dimension Finn adds to the Miami offense is something Chuck Martin's past signal-callers like Brett Gabbert and others did not possess, and Martin has done well enough without this sort of playmaker, qualifying for consecutive MAC title games as well as covering 16 of the past 25 games on the board.

We're not sure Wisconsin backers recognize the threat, though we're sure head coach Luke Fickell does. The Wisconsin fan base is starting to become a bit antsy with the program having regressed under Fickell's two seasons in charge at Camp Randall, all the way to a bowl-less campaign for the first time in 22 years last fall. Eager to re-establish the smashmouth identity introduced in Madison by former head coach Barry Alvarez, Fickell is hellbent for the ground game to assert itself after Wisconsin's rushing attack regressed to below middle-of-the-pack levels (it was ranked 78th a year ago). New OC Jeff Grimes has been tasked with rediscovering those smashmouth roots and to that end, mobile Maryland transfer QB Billy Edwards Jr. might prove a good fit. 

It's worth remembering the Terps won only one Big Ten game with Edwards at the controls last fall, and investors are well aware of Fickell's downturn against the spread dating to the end of his successful run at Cincinnati, contributing to a 13-24 spread skid for Fickell's teams entering the new season. Fickell could use a boost and is expected to get the win, but handling this sort of pricy impost looks a big ask on Thursday night, especially considering the various elements involved.

Georgia Tech at Colorado (8/29, 8 p.m. ET)

Usually playing most of its games within its region, Georgia Tech might feel like it's on the moon during a rare trip to Boulder. The host Buffaloes rate as a bit of a mystery team in the Big 12 as Deion Sanders looks to reload after the departures of his son Shedeur, dynamic Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and a slew of other starters. Underestimate Deion at your own risk, however, as he effectively created the template for massive personnel turnover through the portal. Coach Prime has proven he can work the portal before, and most believe he hit the bullseye again with former Liberty QB Kaidon Salter, a true dual threat who had a huge season two years ago (32 TDs, 1,089 rushing yards) as the Flames reached the New Year's Six before his form dipped slightly amid bigger expectations a season ago. 

It was on defense where the Buffs improved most last season, shaving more than 11 PPG from their average opposing score. Several well-regarded portal additions will beef up the rush defense, though DC Robert Livingston also has the task of replacing Hunter's prowess at CB that all but cut the field in half for opposing QBs.

As for the Yellow Jackets, many ACC onlookers rate Brent Key's side as a sleeper contender in the league, especially if dual-threat QB Haynes King can stay in one piece. Slowed by nagging injuries last season, King still demonstrated better decision-making than in 2023 when he tossed 16 picks; last year, that was cut down to two, as his completion percentage also raised from 61.6% to 72.9%. King has also rushed for nearly 1,500 yards in a career that saw him run for 21 TDs across the last two seasons. He may have some special motivation for this game as it was against the same Buffs in 2021 that King, then starting QB for Texas A&M, suffered a season-ending leg injury in a game played at the Broncos' stadium in Denver. 

At full strength, this expects to be a potent attack, with RB Jamal Haynes back in the fold after gaining 944 yards a year ago, while a pair of transfers from Florida International (Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson) combined for 112 catches as members of the Panthers a year ago. Key also has a new DC, Blake Gideon, over from Texas, who will oversee a platoon that returns several playmakers and has added various well-regarded transfers from the portal. Folks in Atlanta are already convinced about Key, as the turnaround after his promotion (and dismissal of predecessor Geoff Collins) was immediate. Ten times the Jackets have won outright as an underdog since Key took over halfway into the 2022 campaign. While they are slight favorites in Boulder, note the Jackets have been ready to play from the get-go each season under Key, covering the spread in his first three openers (which included an October upset as a three-TD dog at Pitt in 2022, Key's first game in charge). If Tech is to be the force in the ACC that many in the region expect, this is the sort of game it'll be expected to win.

UNLV at Sam Houston (8/29, 9:30 p.m. ET)

There are new coaches on both sides (Dan Mullen at UNLV, Phil Longo at Sam Houston) of this CBS Sports Network game, and these teams also each got a jump start on the season with Week 0. Neither managed to cover last Saturday, though the Rebels did manage an outright success in their opener at Allegiant Stadium vs. Idaho State. Not easily, we might add, as the middling Big Sky team jumped to an early lead and keep pace with Mullen's side the whole way and looked like it might even pull off a mighty upset (as a near four-TD underdog!) deep into the fourth quarter before turnovers sidelined a couple of late drives. 

Still, that 38-31 survival would end up asking more questions about UNLV than were answered, especially after giving up 555 yards to an FCS team that didn't even manage a winning recorded (just 5-7) a season ago. The defense, historically a Rebels weak link for a generation until Barry Odom somewhat plugged the leaks over the past two seasons, looked as vulnerable as ever -- not something that was expected from Mullen and his past SEC pedigree. On the positive side, of the two Power Four transfer QBs who have joined the program, Anthony Colandrea outplayed Alex Orji, with Colandrea demonstrating unexpected mobility while rushing for 93 yards. This is surprising as he was considered the "passer" and Orji "the runner" throughout fall camp. Mullen likely will use both again in Huntsville while making sure big-play RB Jett Thomas, the only returning starter on offense, gets proper touches after three long touchdown runs vs. the Bengals.

Meanwhile, Longo, who like Mullen was also dismissed from his most-recent job (as Wisconsin's OC a year ago), got a competitive effort from his Bearkats in their opener at Western Kentucky, though in the end a portal-heavy defense that features an entirely new starting lineup wasn't able to cope with Hilltoppers QB Maverick McIvor in a 41-24 loss at Bowling Green. How quickly Longo and new DC Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay can make the pieces fit on defense will go a long way to SHSU qualifying for another bowl game. 

Holdover QB Hunter Watson seemed to like Longo's variation of the Air Raid well enough, passing for 209 yards and running for another 91 as the Bearkats balanced the offense nicely with 31 runs and 30 passes. That being said, it should be noted that many of Watson's 14 carries were actually pass plays that ended up as scrambles (Longo's run-pass ratio as OC at North Carolina was also distorted by many scrambles from QB Drake Maye, creating a bit of a deceiving breakdown of pass vs. run). Either way, Watson looked comfortable enough and SHSU was four yards away from a last-minute TD that could have impacted the spread result. The bottom line is that the Longo offense, with Watson at the controls, looks as if it can do some damage if the UNLV defense springs as many leaks as it did against Idaho State, creating the possibility of a real ping-pong match on Friday night. 

Note these teams both cleared Friday's 59.5 total in their respective openers last week, and a repeat would hardly be a surprise, though a bit of a case might also be made for the Bearkats keeping this one very interesting.