Weekend Grab Bag

What's up, everyone? Back again with a few more picks. One soccer and two college football. NFL props coming soon (4-0 week 1, not to brag).

Fulham @ Nottingham Forest - Draw No Bet

My first pick of the weekend is over in England, in honor of Queen Elizabeth. She died. It was a whole big thing.

First things first, Fulham is in tenth place, Forest is in 19th. It's early in the season, but all results count the same, so the standings mean something. Forest is at home here which could give some pause, Fulham has already taken points from both Liverpool and Brentford on the road though.

In terms of style of play, Fulham plays much more positively and brings the game to their opponent. As the hosts, Forest may try to see more of the ball, but they haven't had many chances to attack thus far this season. Fulham should dictate play in this one, although they did show their counter-attacking ability in their last game against Tottenham.

Personnel is the real reason for the pick here though. Fulham is quite frankly more talented. Aleksander Mitrovic will be the best player on the field. He's an absolute tank from Eastern Europe, one of the few that isn't in the Ukraine right now. He scores at will, including two goals at Nottingham last season. Fulham also brought in Daniel James, and Willian since their last match. Both have experience in the premier league and can provide additional offense. I won't lay any goals, but I will take Fulham in a draw no bet play.

The Pick: Fulham Draw No Bet (-120, DraftKings)

Jordan Travis over/under 39.5 Rushing Yards

Next up is on Friday night in Louisville where the Cardinals and Florida State Seminoles kick off ACC play. Both teams have played two games on the young season; FSU being 2-0 and Louisville coming in at 1-1, having dropped their opener on the road at Syracuse.

I like college football prop bets because they're much more focused on one aspect of the game. College football players aren't always the smartest, so you can count on one or two boneheaded plays that really mess with the spread or the total. This pick is fairly simple. Louisville hasn't stopped a mobile quarterback yet. In week one against Syracuse, Garrett Schrader carried the ball 16 times for almost 100 yards. Last week against UCF, John Rhys Plumlee turned 17 attempts into 83 yards.

Quick side note: if I didn't know he was a football player, I would have guessed that John Rhys Plumlee is an 18th-century composer with a well-known symphony or two. Very strong name.

Jordan Travis is a mobile quarterback, not a composer. That should help his rushing totals in this one, although I think I could be convinced that Beethoven could put up 50 yards via the read option against Louisville if he has any sort of speed. Travis hasn't used his legs too much this season but has shown he's a willing runner in the past. In 2021, he ran for over 39 yards in five of ten games, including three games of over 100 yards. Between Louisville's problems stopping the QB run game, and Travis' athleticism at QB, I see him getting well over 39.5 yards in this one.

The Pick: Jordan Travis OVER 39.5 Rushing Yards (-115, DraftKings)

Georgia vs. South Carolina - First Half Spread

Moving on to Saturday, Georgia travels to South Carolina to face Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks. Georgia has looked unflappable so far this season and I don't see South Carolina being the first team to flap them. Gamecocks are known to flap though, so I could be wrong.

Georgia has jumped out to quick leads in each of their first two games, putting 28 and 30 points on Oregon and Samford, respectively. We'll throw out the Samford game. My rule of thumb is that if I can't place the opponent on a map, I probably can't draw conclusions from that game. If Georgia didn't blow them out it would be concerning. Oregon (located in Oregon), however, has had a few very strong recruiting classes and still couldn't move the ball against the Bulldogs' defense. I don't think Spencer Rattler is the guy to expose Georgia's defense.

I'm going with the first-half number because 24.5 for the full game feels too big for an SEC road game. Georgia could very well get out to a 30-point lead, move to the second-string offense, and give South Carolina an extra possession or two to cover the spread. I'm buying a half point and moving the odds a few cents to get inside the football number and rolling with Georgia to stomp South Carolina in the first half.

The Pick: Georgia -14.0 1H vs. South Carolina (-115, Draftkings)