CFB Week 2 best bets: The 'Saturday Seven'

The college football season kicked off with a multi-day rollercoaster. When we finally pulled into the loading zone - exhausted by Purdue's unwillingness to run the ball with a lead and Georgia State's punt protection - we saw a 10-7-1 start to the campaign. If we can repeat similar outcomes every week, we could finish the year at 58% against the spread in a heartbeat.

With the board condensed to almost exclusively Saturday games, we're looking for the seven underdogs that have the most value this week.

Ohio @ Penn State (-25.5, 54)

Penn State pulled it off in West Lafayette thanks to Purdue's disasters to end each half. However, anyone who saw the game would be hard-pressed to believe there's anything particularly exceptional about the Nittany Lions, who return to Happy Valley content with their 1-0 conference record.

Admittedly, the Penn State defense will be more difficult to beat than Florida Atlantic, but we're not asking for a win here. Kurtis Rourke outgunned N'Kosi Perry with 345 yards and four touchdowns, and Sieh Bangura ran well for an offense that had concerns coming into the season.

Ohio will compete until the end, while the Nittany Lions will be looking ahead to their biggest non-conference matchup - a trip to Auburn next week. The backdoor should be open.

Pick: Ohio +25.5

Southern Miss @ No. 15 Miami (-25, 51)

If you believe in lookahead spots, this matchup provides another prime situation. Miami has Texas A&M on deck, and a win would put the Hurricanes on the map this season. Southern Miss should have won last week, long before ending up in overtime as underdogs against Liberty.

Hanging 70 on Bethune-Cookman is cool, I guess, but we still don't know how good the Hurricanes actually are. The Eagles will throw the ball 50 times on Saturday regardless of the score, and if Miami is in the mode of keeping everyone fresh, Southern Miss can keep it respectable.

Pick: Southern Miss +25

North Carolina @ Georgia State (+7.5, 64.5)

We were on both teams last week, and this time, we'll back the side that lost for us. Georgia State outgained South Carolina - doing well to hold an SEC offense to 300 yards - but had two punts blocked for a touchdown and saw the Gamecocks stroke a pair of 50-yard field goals. The Panthers should have covered +12.5 on the road.

Now they host North Carolina, who gave up 40 points in the fourth quarter of a win. While they cashed a ticket for us, the Tar Heels' tackling was horrendous, and that was when they didn't have defensive breakdowns that left Appalachian State players running free for scores. The Heels won't have that tightened up for the Panthers' run game this week, and if Drake Maye can't save the day again, the home underdog Cats might win outright.

Pick: Georgia State +7.5

Wake Forest @ Vanderbilt (+13, 65.5)

Lo and behold, Wake Forest star quarterback Sam Hartman is back and ready to go at Vanderbilt, and the line has shot from -8 to close to two touchdowns. That might be a fair change to the line, but even though the Commodores' opponents have been legitimately bad, Mike Wright provides them with a legitimate plan on offense. The Demon Deacons won't be playing much defense, so we'll rely on Clark Lea's unit to keep Hartman from going up and down the field every possession.

Pick: Vanderbilt +13

South Alabama @ Central Michigan (-5, 58.5)

Kudos to Central Michigan for firing up a backdoor cover in Stillwater for us last week, but we're not so dense as to ignore the 44 points they gave up in the first half. This might be a case of taking the unknown over what we saw, but South Alabama is a contender in the Sun Belt, bringing back much of the defense that sat third in the conference in pass defense efficiency. Given the Chips' late success against Oklahoma State came through the air, the Jaguars might be a tough matchup.

Pick: South Alabama +5

Kansas @ West Virginia (-13, 59.5)

West Virginia deserved better in its heart-breaking loss in "The Backyard Brawl," and maybe the team will take out its disappointment against Kansas, but this isn't the Jayhawks program of the past. Luckily, no one is buying Kansas just off a blowout of Tennessee Tech, so there's still time to buy KU getting more points than they should against a Mountaineers team that left it all on the field in Pittsburgh last week.

Pick: Kansas +13

Boston College @ Virginia Tech (-3, 46)

Boston College got edged by Rutgers last week, partially due to an awful running game that didn't help Phil Jurkovec or an Eagles defense that was strong for three quarters. There's still enough to like about Boston College that drives us to take them over Virginia Tech. The Hokies looked awful in a loss to Old Dominion, especially since the Monarchs' quarterback gave Tech every chance to pull away. Jurkovec won't be so generous, and he and Zay Flowers will lead B.C. to a small upset in Blacksburg.

Pick: Boston College +3

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there’s a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.