The college football player prop market is an excellent way to add extra value to a monster Saturday card.
The market is often filled with inefficient lines, and our staff found five bets Week 5.
Read on for our staff's favorite college football player props on Saturday, including picks for Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Northwestern's Ben Bryant, Michigan's Blake Corum, Duke's Riley Leonard and Alabama's Jalen Milroe.
Saturday College Football Player Props
In the table below, you'll find each of our college football staff's top player prop picks from Saturday's slate of games. Click on any pick or team logo to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Time (ET) | Player Prop |
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| 12 p.m. | |
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| 3:30 p.m. | |
| 7:30 p.m. | |
| 9 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAF Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | |
USC vs. Colorado
Shedeur Sanders
Over 308.5 Pass Yards
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By Cody Goggin
Maybe I’m just a cynic, but I don’t believe USC has fixed its defense this year.
After having the 87th-best defense in SP+ last year, it's risen to 41st. Additionally, it ranks 32nd in Success Rate Allowed and 19th in Passing Success Rate Allowed.
However, I’d argue that this isn’t necessarily a reflection on their quality of defensive play, but rather the quality of opposing offenses they have faced.
Based on Success Rate, Nevada has the best passing offense that USC has faced all season, ranking 88th. By SP+, San Jose State has the best offense that USC has faced, ranking 76th.
Colorado couldn't hold up against Oregon in the trenches, but it can and will, pass the ball on opponents. The Buffs dial up pass 67% of the time, tops in the country. They've done this with the 37th-best Success Rate and 57th-best PPA. This isn’t the most efficient passing game in the country, but it is high volume, and they will keep it coming for 60 minutes.
In Shedeur Sanders’ four games at the FBS level, he has passed for 510, 393, 348 and 159 yards. That 159 yards against Oregon was a low point for him, but Oregon boasts a top-25 defense and is far more talented in the trenches.
I don't believe in USC's defense holding up against a competent passing attack. For that reason, I think this game turns into a shootout. If Colorado is trailing, as expected, that becomes even better for Sanders’ volume numbers.
Pick: Sanders Over 308.5 Pass Yards (Play to 314.5)
Penn State vs. Northwestern
Ben Bryant
Over 0.5 Pass Touchdowns (-135)
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By Doug Ziefel
Yes, Northwestern is outmatched in this game, but we don't need this game to be competitive for this prop to cash.
It may help if the Wildcats trail. They'll be forced to throw if they hope to catch up.
Matchup and game script aside, this number is far too low for Northwestern quarterback Ben Bryant. Bryant is now leading a pass-heavy Northwestern offense, and his success has carried over from Cincinnati.
Getting the ball into the end zone hasn't been a problem.
Bryant has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 21 of his last 27 games, including three of his first four at Northwestern. That hit rate gives us implied odds of -348 that he'll score another passing touchdown today.
So, back Bryant in one of the slate's strongest angles.
Pick: Bryant Over 0.5 Passing Touchdowns (-135 · Play to -160)
Michigan vs. Nebraska
Blake Corum
Over 91.5 Rush Yards
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By Alex Hinton
Last season, Nebraska ranked 109th in rushing yards allowed. But you knew that Matt Rhule would make the team more physical.
Thus far, the Cornhuskers rank second nationally in rushing yards allowed. While Nebraska’s run defense has improved, I'm hesitant to call it one of the nation's best.
Nebraska’s first four games have come against Minnesota, Colorado, Northern Illinois, and Louisiana Tech.
Minnesota decided to let Athan Kaliakmanis (a 55% passer) throw the 46 times. It was the first game for true freshman running back Darius Taylor, and he received just one carry. Since then, he has amassed 529 yards at over six yards carry. Minnesota likely would have been more successful running the ball had Taylor been more involved.
Colorado throws the ball 67% of the time, tops among college football offenses.
Nebraska stuffed Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech, holding to a combined 72 yards on the ground, but NIU ranks 118th in rushing yards per game this season.
PFF is also not sold on Nebraska’s run defense, ranking it 102nd by their grades.
Meanwhile, Michigan’s PFF rushing grade is 59th. However, the Wolverines rank 26th nationally in Rush Success Rate.
They also have one of the nation's best backs at their disposal.
For Blake Corum, 92 rushing yards is a regular day at the office. Corum has hit this line in his last two games, with 101 and 97 yards, respectively. Dating back to last season, Corum has this line in nine of his last 10 games against Big Ten opponents. He had 162 rushing yards against Nebraska last season.
Corum had 21 carries last week in Michigan’s 31-7 victory. Michigan is a 17-point favorite this week, so the game script should be in his favor to receive a ton of carries.
If Corum gets 20 carries in this game, I expect him to run for 100 yards. You can take him to run for 125 at +280 and 150 at +520 on FanDuel.
Pick: Corum Over 91.5 Rush Yards (Play to 99.5)
Notre Dame vs. Duke
Riley Leonard
Over 199.5 Pass Yards
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If you remove Duke’s blowout win over Lafayette, a game in which Leonard was pulled after a perfect start through the air (12-for-12), the Duke junior has exceeded 200 passing yards in five of his last seven starts.
A big reason for that is his supporting cast. His offensive line has done a masterful job of giving him time to work. Duke ranks second nationally in Havoc Allowed. Toss in his seasoned receiving corp, and this total looks primed to fall against Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish recently gave up 240 yards to Ohio State’s Kyle McCord and 260 to NC State’s Brennan Armstrong. McCord cruised past this total without the help of Marvin Harrison Jr. for most of the second half on Saturday. Armstrong was aided by a favorable game flow, playing from behind.
I would play this up 209.5 and will continue to scour the market for a hybrid passing plus rushing total for Leonard. Anything below 250 in that market would be a strong play.
Pick: Leonard Over 199.5 Pass Yards (Play to 209.5)
Alabama vs. Mississippi State
Jalen Milroe
Over 40.5 Rush Yards
By Brett Pund
If you followed our favorite prop bets in Week 3, I wanted to attack Mississippi State with a mobile quarterback in Jayden Daniels. I’m returning to the well this week by betting Alabama’s Jalen Milroe to go over 40.5 rushing yards.
Milroe's topped this total in three of his four career starts. Milroe also rushed for 91 yards in relief of Bryce Young last season at Arkansas.
As for the Bulldogs, head coach and former defensive coordinator, Zach Arnett, likes to play a very aggressive 3-3-5 defense, bringing multiple linebackers on blitzes to generate pressure.
It leaves his secondary playing a lot of man coverage with no protection if a quarterback evades pressure and scrambles. This has led to quarterbacks racking up yards on the ground against them.
In the Bulldogs' Week 3 loss to LSU, Daniels finished with 64 yards. He also ran for 93 yards in the 2022 matchup. Meanwhile, Malik Hornsby rushed for over 100 yards for Arkansas after starting for KJ Jefferson last year, and Auburn’s Robby Ashford also topped the century mark against Miss State.
Once you add in performances by Arizona's Jayden de Laura and South Carolina's Spencer Rattler, this bet would have cashed for the opposing quarterback in the last three games against the Bulldogs.
Milroe is the best athlete of all of the signal-callers mentioned above, and I think he should be able to churn out yards on the ground.
