It's Statement Game Time As Washington Hosts USC, Notre Dame Battles Virginia, and Penn State Takes On Maryland

Week 5 of the college football season is here. After last week’s outcomes, some of the pretenders (looking at you, Michigan) have shown their true colors, effectively putting themselves in deep holes to dig out of, while contenders like Georgia and Wisconsin passed huge tests with flying colors.

The season rolls on this last weekend of September and with that here are a few intriguing matchups to look at.

#12 Penn State (-225) @ Maryland (+165) o/u 62.5
When we last saw the Terrapins a couple weeks ago, they were going in to play the Temple Owls as the toast of college football. They had just crushed then-#21 ranked Syracuse and went into the Temple game ranked themselves. What happened? An absolute complete and utter laying of an egg. Maryland football did what it usually does, which is get their fanbase excited to finally watch a good football team, then dash those same hopes and dreams just as quickly. In comes long-time nemesis Penn State. Both of these schools used to vie for the same recruits, with Penn State usually winning out for them. That’s where any “rivalry” ended. Penn State is 39-2-1 vs Maryland, and last year hit an all-time low for the Terps as they lost 66-3. But even though they are 3-0, this isn’t one of those powerhouse Nittany Lions teams of years past. A 7-point victory over Pitt last week (as 17-point favorites) and in week 2, they were losing at the half to the University of Buffalo. This might be Maryland’s best chance since their last victory vs Penn State in 2014 to come away with a win. Under the lights in College Park, that’s where the money lies. The week off will do them good, ​Maryland moneyline (+180)​ is the play.

#18 Virginia (+350) @ #10 Notre Dame (-530) o/u 48.5
The Cavs and their do-everything dual-threat quarterback Bryce Perkins head into South Bend on Saturday with loads of confidence after their 4-0 start. However, they haven’t had the most difficult schedule, beating the likes of Pitt, William & Mary, a bad Florida State team, and Old Dominion; Notre Dame will easily be their toughest opponent so far. The Fighting Irish will be fighting mad as well, after that tough loss last week at #3 Georgia. If Notre Dame wants to get back to the College Football Playoff, they can’t afford anymore blemishes on their record, so this game is of vital importance to them. Neither of these teams have what one would call gamebreakers on offense, as they both tend to put together long drives to score. UVA is actually one of only 16 teams nationally without a play over 50 yards. Notre Dame has four--but all of them came in one game, when they demolished New Mexico State in week two. Both teams have really good defenses, and that should be the order of the day. The value play here is Home Team moneyline and Total Points under 48.5 (+125).

#21 USC (+280) @ #17 Washington (-400) o/u 60.5
Both the Trojans and the Huskies are coming off big wins last week, USC in-conference vs Utah and Washington on the road vs BYU. Now it’s only conference games the rest of the way for both as Pac-12 play begins in earnest. Even though washington suffered a tough loss to conference foe California in week 2, they are still very much in the picture to get to the Pac-12 championship game. Another loss in the conference would hurt those chances immensely. USC, on the other hand, is 2-0 in the Pac-12, and a win in Seattle on Saturday would give them a nice cushion in the South division in this early part of the season. USC’s QB Kedon Slovis was injured early last week vs Utah and Matt Fink came in and played well; Slovis is still in the concussion protocol at the time of this preview. Be it Fink or Slovis, they’ll be going up against an elite secondary. Advantage: Washington. On the flipside you have a USC defense that’s been prone to giving up big plays. The Huskies have the weapons on offense to get large chunks of yards on any play, and they will exploit the USC defense. The favorite play here is one that will make you some money, and that is ​Home Team -10.5 and Total Points under 60.5 (+275). ​Washington is favored by that many points for a reason, and they should win this game going away on Saturday.

Enjoy watching the full slate of college football games on Saturday, and good luck!

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Barry Reeger/Associated Press