College Football Week 9 Upset Watch: Best Underdog Odds to Bet
The Florida State Seminoles have not been the best team on the road in ACC play.
The fourth-ranked team in the FBS pulled off wins over the Boston College Eagles and Clemson Tigers away from home, but neither victory saw a complete performance.
FSU's road struggles could hurt it for a half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Week 9.
Wake Forest is an average-at-best team in the ACC this year, but as we saw with the Virginia Cavaliers' win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in Week 8, anything could happen in any given week.
The Demon Deacons could bring enough of a fight to Jordan Travis and Co. to be pesky and hang under the 20.5-point spread set for Saturday's contest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The BYU Cougars should have your attention as a Week 9 underdog as well. BYU faces a Texas Longhorns team dealing with Quinn Ewers' injury.
Texas may have a shaky open to the contest, and that could leave it fighting for the win deep into the second half.
No. 4 Florida State at Wake Forest (+20.5)
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For the latest lines on these games, go to DraftKings.
Saturday, Noon ET, ABC
Florida State will play its first road game in a month on Saturday.
The trip up to play Wake Forest has trap game written all over it for Mike Norvell's team.
The Seminoles are coming off an emotional hard-fought home win over the Duke Blue Devils that confirmed their status at the top of the ACC.
Florida State could take Saturday's game lighter than it should because of the emotional hangover from the win over Duke.
FSU found itself in a similar situation back in September against Boston College. It stumbled into an early kickoff and squeaked out a two-point victory.
The same danger awaits Florida State against a Wake Forest team that could throw the entire ACC into chaos with an upset.
Wake can hurt FSU on the ground through running back Demond Claiborne, who has four rushing touchdowns in the last four games.
Claiborne ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the Week 8 win over the Pittsburgh Panthers that brought some confidence back inside the Wake program.
Wake must dictate the time of possession through Claiborne, and if it can pick up some first downs, similar to what BC did against FSU, it can at least hang around and give FSU a nervy Saturday.
Florida State proved throughout ACC play that it can eke out any type of victory, so an outright Wake win is unlikely, but the Demon Deacons can certainly stay within three scores.
BYU (+17.5) at No. 7 Texas
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Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
BYU is a frisky Week 9 underdog because of Texas' quarterback situation.
Ewers suffered a Grade 2 AC joint sprain, per ESPN's Pete Thamel, that will keep him off the field for some time.
Texas may struggle to find an offensive rhythm behind whomever emerges as the staring quarterback in Ewers' place.
Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning will both receive reps in practice, per 247 Sports' Chip Brown.
BYU will face an inexperienced backup in either situation, and that could allow it to break open an advantage in Austin before Texas develops an offensive rhythm.
The Cougars will have to move the ball away from home behind Kedon Slovis, something they could not do in their last road contest against the TCU Horned Frogs.
However, that was BYU's worst road performance. The Cougars won outright over the Arkansas Razorbacks and were competitive for most parts of their 11-point loss to the Kansas Jayhawks.
The BYU offense is competent enough to produce a few scoring drives, and if Texas' ceiling with a backup quarterback is somewhere around 24 points, the Cougars probably just need two touchdowns to cover.
Wyoming (+5) at Boise State
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Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET, FS2
The Wyoming Cowboys have been the darling of underdog spread bettors in recent weeks.
Wyoming won outright at home against the Fresno State Bulldogs and then covered a double-digit spread on the road versus the Air Force Falcons.
The Cowboys are fresh off a bye and they face a Boise State Broncos team that has had trouble with consistency.
Boise State is 1-2 in its last three games and it allowed at least 27 points in each of those contests.
Boise State's two quarterbacks combined to throw seven interceptions, and if that turnover problem persists, it could stumble at home.
Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty must be contained for Wyoming to have a chance in Boise. Jeanty has 868 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
Even if Jeanty runs wild, Wyoming has the potential to match his ground output. The Cowboys average more rushing yards than passing yards per game.
Wyoming holds the edge if the game comes down to aerial production. Andrew Peasley has more touchdown passes than the two Boise quarterbacks combined, and he has not thrown an interception since September 23.
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