College Football Friday Betting Picks & Predictions for September 27

Before we officially head into the weekend, which marks Week 5 of the college football season, Week 4 of the NFL season, and the final weekend of the MLB regular season, we have a Friday slate of sports, headlined by enticing college football action. 

Miami Hurricanes vs. Virginia Tech Hokies

The Miami Hurricanes have dominated this season thanks to their quarterback, Cam Ward. He has over 1,400 passing yards and 14 touchdown passes, but admittedly, they’ve played some easy competition. They kicked off the season against Florida, an SEC program, but since then, they’ve played Florida A&M, Ball State, and South Florida. 

Here, they’ll host a Hokies squad that’s allowing just 160 passing yards per game (28th). 

The Hokies certainly haven’t played how they would’ve wanted to through the first four games of the season, though. They’re 2-2 with losses at Vanderbilt and at home against Rutgers. 

That said, quarterback Kyron Drones has a dual-threat ability that Miami will look to slow down. He has over 200 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

The Hurricanes defense has looked fanatic, but again, the level of competition hasn’t really been there. 

This is Ward and the Hurricanes first true ACC test. 

I think they pull off the win at home, but the Hokies keep it within 19. The Hurricanes allowed over 250 passing yards to South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown, who completed 19 of 30 passes. 

Fun fact: Ward and Drones are cousins.

Best Bet: Virginia Tech +19.5 (-110) at DraftKings

Miami Hurricanes vs. Virginia Tech Hokies

Martinez has had a peculiar start to the season. Through the first four games, he has 40 carries for 190 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and four rushing touchdowns. 

That said, when you look at his game logs, he’s been hardly used the past two weeks. 

In Week 3 against Ball State, he had three carries for three yards. In Week 4, he had 11 carries for 31 yards against South Florida. 

The Hurricanes blew Ball State so there was no need to really use him and even in a big win over South Florida he had 11 carries, but did not muster a lot of production. 

I think that changes here. The Hokies are solid against the pass, and while they won’t totally slow Ward down, the Hurricanes know they can run on them. 

This season, the Hokies are allowing 181 rushing yards per game (103rd). They’ve also allowed eight rushing touchdowns this season, which is tied for sixth-most in the country. 

Martinez should have a big game here. 

Best Bet: Damien Martinez Any Time TD (-160) at DraftKings

Rutgers vs. Washington

Coached by the defensive-minded Greg Schiano, Rutgers is once again great against the pass, allowing just 134.7 yards through the air. They’ve also only allowed one passing touchdown. 

Here, they’ll take on Washington and their quarterback, Will Rogers. Rogers has completed 75.7% of his passes for 1,048 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. However, he’s only averaging 7.2 yards per attempt. 

Washington has played Weber State, Eastern Michigan, Washington State, and Northwestern this season. They’ve had easy games and lost at home to Washington State. Rutgers cornerback Eric Rogers has allowed just four catches this season for 50 yards. He has one interception and is the player Rogers needs to find before every pass.

The UW offense becomes stagnant here on the road against a well-coached Rutgers program and falls to 3-2. 

Best Bet: Rutgers ML (-135) at DraftKings