Two intriguing Big 12 squads will face off at Folsom Field on Saturday night as the Cincinnati Bearcats visit the Colorado Buffaloes. With the eyes of the nation on Coach Prime’s team, there are plenty of excellent player prop opportunities in this matchup.
My Cincinnati vs. Colorado player props bank on a high-scoring game, with both starting quarterbacks finding success. I’m also liking Buffaloes receiver LaJohntay Wester to add to his touchdown total against the Bearcats.
Check out my analysis of each bet below to see which props I’m taking in my free college football picks.
Cincinnati vs Colorado props for Week 9
- LaJohntay Wester anytime TD (+100 at BetMGM)
- Brendan Sorsby Over 248.5 passing yards (-115 at BetMGM)
- Shedeur Sanders Over 2.5 passing touchdowns (-115 at BetMGM)
Picks made on 10-26.
Read full analysis of each pick.
Cincinnati vs Colorado college football player props
Prop bet #1: LaJohntay Wester anytime TD
All the attention in the Colorado Buffaloes passing attack tends to go to Travis Hunter, the two-way star who is likely to be in the running for the Heisman Trophy this year. But why pay a premium for a big-name player when we can get a better deal on an even more likely scorer?
LaJohntay Wester has emerged as the clear No. 2 option for Shedeur Sanders in the passing game. The senior transfer from the Florida Atlantic Owls has caught 34 passes for 445 yards so far this season. More relevantly for us, Wester has already caught seven touchdown passes for the Buffaloes.
For a five-game period beginning in early September, Wester scored at least one touchdown in each contest, even though he was only catching three to five passes per game during that time. The Arizona Wildcats held Wester out of the endzone last week, but his usage was way up, catching eight balls for 127 yards.
Wester seems to have gained Sanders’ confidence, and will likely be a primary target yet again — especially as defenses continue to focus on Hunter. I love that we’re getting even money odds on Wester to score on Saturday.
Prop bet #2: Brendan Sorsby Over 248.5 passing yards
Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby is quietly putting together a strong year for the Bearcats. He’s thrown for 13 touchdowns against just four interceptions and is averaging 275.4 yards passing per game. While Cincinnati hasn’t always looked explosive on offense, they’ve scored 24+ points in all but one game this year, mostly due to the consistency of the passing attack.
Sorsby should have an opportunity to add to those numbers against a Colorado defense that has struggled to contain opposing passers. Not only are opponents completing 63.5% of their passes against the Buffaloes, but they’re also averaging 7.4 yards per attempt, ranking outside the top 80 in the nation in both categories.
None of that will matter unless Cincinnati chooses to throw the ball on Saturday. Thankfully, I think this game will be an uphill battle for the Bearcats, who are getting about a touchdown and could easily find themselves down by even more against a Colorado team that is tough to slow down, especially at home.
That means the Bearcats will need to push the ball down the field to stay in the game. Sorsby is safe and efficient with the ball, meaning he should rack up the yards as he tries to keep Cincinnati in the game. His passing yardage total is quite reasonable given that dynamic, and I’m taking the Over.
Prop bet #3: Shedeur Sanders Over 2.5 passing touchdowns
Outside of one disappointing performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers early in the season, Colorado has been an excellent offensive team. Overall, the Buffaloes are averaging 31 points per game, despite being somewhat one-dimensional in their attack.
Colorado is among the best in the nation when it comes to both completion percentage (71.4%) and yards per attempt (8.3). The Buffaloes can’t run the ball at all, which has pushed them to lean even more on the aerial attack, throwing the ball 39 times per game.
The one weakness has been in the offensive line – perhaps why they can’t run the ball – which has led to Sanders getting sacked close to four times per game. But that unit looked much improved in last weekend’s win over the Arizona Wildcats when Sanders took just one sack on the night.
A superficial glance at Cincinnati’s numbers might make it look like the Bearcats are well-positioned to slow down Sanders on Saturday, as they’re allowing just 19.3 ppg. But both the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Pittsburgh Panthers were able to move the ball easily against this unit, with Texas Tech putting up 44 points on Cincinnati last month. Overall, the Bearcats are somewhat poorly against the passing attack, allowing 12.9 yards per completion and a 136.6 QB rating to opposing quarterbacks.
Sanders has thrown for at least three touchdowns in four of Colorado’s first seven games, and the Buffaloes aren’t changing their offensive approach anytime soon. I like Sanders to hit the Over on his passing TD prop on Saturday.
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