Week Two College Football Betting Preview: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Western Kentucky-Tennessee
Sept 7, 2013 at 12:20 PM EST
Line: TN -13
M/L: WK +415, TEN -525
O/U: 58

Odds courtesy of 5dimes

The Tennessee Volunteers stayed local for their first matchup of the season, hosting Clarksville’s Austin Peay and obliterating the small school 45-0. It is an early respite for Tennessee in facing the Colonels and this week’s opponent Western Kentucky, before taking on three ranked opponents within a four week span.

In the week one rout, Justin Worley threw three TD passes and Rajion Neal rushed for 141 yards, but both sat out the entire third and fourth quarters, as the Vols got their reserves some field time. The Colonels still couldn’t score and managed just 211 yards in the game. Tennessee struggled badly defensively last season in their 5-win campaign, and even if it is improvement against a small school, it has to be taken as a positive for the program.

The Vols ranked 13th or 14th in the SEC in total yardage allowed last season and are hoping their strong linebacking crew can make the difference in improving the prospects this season. A.J. Johnson returns and he had 138 tackles last season, so they are hoping he can pace a defense with Curt Maggitt and Byron Moore in the secondary.

Western Kentucky is on cloud nine. The Hilltoppers won their big rivalry game over Kentucky, despite entering the game as four point underdogs. WKU won by over a touchdown, 35-26, and if the team could somehow pull the improbable and give Tennessee a game, the start would be a great one for Bobby Petrino. Former WKU coach Willie Taggart moved on to South Florida, but Petrino is trying to just keep the momentum going in Bowling Green. It was the second straight year WKU had defeated UK, and most of the hype going into the game was surrounding Mark Stoops’ debut.

Junior QB Brandon Doughty threw an outstanding 27-of-34 (79.4%) for 271 yards with one TD and a QB rating of 156.1 Antonio Andrews ran for 99 yards on 20 attempts and Leon Allen had 92 yards on 10 carries. Five receivers had at least three receptions. The Hilltoppers will look to build on this success and hope that Tennessee’s defense suffers a collapse much more like last seasons than the seemingly strong start they’ve shown to 2013.