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Tennessee football’s best prop bets against Ball State

By Caleb Calhoun

The Tennessee football team runs through the T during a NCAA football game against Tennessee Tech at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021.Kns Tennessee Tenn Tech Football
The Tennessee football team runs through the T during a NCAA football game against Tennessee Tech at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021.Kns Tennessee Tenn Tech Football /
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Tennessee defensive back Trevon Flowers (1) during warmups before a football game against South Alabama at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Alabam Football Bp
Tennessee defensive back Trevon Flowers (1) during warmups before a football game against South Alabama at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Alabam Football Bp /

Prop bet No. 1

First half spread: Tennessee -22.5

Again, the reason the first half over/under won’t hit is because Ball State won’t score. However, Tennessee football will easily go off in the first quarter of the game, as they usually do, and that’ll be enough for them to cover this spread. Yes, they’ll cover it with first quarter scoring alone, and they won’t even need to score in the second quarter.

I’m looking at a 31-3 first half score or something like that. The Vols are just so much more experienced than Ball State, and the only way Ball State makes this interesting early is if Mike Neu throws out a bunch of things he’s been preparing for all offseason to catch them off-guard.

However, Ball State has a crucial MAC matchup against the Western Michigan Broncos next week. As a result, it doesn’t make much sense for Neu to pull out all his stops against a non-conference team his program isn’t expected to beat and one that won’t hurt his program if they lose.

Neu playing things a bit close to the vest combined with Ball State’s inexperience sets up the Vols to dominate the first half. They’ll put on a show for their fans, and it’ll be a much more exciting one than what they put on last year against Bowling Green. UT’s dominant first-quarter and Ball State’s lack of scoring will drive this.

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