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Best College Football Prop Bets for College Football Playoff First Round

Reed Wallach

Nov 16, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) passes against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Nov 16, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) passes against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The historic first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff has a trio of games on Saturday as each team looks to continue their season in the quarterfinals. 

With a ton of eyeballs on this game, we also have a focus on player props in the three first round matchups. I have picked out three of my favorites for the Saturday slate with one on each game, including how to bet on Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, who will look to test the Texas secondary as the biggest underdogs of the weekend. 

Here’s three player props to target, one for each game. 

Best College Football Prop Bets for College Football Playoff First Round

  • Harrison Wallace OVER 37.5 Receiving Yards
  • Cade Klubnik OVER 220.5 Passing Yards
  • TreVeyon Henderson UNDER 49.5 Rushing Yards

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Harrison Wallace OVER 37.5 Receiving Yards

This number is incredibly low, possibly due to weather, but I’m happy to go over given the weakness of the SMU defense is in the secondary. 

While Penn State’s pass-catching group has been a bit underwhelming overall in terms of wide receiver, Wallace has been the most consistent player of the bunch. He has cleared this number in all but two games and every game since Week 3. 

Wallace has at least four targets in nine of 12 games this season and has been the team’s No. 1 wide receiver target all season. 

The SMU defense is top five in EPA/Rush, so we may see the Penn State offense take to the air a bit more than usual despite potentially winter conditions in the mix on Saturday afternoon. 

With that in mind, I’m going with an incredibly depressed number on Wallace.

Cade Klubnik OVER 220.5 Passing Yards

There’s a case to be made that the Clemson pass-catching group is the best that the Longhorns have seen this season. 

While the Tigers' offense has been limited at times, the passing game has been more than capable even if the team has not lit up the scoreboard, evident when Klubnik passed for 284 yards against South Carolina in the regular season finale. 

The strength of Texas’ defense comes in the trenches and shutting down the run game. With Phil Mafah battling a shoulder injury that will require surgery and now down its backup Jay Hayes, I believe that we see a high pass play percentage from Clemson. 

This number implies the Tigers can’t move the ball through the air, but we may be getting a discounted number on Klubnik and his passing yards. He has cleared this number in all but four games this season and the game script may skew towards more passing. 

TreVeyon Henderson UNDER 49.5 Rushing Yards

Henderson is in a time share with Quinshon Judkins, but factors in way more in the passing game. Given that the Vols defensive line can shut down even the best running games, I believe that Henderson plays more of a role as a pass catcher than a rusher. 

While he has gone over this number in three of the last four, some of that is due to his ability to rip explosive runs. For example, against Indiana’s elite defensive line, Henderson had eight carries for 29 yards before ripping off a 39-yard carry to end the game. 

The Vols defense is among the best in the country at stopping the run, top 10 in defensive line yards and yards per carry. With a possible limited workload at about 12 carries, Henderson will need to hit a big gain to clear this total, but I believe that the Buckeyes skew more towards the passing game with three offensive linemen injured and the team’s struggles against a similarly talented defensive line in Michigan in the regular season finale. 

I’ll go under on Henderson as he sees more work in the passing game. 

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Reed Wallach
REED WALLACH

Reed is a Senior Editor at SI Betting. He grew up in New Jersey and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. His passion lies with the Brooklyn Nets, but is always hunting for an edge.

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