College football player prop: Flashing familiar form

It’s reasonable to assume that college sports are primarily responsible for people knowing that two top-level universities have Miami in their name. And on Friday night, the Miami in South Florida, which often gets referred to simply as “The U,” hosts Miami of Ohio at Hard Rock Stadium. Although the home side is favored by more than two touchdowns, we’re backing the opposing passer for our prop to pop:

The bet: Over 175½ passing yards for Miami of Ohio quarterback Brett Gabbert (Bally’s)

A redshirt junior, Gabbert has started the opener for the RedHawks in three of the previous four seasons. His 30 career games give him a wealth of experience, and he also benefits from being able to pick the brain of brother Blaine, who starred at Missouri and was a top-10 pick in the NFL.

Unfortunately, the even-numbered years haven’t been kind to Gabbert, as he played just two games in 2020 and was limited to four appearances last season because of a pair of injuries. After a broken clavicle knocked him out of the opener, he returned following surgery and cleared this number in each of his three subsequent contests.

But Gabbert’s most impressive performances came in 2021, when he averaged 341 passing yards over his final five games and exceeded 400 twice. Now fully healthy like he was then, the quarterback has been drawing raves. Miami of Ohio coach Chuck Martin gushed that Gabbert “had a monster spring” and “will put up really, really ridiculous numbers for us.”

Against a Hurricanes pass defense that ranked in the middle of the pack last season, Gabbert is a go.