King of Props: Heart of the offense

Because the pandemic disrupted the 2020-21 sports seasons, student-athletes were granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA. As a result, it’s not uncommon to feel like a prominent player has been at a school for as long as you can remember. That may be the case for those watching today’s Gasparilla Bowl matchup between Missouri and Wake Forest, and we’re backing the most familiar name for our top prop:

The bet: Over 9½ rushing yards for Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman (FanDuel)

A starter for a fifth straight season, Hartman has announced that this will be his final game for the Demon Deacons, as he plans to either declare for the NFL draft or enter the transfer portal. He ran for a career-high 363 yards in 2021, averaging a robust 28 per game.

Although his rushing total this year is just 114 yards, Hartman has carried the ball at least six times in every game after missing the opener while recovering from blood-clot surgery. He was especially productive in the last two contests, posting yardage totals of 25 and 44.

The biggest concern when taking this type of over is that sacks count as negative rushing yards in college football. Fortunately for our purposes, Missouri will be playing without its two best pass rushers. Both Isaiah McGuire (7 sacks) and DJ Coleman (5.5) have opted out in pursuit of their NFL dreams.

With the run-pass option being a staple of Wake Forest’s offense, Hartman will have a number of opportunities to call his own number in this game – and the bet here is that he does.