Mississippi State vs. South Alabama Opening Odds: Dogs open as 14.5-point favorites on the road

Mississippi State has opened as a 14.5 point favorite over the South Alabama Jaguars for the two teams' Saturday afternoon matchup set for 4 p.m., according to the sports betting website BetOnline.com.

This game is MSU's first road game of the young 2014 season, and it poses a serious threat of upending MSU's perfect season so far before the Bulldogs even get into conference play with LSU next week.  The Jaguars, who are playing in just their third season at the FBS level, enjoyed an off week in the opening week of the season before knocking off the Kent State Golden Flashes 23-13 last week in Ohio.  Saturday's game will mark their season opener, and the Jaguar fanbase is quite excited for it, as the game is likely to be a sellout.

After MSU's sloppy showing last Saturday against UAB at home, this line becomes a bit more dicey in my eyes.  The Bulldogs have had two huge lines so far this season, covering one and failing to cover the other by more than 14 points.  The 14.5-point spread for this game may seem low to some, but to me that's about right where I expected things. MSU has had its share of struggles on the road, even against smaller schools, and Saturday could fall into that pattern as the Jaguars will come in with a good team, a rowdy crowd, and nothing to lose.  If it were me, I'd stay away from this line, as I could easily see the Bulldogs winning ugly and by about 10-14 points.

The Bulldogs and Blazers will kick off week three of the 2014 season for MSU on Saturday (4:00 CT) on ESPN News.

Here are a few other lines of note for week three of the 2014 college football season:

Georgia -16 at South Carolina
Louisiana Lafayette at -26.5 Mississippi
Tennessee at -20 Oklahoma
UCLA -7 at Texas