Week 8 FCS Spring Football Picks Against the Spread

• Week 8 of the FCS spring football season gets underway on Thursday, April 1st
• Sam Houston returns from their bye week to face Northwestern State
• Read below for the best ATS picks for Week 8 of the FCS spring season

The Sam Houston Bearkats will be looking for their third straight commanding victory when they return from their bye week to face Northwestern State on Thursday, April 1st. The Southland Conference matchup kicks off a packed Week 8 of FCS spring football.

On Saturday, James Madison and Elon face-off in a battle of undefeated CAA programs, while Eastern Washington is a small underdog at UC Davis in Big Sky action.

Here are three ATS picks for Week 8 of FCS spring football. Odds for all games available at DraftKings.

Sam Houston State vs Northwestern State Odds

Odds as of March 31st

Bearkats Cruise Past Demons

No. 5 Sam Houston will look to keep its electric offense rolling when they head to Northwestern State to face the Demons on Thursday night. The Bearkats posted blowout victories over Nicholls State and Lamar before getting a bye in Week 7. K. C. Keeler’s team even earned a first-place vote in the Stats FCS poll.

The Bearkats are averaging a whopping 577.3 yards per game and lead the nation in average points at 58.7. The team is led by standout quarterback Eric Schmid, who has thrown for 1,137 yards and 10 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He’s shown fantastic chemistry with senior WR Jequez Ezzard, who caught two TDs last time out.

Jequez Ezzard had a big day for the Kats, with 130 receiving yards and 2 TDs along with an 80 yard punt return for a TD pic.twitter.com/bbLtEdyihd

— BearkatSportsNetwork (@BearkatVid) March 21, 2021

This dynamic Sam Houston offense might get slowed down at some point in the playoffs, but it ain’t happening against one of the worst programs in the Southland. The Demons are 0-4 on the season and haven’t scored more than 24 points in any contest. NSU hasn’t been able to find a consistent option at QB and just lost 31-23 to a Cardinals team that SHSU clobbered.

The Bearkats have outscored their opponents 176-62 this season, and oddsmakers haven’t adjusted the price for just how good this team really is. Expected a well-rested Sam Houston team to pick off where they left off and earn another blowout win. The Demons’ secondary is among the worst in the nation, and the offense won’t have the weapons to keep pace with Sam Houston’s explosive passing attack.

• Pick: Sam Houston State -24.5 (-113)

Eastern Washington vs UC Davis Odds

Eagles Continue to Own Aggies

Eastern Washington and UC Davis will both look to stay in playoff contention when they play in a huge Big Sky Conference game at UC Davis Health Stadium this weekend. The Eagles and Aggies are both 3-1 this season and rank top-10 in total offense. The two programs are chasing Weber State in the race for the conference’s automatic playoff berth.

This game should virtually be seen as a pick’em, which gives value to the Eagles as underdogs. EWU beat UC Davis by a 59-20 score the last time these two teams met in 2018, and own a 7-0 all-time record in the series. Aaron Best’s team has shown the ability to shutdown high-powered offenses in big-game situations and should come to play Saturday with their season potentially on the line.

Locked in and ready for this week #GoEags pic.twitter.com/vFnkUUokkl

— EWU Football (@EWUFootball) March 31, 2021

EWU is coming off an explosive 62-10 win over Cal Poly in which they out-gained the Mustangs by a 683-238 margin. UC Davis, meanwhile, required a last-second touchdown to get past Idaho State 31-27 in Week 7. Eastern Washington is the more confident team heading into this one after exploding for a school-record 45 points in the first half against the Mustangs.

These are two very evenly matched teams with talent on both sides of the ball, but EWU dual-threat pivot Eric Barriere should be the difference. The senior led the team on an epic playoff run in 2018 and has thrived in must-win situations before. Expect his experience and lethal arm to be key as he works an Aggies secondary that just gave up over 200 yards to the Bengals.

• Pick: Eastern Washington +2.5 (-106)

James Madison vs Richmond Odds

Spiders Cover Against Dukes

James Madison and Richmond will both be looking to stay undefeated when they do battle at Robins Stadium in Week 8.

The Spiders are coming off a 31-17 victory over Elon, while JMU returned from a two-week absence to beat William & Mary 38-10 in Week 7.

JMU has underwhelmed this season despite their 4-0 record and have struggled to find consistency amidst COVID-19 issues. The Dukes QB situation is up in the air as Gage Moloney was expected to replace starter Cole Johnson in Week 7 but ended up unavailable for the game. Johnson was great against the Tribe in a second-chance situation, but the senior struggled early in the year against Robert Morris and Elon.

Cole Johnson finds Antwane Wells Jr. over the middle to move the chains!#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/ImFSk5kK3z

— JMU Football (@JMUFootball) March 27, 2021

You know what your getting from the Richmond offense, which is spearheaded by the three-headed monster of Aaron Dykes, Savon Smith and Joe Mancuso on the ground. Each player has rushed for at least 45 yards in every game this season and should be able to breakthrough against a stout JMU rush defense that has yet to be truly tested.

Richmonds’ offense was impressive last week producing 450 yards of offense, but it’s this defensive group that is reason to bet them to cover the spread Saturday. They’re only allowing 55 rushing yards per game and have a few playmakers, including LB Tristan Wheeler and DE Darius Reynolds, who will make life difficult for star Percy Agyei-Obese. Take the points with Richmond in what should be a tight game.

• Pick: Richmond +10.5 (-115)

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