Kentucky won’t stop Mizzou cover charge

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel struggled with a decision on a starting quarterback this week, but it might not matter.

Whether it’s James Franklin or Maty Mauk running the Tigers’ offense, they won’t struggle to beat Kentucky today. I’m confident that Missouri, a 14-point road favorite, is the best bet on the board.

Franklin was enjoying a spectacular senior season before separating a shoulder in a 41-26 win at Georgia on Oct. 12. Franklin, who has a 14-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio and three rushing scores, has practiced all week. He reportedly looked sharp in warmups before a 31-3 victory over Tennessee last weekend and was dressed and available if needed.

Franklin was not needed because Mauk was fantastic. He torched the Volunteers for three touchdown passes without an interception and also rushed for 114 yards.

I made Missouri a 21-point favorite in today’s game. The No. 9-ranked Tigers have won eight games by 15 points or more and led South Carolina 17-0 early in the fourth quarter in their only loss.

Pinkel’s team has weapons galore with a deep set of running backs and wide receivers. Henry Josey, Russell Hansbrough and Marcus Murphy have combined to rush for 1,611 yards and 19 touchdowns. The trio of Marcus Lucas, Dorial Green-Beckham and L’Damian Washington have combined for 112 receptions and 16 touchdowns.

Kentucky is 0-3 against the spread as a home underdog, losing by 14 points to Louisville, by 17 to Florida and by 41 to Alabama. The Wildcats will be without two of their top wide receivers.

I smell a blowout, and Missouri is one of my favorite plays of the season.

Five more plays for today (home team in CAPS):

■ Virginia Tech (+6½) over MIAMI — The Hokies lost a 34-27 decision last week at Boston College because of a minus-four turnover margin, but they outgained the Eagles 446-289. Miami got smashed 41-14 at Florida State and lost leading rusher Duke Johnson to a season-ending injury. Johnson had rushed for 920 yards and six touchdowns.

The Hurricanes will rely more on quarterback Stephen Morris, and that’s not a good thing. Morris, who has been intercepted eight times in the past four games, faces a Virginia Tech pass defense ranked No. 1 in the nation.

■ MINNESOTA (-2½) over Penn State — The Nittany Lions are 0-3 ATS on the road and had to go to overtime to sneak past Illinois at home last week. Minnesota is on fire with three straight victories as an underdog. The Gophers are getting great quarterback play recently, as Philip Nelson has six touchdown passes without an interception in the past three games.

■ FLORIDA (-10) over Vanderbilt — The Gators finally return home, where they have won all three games by margins of 18, 14 and 20 points. After giving up two huge plays to Georgia’s Todd Gurley early in the first quarter last week, Florida’s defense allowed just three field goals to a high-scoring offense. Vanderbilt quarterback Patton Robinette will be making just his second career start, and he struggled at Texas A&M the last time out.

■ Western Michigan (-2½) over EASTERN MICHIGAN — Eastern Michigan is 1-8 straight up and ATS, results that cost Ron English his coaching job when he was fired Friday. Why would the school make that move on the eve of a game instead of earlier in the week? No clue.

■ LOUISIANA-MONROE (-3½) over Arkansas State — Monroe has won three in a row straight up and ATS. Senior quarterback Kolton Browning, the Sun Belt player of the year in 2012, returned from injury two weeks ago and has nine touchdown passes without an interception since. Arkansas State is mired in a 1-5-1 ATS slump.

Last week: 2-2-1 against the spread

Season: 22-26-3

Brian Edwards of VegasInsider.com and BrianEdwardsSports.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.