The red flags, green signals, and other stories beyond the headlines and behind the box score that you can use to make winning bets, or just sound smarter than everybody else.

Red Flags: A few teams whose performance from a metrics/analytics perspective is not what the score may have led you to believe and warns of future risk. Top Ten Red Flags:

1. Boise State's offense averaged an abysmal 4.35 yards per play, which normally nets about 14 points, against the pedestrian UCF defense, suggesting the coaching shift and personnel changes in the land of great potatoes forecast a down season for the boys on the Blue Carpet.

2. Rutgers' points explosion didn't come from offensive firepower, as they averaged a miserly 4.6 yards per play against a weak Temple team. Look for under opportunities in the near future.

3. Iowa got fat on defensive scores, and its defensive dominance accounted for the final score, not its offense, which remains inept, averaging a miserable 4.7 yards per play.

4. Virginia Tech's defensive effort did great, but its erratic offense continues to haunt Fuentes' teams, with a poor 4.8 yards per play.

5. The Ducks didn't quack well offensively in Eugene against the likes of Fresno State, foreshadowing trouble in Columbus this weekend unless they switch QBs to the talented young frosh.

6. Rocky Top's 5.4 yards per play against the lowly likes of Bowling Green ain't getting anywhere in the SEC this year unless they too make a change at QB.

7. Stanford was downright awful on both sides of the ball, as the doubters in Vegas cashed easy tickets that the final score underestimated. Their anemic offense against a weak Wildcat defense matched a far worse defensive performance than the final score suggested, as they gave up 7.6 yards per play, which usually results in 40+ points.

8. The final score gave USC a healthier margin than the metrics suggest they deserved, as USC gave up 5.8 yards per play to mediocre San Jose State, suggesting another pedestrian defense in LaLa land.

9. Pitt's offensive performance wasn't quite what the final score suggested, as their yards per play (6.9) against UMass was one of the worst performances against the defensively hapless Minutemen in the last two years.

10. Charlotte's upset of Duke was more luck than performance, as Duke's yards per play metric would have them winning by double digits most of the time.

Green Lights: Even more promising future performances than the final score suggested. Top Ten Green Lights:

1. Kentucky's defense was lights-out, allowing only 1.4 yards per play.

2. Texas Tech's final score underestimates how much they dominated Houston, as their metrics forecast a normal 30 point victory margin.

3. Tennessee's defense forecasts more total unders than Vegas forecast, as the Vols held Bowling Green to the same statistical performance as Notre Dame's playoff-level dominant defense two years ago.

4. The final score and 4th quarter rally hid how dominant Arkansas' defense was against the boys from Rice (only 4.1 yards per play), as they await the bigger boys from Texas this weekend.

5. Indiana's defense showed as much as promise as its offense showed futility, holding the Hawkeyes to only 4.7 yards per play.

6. Sparty absolutely decimated Northwestern, not just on the scoreboard, but in the stat sheet as well, with a typical winning margin over 30 points.

7. Auburn came out much better prepared than anyone predicted on the plains, as their stat sheet would normally forecast a win margin of over 70 points!

8. Michigan found a real talent in do-everything RB Blake Corum, and look for their offense to play much better than the last two seasons.

9. Fresno State honestly played Oregon close, promising a bright Mountain West future for the Bulldogs this season.

10. Tulane, under extraordinarily difficult circumstances moving the game during a hurricane to Norman, played the Sooners within single digits statistically, as that score was no fluke. Green Wave should be bowling come December.