-Originally published 11/6/20-
Week 2 Picks: 7-1
Week 3 Picks: 7-2
Week 4 Picks: 12-5
Week 5 Picks: 11-5
Week 6 Picks: 8-3
Week 7 Picks: 7-6
Week 8 Picks: 9-7
Week 9 Picks: 15-4
Cumulative: 76-33
Welcome to the Week 10 College Football Picks. The MAC and Pac-12 conferences will finally complete the college football picture. The MAC will play all of their debut games on Wednesday, 11/5 and all games on Tuesday for the two weeks after. On a short 6-week school, the weekday play will help the conference maximize TV time. The Pac-12 will also be playing a 6-week schedule.
Friday, November 6th
#11 Miami (5-1) @ NC State (4-2) – 7:30pm, ESPN
Pick: Miami
#9 BYU (7-0) @ #21 Boise State (2-0) – 9:45pm, FS1
Pick: BYU
Friday night we get a rare treat in a double-header between quality teams Miami and NC State in the ACC and BYU facing its only real competition on its schedule in Boise State. Miami skated by Virginia last week and the Heisman campaigning for D’Eriq King has come back to earth as he’s posted decent, but not spectacular numbers recently. Miami’s defense is still threatening and King can still be a force, but this team isn’t a power house. They’ll still be able to take down a feisty NC State team that’s feasted on lower-lever ACC competition.
BYU’s offense lead by Zach Wilson (2,152 Yds, 19 Tds, 2 Ints, 74.6%, 11.1 Avg, 4-sacks taken, 150 Rush/Yds, 7 Rush/Tds) is putting up video game numbers. Boise State was without staring QB Hank Bachmeier last week so Jack Sears (280 Yds, 4 Total Tds) took his place. It’s unknown why Bachmeier didn’t play last week or who will start this week, but it’ll be fun regardless of who is under center for the Broncos. Usually the kings of the non-power-5 teams, Boise State will look to slow down the Cougar and play spoiler in what should be one of the best games of the entire weekend, on Friday night.
Saturday, November 7th – Noon Slate
#23 Michigan (1-1) @ #13 Indiana (2-0) – Noon, FS1
Pick: Michigan
#18 SMU (6-1) @ Temple (1-3) – Noon, ESPN+
Pick: SMU
West Virginia (4-2) @ #22 Texas (4-2) – Noon, ABC
Pick: West Virgina
#25 Liberty (6-0) @ Virginia Tech (4-2) – Noon, ACCN
Pick: Virginia Tech
Arizona State (0-0) @ #20 USC (0-0) – Noon, FOX
Pick: ASU
The noon slate on Saturday doesn’t look exciting at first glance, but it’s an awesome appetizer for the rest of the day. SMU should continue to put up big offensive numbers on Temple, but the other matchups should be great. Michigan looked miserable against rival Michigan State last week, while Indiana knocked off Rutgers. The Hoosiers survived Penn State in the opener, they were outgained in yardage and needed turnovers and a lot of things to roll their way to win, but the defense looked great against Rutgers forcing 3 turnovers and not commenting any themselves. Michael Penix looked much better at QB. There were no turnovers in the Michigan/Michigan State game, Michigan has 10 penalties to the Spartans 5, struggled to get a pass rush and struggled to get the ball downfield. I expect Michigan to win close, but it should be close.
Last week West Virginia stunned Kansas State and Texas stunned Oklahoma State. Texas won by a touchdown after being outgained 530-287 yards and Oklahoma State had 4 turnovers; everything had to go the Longhorns way to win. West Virginia’s defense is good and QB Jarrett Doege will be looking for his 4th straight 300+ yard passing game. I expect WV to pull the upset.
Liberty hasn’t played a single quality opponent but should be able to keep pace with one of the top run offenses in the country in Virginia Tech. The juiciest noon matchup is between the sophomore QB’s at Arizona State and USC. Jayden Daniels (2,943 pass/yds, 355 rush/yds, 17 Td, 2 Int, 3 rush/Td, 60%) for ASU is a duel threat and Kedon Slovis (3,502 Yds, 30 Tds, 9 Int, 71.9%) is a true pocket passer forced into action last season after an injury to JT Daniels. They could both be competing for the Heisman next year. Don’t miss this game.
Saturday, November 7th – Afternoon Slate
UMass (0-1) @ #16 Marshall (5-0) – 2:30pm, ESPN+
Pick: Marshall
#8 Florida (3-1) @ #5 Georgia (4-1) – 3:30pm, CBS
Pick: Georgia
Houston (2-2) @ #6 Cincinnati (5-0) – 3:30pm, ESPN
Pick: Cincinnati
#14 Oklahoma State (4-1) @ Kansas State (4-2) – 4:00pm, FOX
Pick: Oklahoma State
Oklahoma will continue to crawl its way back into the Big-12 championship picture with an easy win against Kansas, Marshall will continue its run against UMass, and Cincinnati’s elite defense has shut down Memphis (49-10) and SMU (42-13) the past couple weeks and will take down another decent squad this week in Houston (33.3 ppg, 442 ypg). Overrated Kansas State shouldn’t state a chance against Oklahoma State’s offense with QB Spencer Sanders back. The Cowboys are great on both sides of the ball.
Georgia/Florida is obviously the big game in the afternoon. Florida disposed of Missouri 41-17 as they should have last weekend and the Bulldogs slowly put Kentucky 14-3. Stetson Bennett was 9/13 with two picks and Georgia had 43 carries for 215 yards as they kept the ball on the ground against the Wildcats solid defense. Georgia’s defense is only allowing 300 yards and 16 ppg. Florida’s offensive is one of the best in the country averaging 476.5 yards-per-game and 42 ppg. The defense has been a problem. I expect the Bulldogs offense to lock up the Gators ground game and Georgia to run the ball against Florida’s defense for the win.
Saturday, November 7th – Night Slate
#7 Texas A&M (4-1) @ South Carolina (2-3) – 7:00pm, ESPN
Pick: Texas A&M
Baylor (1-3) @ #17 Iowa State (4-2) – 7:00pm, FS1
Pick: Iowa State
Rutgers (1-1) @ #3 Ohio State (2-0) – 7:30pm, BTN
Pick: Ohio State
Stanford (0-0) @ #12 Oregon (0-0) – 7:30pm, ABC
Pick: Oregon
#1 Clemson (7-0) @ #4 Notre Dame (6-0) – 7:30pm, NBC
Pick: Clemson
South Alabama (3-3) @ #15 Coastal Carolina (6-0) – 8:00pm, ESPNU
Pick: Costal Carolina
It’s a shame that one of the biggest games of the year won’t feature Trevor Lawrence at the controls. Notre Dame has been slipping by inferior opponents this season but the Irish are looking like a real team the last couple weeks in victories over Pittsburg (45-3) and Georgia Tech (31-13). The Irish defense is real, the run game is excellent, and senor Ian Book is finally starting to catch up. Clemson’s close victory over Boston College (34-28) isn’t to be overlooked, but I think BC is a good team and D.J. Uiagalelei will have another week to prepare for ND. Travis Etienne really showed how important he is to the offense (20 carries, 84 rush/rds, 7 rec, 140 rec/yds, 2 tds).
Ohio State should destroy Rutgers and Coastal Carolina should roll South Alabama. Iowa State has been up-and-down this season and the Baylor game could be close. Baylor has beaten Kansas and played close games against West Virginia and Texas, but the Bears aren’t a very good football team. Texas A&M’s offensive line will struggle with South Carolina’s defensive line but I expect the Aggies to win. It should be a competitive game. Oregon should be one of the better teams in the Pac-12 and Stanford has been down recently, but who really knows what to expect on opening day. The Ducks still haven’t revealed their starting QB, that’s never a good sign.