-Originally published 11/11/20-
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
Week 10 Picks: 11-6
Cumulative: 87-39
Friday, November 13th
East Carolina (1-5) @ #7 Cincinnati (6-0) – 7:30pm, ESPN2
Pick: Cincinnati
Saturday, November 14th – Early Afternoon Slate
#9 Miami (6-1) @ Virginia Tech (4-3) – Noon, ESPN2
Pick: Miami
#10 Indiana (3-0) @ Michigan State (1-2) – Noon, ABC
Pick: Indiana
#12 Georgia (4-2) @ Missouri (2-3) – Noon, ESPN
Pick: Georgia
#15 Coastal Carolina (7-0) @ Troy (4-3) – Noon, ESPNU
Pick: Coastal Carolina
Middle Tennessee (2-5) @ #16 Marshall (6-0) – Noon, CBSSN
Pick: Marshall
#22 Liberty (7-0) @ Western Carolina – Noon, ESPN3
Pick: Liberty
South Alabama (3-4) @ #25 Louisiana – 2pm, ESPN+
Pick: Louisiana
Georgia has had a rough spell the past three weeks, highlighted by poor QB play. Stetson Bennett was 18/40, 269 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT against Alabama, 9/13, 131 yds, 2 Ints against Kentucky, and 5/13 for 78 yards and 1 Td/1 Int before freshman D’Wan Mathis came in (4/13, 34 yds,1 Td, 2 Int). The secondary is having issues too, but something even close to “below-average quarterback play” and not “horrible quarterback play” would help tremendously.
Michael Penix Jr (750 Yds, 7 Td, 1 Int, 58.9%) is the best QB in the Big-10 outside of Justin Fields. He has real weapons in WR Ty Fryfogle (13 Rec, 224 Yds, 2 Td, 17.2 Avg), Whop Philyor (21 Rec, 252 Yds, 12.0 Avg, 1 Td), and RB (Stevie Scott (65 Att, 235 Yds, 4 Tds, 3.6 Avg). The stats won’t reflect an elite passer, nor the schedule “tough” opponents, but the Hoosiers are beating good defenses. With Ohio State next week and Wisconsin down the road, and the success of Maryland and Purdue so far in the season, the Spartans this week might be the easiest game left on Indiana’s schedule if they aren’t caught looking ahead.
Miami is coming on strong in the second tier of teams behind….I guess a healthy Clemson and apparently Norte Dame….as a solid New-Years-6 Bowl candidate and possible ACC Championship contender still. VT lost against Libertly last week after nearly having the game won on a blocked kick. The defense still has playmakers and D’Eriq King (1,831 Pass/Yds, 16 Pass/Tds, 4 Int, 63.8%, 406 Rush/Yds, 2 Rush/Tds) is still capable of throwing the team on his back if needed, like his 500+ yards of offense and 5 touchdowns against NC State to avoid an offense next week. This should be a competitive, defensive battle.
Three major success stories; Coastal Carolina, Marshall, and Liberty, play in the early time slot on Saturday with Louisiana sneaking into the back into the top-25 as well, and Cincinnati (with a real shot at the playoffs) playing Friday night. Coastal Carolina is going to have its hands full with a good Troy program that’s still very good despite a 4-3 record. Cincinnati will wrap up at home against ECU then finish the season @ UCF, @ Temple and @ Tulsa in make-up game. If The Bearcats can knock off the Central Florida, Tulsa, and avoid the Temple trap game in-between, an AAC conference victory should put them into the playoffs.
Saturday, November 14th – Late Afternoon Slate
#2 Notre Dame (7-0) @ Boston College (5-3) – 3:30pm, ABC
Pick: Notre Dame
#3 Ohio State (3-0) @ Maryland (2-1) – 3:30pm, BTN
Pick: Ohio State
#5 Texas A&M (5-1) @ Tennessee (2-4) – 3:30pm, ESPN
Pick: Texas A&M
#20 USC (1-0) @ Arizona (0-0) – 3:30p, FOX
Pick: USC
Maryland looks to be on the right track with Tulia Tugovailoa (770 Yds, 6 Td, 4 Int, 67.4%) at QB after getting crushed in the opener 43-3 against Northwestern. Ohio State’s defense isn’t as dominate as year’s past, they’ll be able to move the ball some against the Buckeyes. Hats off to Texas A&M starting to put all the pieces together defensively, on offensive line, and Kellen Mond (1,468 yards, 16 Tds, 2 Int, 64.3%) is becoming more consistent. USC looked sluggish against ASU last week, but will have a 1-game advantage against the Wildcats who had to cancel last week.
The sneaky good game in the afternoon slot is Notre Dame taking on Boston College. BC couldn’t quite pull of upsets against North Carolina (26-22) or Clemson (34-28) and they were crushed by Virginia Tech (40-14), but QB Phil Jurkovec (2,083 Yds, 15 Tds, 4 Ints, 62,1%) is 6th in passing yards nationally and LB’s Max Richard and Isaiah McDuffie are 1st (79) and 3rd (71) in the nation in tackles. The Eagles have 22 sacks, 7 interceptions and 6 fumble recoveries and 25 passes defended on the season. They’ll have to get pressure on Book to win and slow the run game to pull off the upset.
Saturday, November 14th – Night Slate
#1 Alabama (6-0) @ LSU (2-3) – 6:00pm, CBS
Pick: Alabama
Arkansas (2-3) @ #6 Florida (4-1) – 7:00pm, ESPN
Pick: Florida
#19 SMU (7-1) @ Tulsa (3-1) – 7:00pm, ESPN2
Pick: SMU
#11 Oregon (1-0) @ Washington State (1-0) – 7:00pm, FOX
Pick: Oregon
#13 Wisconsin (1-0) @ Michigan (1-2) – 7:30pm, ABC
Pick: Wisconsin
#23 Northwestern (3-0) @ Purdue (2-0) – 7:30pm, BTN
Pick: Northwestern
Alabama will take great joy in getting revenge against the LSU Tigers after last season’s loss. The rebuild at Arkansas has them competitive in every game, but Florida looked dominant against Georgia last week and the Razorback’s will be lucky to breath against the Gators defense. SMU isn’t really an underdog after going 10-3 last season, but Shane Buechele leads the nation in passing yards (2,581 yds) and he’s 6th in passing touchdowns (20). They should be an upset alert against a good Tulsa defense. Oregon didn’t look great beating Stanford 35-14, but Washington State beating Oregon State 38-28 doesn’t tell us much. The Cougars could pull an upset if the Ducks aren’t careful. Neither Purdue nor Northwestern have played anyone good. Their opponents combined records are 4-10. Michigan will have the chance to redeem themselves against the Badgers that haven’t played since October 23rd. It’ll be great to see Graham Mertz hit the field again after a spectacular debut.
