-Originally published 10/15/20-
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
Cumulative: 45-16
Wednesday, October 14th
Coastal Carolina (3-0) @ #23 Louisiana (3-0) – Noon, ESPN2
A battle of unbeaten powers in the Sun Belt. The Coastal Carolina….umm….Chanticleers? Whatever that is, they field a real QB in Grayson McCall (728 Yds, 9 Tds, 1 Int, 66.7%) a real running game with a collection of backs and McCall (139 Rush/Yds, 2 Tds) contributes. The offensive line has only given up one sack this year. Defensively, they logged 14 sacks, 4 Ints, and 3 FF with 2 recoveries. Louisiana upset Iowa State thanks to two special teams touchdowns and has survived Georgia State in OT and Georgia Southern thanks to a 53-yard field goal. The QB play and defensive play is looking less impressive for the Ragin Cajun and the….Chanticleers are the superior team coming into this matchup.
Coastal Carolina…Chanticleers 24 Louisiana 10
Friday, October 16th
#17 SMU (4-0) @ Tulane (2-2) – 6:00PM, ESPN
SMU dropped Memphis last time out and Shane Buechele (1,326 Yds, 10 Td, 2 Int, 68%) continues to lean an explosive offense averaging 44 points and 558 yards per game. Tulane’s QBs are completing less than 44% of their passes between the two guys that have taken snaps this season. The ground game is pushing close to 250 ygp. The Green Wave really haven’t played any good teams yet this season but they haven’t put up fewer than 24 points this season and the defense has gotten pressure (14 sacks) on opponents.
SMU 31 Tulane 20
#15 BYU (4-0) @ Houston (1-0) – 9:30pm, ESPN
BYU knocked off the surprising UTSA Roadrunners last weekend and Houston finally won played its first game after numerous postponements. Zach Wilson still had over 300 yards of offense and 3 touchdowns in the UTSA victory. Houston’s defense will be a test this week after being held to 27 points last weekend. Houston’s offense will able to keep pace but the defense sacked Tulane 6 times. I’m staying on the BYU express this week, but it’ll be interesting to see how Houston looks in its 2nd game of the year with QB Clay Tune (391 Yds, 2 Td, 2 Int, 60%) under center and how the defense performs.
BYU 35 Houston 24
#1 Clemson (4-0) @ Georgia Tech (2-2) – Noon, ABC
Clemson looked dominant against Miami in a 42-17 throttling. The Tigers look like the best team in college football right now behind Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne (7 yards per carry) and the defense that won’t allow opponents to breathe. Georgia Tech looks ahead of schedule in year 2 of its rebranding behind Geoff Collins. Freshman QB Jeff Sims has a long ways to go, but he’s a dangerous duel threat and the defense is making leaps. I don’t think Clemson will just run away from the get-go here, this could be a close one for a bit.
Clemson 35 Georgia Tech 20
#8 Cincinnati (3-0) @ Tulsa (1-1) – Noon, ESPN2
The Bearcats have rolled inferior competition. The defense has 7 interceptions on the year and the offense is led by veteran QB Desmond Ridder and a run game that puts up over 200 ypg. Tulsa has been surprisingly feisty. The Golden Hurricane’s played Oklahoma State close and knocked off UCF. They’ll have a decent QB in Zach Smith and the defense looks good. This should be an excellent game between two teams that’ve had two weeks to prepare. Tulsa could win, but I’m going with the team that has move firepower.
Cincinnati 24 Tulsa 22
Pittsburgh (3-2) @ #13 Miami (3-1) – Noon, ACCN
The Pitt Panthers have lost the past two games by one point each to NC State and Boston College in OT. The defensive is still able to generate pressure (24 sacks) and force turnovers (6 interceptions) but the offense just hasn’t been able to keep Pitt ahead in the past couple low-scoring affairs. Miami was embarrassed against Clemson last week. They repeatedly hurt themselves with horrible penalties and D’Eriq King was almost completely shut down by Clemson’s defense. I’m going with Pittsburg to pull the upset over Miami. The defense of the Panthers should give the Hurricanes issues similar to Clemson.
Pittsburg 27 Miami 24
#14 Auburn (2-1) @ South Carolina (1-2) – Noon, ESPN
Bo Nix and Auburn are real close to being 1-2 after a scare from Arkansas last week. It’s surprising they’ weren’t more prepared after such a poor performance against Georgia two weeks ago. Arkansas is certainly a surprise team, but Auburn still has issues on the offensive line and the defense was better but isn’t SEC championship quality. The Gamecocks aren’t scrubs, they play teams close and they crushed Vandy last week. Auburn should be able to handle business here, but who can tell after the upsets that have already taken place in the SEC.
Auburn 21 South Carolina 20
Kentucky (1-2) @ #18 Tennessee (2-1) – Noon, SECN
Tennessee played their first real opponent in Georgia last week and was crushed 44-21. QB Jarrett Guarantano just isn’t that impressive and Georgia held the Vols to negative rushing yards. Kentucky’s defense look good against Mississippi State giving up zero points, but they’ve certainly been exploited at times this season. The offense is limited and the Wildcats wouldn’t have won if they didn’t force 6 turnovers last game. The offensive only managed 157 yards. This should be a low scoring game, but the Vols should rebound.
Kentucky 10 Tennessee 21
Louisville (1-3) @ Notre Dame (3-0) – 2:30pm, NBC
Louisville has looked complete lost recently and saw their skid extend to 3 games in a 46-27 smack down to the rebuilding Georgia Tech Yellow jackets. QB Malik Cunningham isn’t playing well, the offensive line is bad and the defense is struggling. Kyren Williams (19 Car, 185 Yds, 2 Tds) and Chris Tyree (11 Car, 103 Yds, 1 Td) for Notre Dame continue to be dominate as Notre Dame leaned on the run game against Florida State last week and racked up 353 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground last weekend.
Louisville 21 Notre Dame 38
LSU (1-2) @ #10 Florida (2-1) – 3:30pm, ESPN
It’s a huge disappointment that both of these teams could be 2-2 and out of the playoff race at the end of this game. It’s not surprising that LSU is struggling after losing so many pieces to the NFL, but it is surprising they’re losing to bad teams. Florida finally has a QB in place and the great Florida defense is now a huge problem. Neither defense was able to get pressure on their respective opponent last weekend. I think the Gators are still the better team and have the better run game, but this could be a coin flip.
LSU 38 Florida 41
#11 Texas A&M (2-1) @ Mississippi State (1-2) – 4:00pm, SECN
The wheels have fallen off almost immediately for Mississippi State. The week one win over LSU doesn’t look like much anymore and MSU has managed only 16 points in losses the past two weeks. K.J. Costello has 1 touchdown and 7 interceptions the past two weeks. Texas A&M looked better taking down Florida after looking inept against Alabama. Kellen Mond looked much better (25/35, 338 Yds, 3 Tds), Isaiah Spiller racked up 172 yards and 2 touchdowns and the defense did enough to give the Aggies a chance to win. MSU is a dumpster fire right now, unless they show signs of life soon it’s hard to pick them to win against anyone.
Texas A&M 35 Mississippi State 17
#5 North Carolina (3-0) @ Florida State (1-3) – 7pm, ESPN
After posting previous totals of 31, and 26 points, UNC exploded for 56 against Virginia Tech. In the process they gave up 45 which is a whole other issue. UNC put up over 650 yards of offense as the pieces finally came together for Sam Howell. VT was without about a dozen players (again) due to Covid and juggled QBs but still put up almost 500 yards on the Tar Heels. Florida State dropped another game to Notre Dame. They’ll be sending several players on the defensive side of the ball to the NFL, but the defense can’t stop anyone. If the Seminoles could find a QB it might help the offensive side of things.
North Carolina 42 Florida State 24
#3 Georgia (3-0) @ #2 Alabama (3-0) – 8pm, CBS
Cream of the crop in SEC. It’s now apparent that there is a huge gap between these two and the rest of the conference. Georgia has given up less than 120 yards rushing on the season against Arkansas, Auburn, and Tennessee. They’ve giving up fewer than 13 ppg. The Tide survived Old Miss last week, but the defense looked good the first couple weeks only giving up points in garbage time. RB NaJee Harris has 23 carries at a 9 ypc clip for 206 yards and an astounding 5 touchdowns. QB Matt Corral for the Running Rebels and his ability to scramble has always been problematic for Saban’s defenses but that’s no excuse for the points given up. Neither Stestson Bennett (689 Yds, 5 Td, 63%) nor Mac Jones (1,101 Yds, 8 Td, 1 Int, 79%) are threats outside the pocket, but both have looked good behind their respective running games this season. I think the Bulldogs schedule so far has been tougher, the defense has been better and I think they’ll pull an upset against ‘Bama Saturday night with a rematch in the SEC championship looming in November.
Georgia 34 Alabama 33
Boston College (3-1) @ #23 Virginia Tech (2-1) – 8pm, ACCN
VT has been missing players in every game this season, so he knows which folks will be available for this game. The quarterback position for the Hokies isn’t consistent, Braxton Burmeister is still the starter but he’s only completing 45% of his passes when he plays. They’re relying on their running game averaging just a touch under 300 rushing yards per game. They’re still averaging over 42 ppg. The defense is averaging over 4 sacks per game. They’re also giving up over 35 ppg. BC is playing every game close, other than the 26-6 win over Duke in the opener every game has been within 4 point, and I think they sneak one out against the Hokies here. Sophomores QB Phil Jurkovec (1,181 Yds, 8 Tds, 2 Ints, 65% Comp) is one of the better QBs in the ACC despite the fact he’s taking 4 sacks per game.
Boston College 24 Virginia Tech 23
