Pick results summary here. There was a tie for the top pickers this week. The top pickers were myself and JStew_GT. Congrats JStew_GT! As far as I go, I’m just happy I’m back in the conversation. donkeygoatrunner is still in the top spot with 55 correct picks on the season (62.5% correct on the season). The second best pickers are currently YankeeJacket and Gtbadcarma with 50 correct picks. Our best pick percentage below donkeygoatrunner is GreenMountainJacket (minimum of 4 weeks of picks, at least
half of total weeks). Now on to this weeks picks.
After coming off a bye week Georgia Tech showed they were back in a big way. Virginia Tech hasn’t had a good year, but the Techmo-Bowl has historically had some strange results. As they say, nothing is certain in a rivalry game. Georgia Tech’s offense showed out early and gained a lead that they never gave up. There were some scary moments but the team looked ready and executed their game plan to win handily. The fans got to go home happy knowing that Georgia Tech was able to cover the spread comfortably.
In news around the league plenty of other top 25 teams lost. Indiana probably had the most notable win as they took down Oregon on the road. Indiana is looking like a top contender this year. Oklahoma was upset by Texas and uga survived Auburn thanks to some atrocious referee work. The season is heating up and leading to some interesting results.
It wouldn’t be a good recap if I didn’t cover the Penn State loss and James Franklin firing. I was surprised Penn State was willing to pay so much to get rid of Franklin on Sunday but they clearly feel this team is not living up to expectations and they need to work on turning things around as quickly as possible. The rest of the year is not looking optimistic for Penn State, fair to say they will be looking forward to next year.
GT is now 6-0 and officially going bowling. I think fans should be happy about the current results, but not satisfied. Georgia Tech rarely has years like this so there is nothing wrong with hoping for big things from this team. Our biggest challenges lie ahead. Duke will be far from an easy game. In fact none of our games going forward will likely be easy games. Fans need to do their part and get out to cheer on their team. I will be at the Duke game this weekend and I hope to see many of you there as well! GO JACKETS!!!
picks:
#12 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ Duke Blue Devils (-2.5)
Logan: Vegas favors Duke in this matchup. I don’t necessarily agree but I can see why people would like the Blue Devils here. Duke is getting GT at home coming off a bye week and have some dangerous weapons on offense with Darien Mensah at QB and RBs Nate Shepherd and Anderson Castle. Our defense is the weakest side of the ball so going against a highly efficient passer such as Darien Mensah is going to be a challenge. Our offense will need to be hot out the gate and make sure they get points on nearly every drive. If our offense looks like it did against Wake, then Duke could easily run away with this game. If our offense looks like it did against Virginia Tech, then I think this could be a good game for us. We tend to do well as the underdogs so I think Georgia Tech will find a way to come out on top here. 7-0 would be absolutely insane for this team, let’s hope the Jackets can pull it off.
Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech
Louisville Cardinals @ #2 Miami Hurricanes (-13.5)
Logan: This is one of the last big challenges for Miami. Both Louisville and Miami are coming off a bye week, although the Cardinals have to be in a sour mood having to wait a whole week after their tough loss to UVA before playing again. Miami is definitely the top team, but Louisville just has this weird ability to hang with teams they shouldn’t. The Cardinals have a chance to surprise people in this game. I’m still going to take the Hurricanes; they have just looked so good to start the season especially on the offensive and defensive line. Still, Miami is known to choke during the year, and this feels like a prime spot for a choke job.
Logan’s pick: Miami
#25 Nebraska Cornhuskers (-6.5) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers
Logan: Nebraska is finally back to looking like a competent team. Nebraska fans have been waiting a long time for this, and they should be happy with the results so far. One thing I have noted in Nebraska’s wins though is that most of their wins have been by slim margins (I suppose one could point to the Michigan State win, but I don’t think huge wins against Akron and Houston Chrisitan are particularly surprising). The Michigan loss, Maryland win, and Cincinnati win were only by a field goal margin. Minnesota isn’t a bad team and getting Nebraska at home should help make things more competitive. I’m not sure Minnesota wins, but I do think Minnesota can keep in within a field goa.
Logan’s pick: Minnesota
SMU Mustangs @ Clemson Tigers (-9.5)
Logan: A rematch of last year’s ACC Championship. I am hoping this game gives me some idea of how good these teams are. On paper both should be very good (or at least pretty good depending on your opinion of SMU) but their records don’t reflect that at all. Clemson has at least looked like they are putting things together, also I just tend to pick Clemson out of habit based on how good they’ve been up to this year. I dunno, I can’t really give you a great reason, but I’ll take Clemson here.
Logan’s pick: Clemson
Georgia Grown Bowl: Georgia State Panthers @ Georgia Southern Eagles (-7.5)
Logan: Why is this game on here? I dunno, why not? Both these teams are off to rough starts and are hoping to win this game to turn their seasons around. Georgia State has generally faced tougher opponents this year, but Georgia Southern has put up more of a fight in their losses. I think this game could be a little closer than the experts think because both teams are going to want to fight in this one. I’ll take Georgia State to keep things within a touchdown.
Logan’s pick: Georgia State
UNLV Rebels @ Boise State Broncos (-10.5)
Logan: UNLV has been undefeated up to this point of the season. Will this be then end of UNLV’s run? Probably. Boise State’s defense is significantly better than UNLV, at least on paper. Going on the road to Boise State won’t help UNLV as the Boise State stadium is a tough environment. I have to take Boise State in this game.
Logan’s pick: Boise State
#10 LSU Tigers @ #17 Vanderbilt Commodores (-2.5)
Logan: I can’t not like Vandy in this one. LSU has struggled on offense and defense meanwhile Vandy has been looking good on both against everyone except Alabama. I expect a good fight from LSU, but Vandy is just a great team right now and they have a good chance in pretty much every game left on their schedule.
Logan’s pick: Vanderbilt
The Holy War: #23 Utah Utes (-3.5) @ #15 BYU Cougars
Logan: This may be one of the closest games this weekend. A rivalry game between two teams off to two hot starts. I could see this game going either way with both teams having fantastic offenses and defense. The game these teams have to compare is West Virginia, of all teams, where Utah was significantly more dominant. Also, I generally view Utah as having faced more difficult opponents up to this point and besting everyone except Texas Tech. I think Utah will barely edge this one out by a field goal. With the spread where it is currently, I will take BYU to cover.
Logan’s pick: BYU
Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh: #20 USC Trojans @ #13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-8.5)
Logan: Ok, last time I do this. I don’t think Notre Dame is that good on defense and USC’s defense has been fantastic so far this year. Picking against Notre Dame has bit me the past few times so maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt but I’m still not convinced Notre Dame should be ranked this high. USC should give Notre Dame a good fight if nothing else. If Notre Dame proves me wrong this week I won’t pick against them the rest of the year.
Logan’s pick: USC
#11 Tennessee Volunteers @ #6 Alabama Crimson Tide (-9.5)
Logan: Hey, I actually got it right last week by picking against expectations. Go figure. I think I may try doing that whenever I pick Alabama from now on, the Tide under Deboer are just hard for me to get a read on. This game will be the 3rd game in a row that Bama plays against a ranked team. They get Tennessee at home and Tennessee has struggled against the unranked teams they have played up to this point. Despite winning the past few games Bama had had a hard time pulling away from opponents (aside from a last second touchdown against Vandy), so I think Tennessee has a good chance to cover in this matchup. Tennessee could very well win this one in a close matchup. Alright so now I flip that expectation, Bama wins by a landslide.
Logan’s pick: Bama
#5 Ole Miss Rebels @ #9 uga Ref Payers (-6.5)
Logan: Nothing bad ever happens to uga. I don’t know what the SEC is telling refs in these games, but it is mind blowing to see some of the calls that go in uga’s favor game after game. If Lane Kiffin wants to take the next step in this league then he will need to win this game, but I don’t know how he will when he has to go on the road and play against both the dwags and the SEC officials. I’ll be rooting for Ole Miss but I fully expect uga to cover again. On the plus side uga has only lost games where I picked them at home, so hopefully that holds true here.
Logan’s pick: uga
