Last week ATS: 9-9 (2-4 National, 7-5 B1G)
Season ATS: 22-23 (4-11 National, 18-12 B1G)
The good news is we didn’t lose any ground last weekend. The bad news is we didn’t gain any ground last weekend.
Much like most of the action across college football in the second full weekend of the season, we showed up but didn’t really do much. I guess that’s all you can expect when so many of the better teams in the country played overmatched opponents.
At least with conference play starting to kick into gear, we shouldn’t have quite as many giant spreads to try and decipher. There are some fun
matchups this weekend, including some tasty SEC battles on the slate.
National Games
No. 6 Georgia (-3.5) v. No. 15 Tennessee – 3:30 p.m. ET – ABC
Georgia has dominated this rivalry recently, winning their last eight meetings with the Volunteers by at least 14 points. The Bulldogs have won comfortably in their first two games of the season, but their wins over Marshall and Austin Peay haven’t been terribly impressive. Maybe Kirby Smart kept things simple in the first two games so Tennessee didn’t have much to study on film heading into this contest.
I still don’t know what to make of Tennessee. The Volunteers beat a Syracuse squad that has struggled in their first two games of the season. Last week Tennessee beat up on cupcake East Tennessee State. No matter what happens on Saturday, at least it looks like the Volunteers made the right choice in letting Nico Iamaleava walk.
Georgia 27, Tennessee 17
No. 18 South Florida v. No. 5 Miami (FL) (-17.5) – 4:30 p.m. ET – CW Network
The story of the college football season so far has been South Florida, who has beaten ranked teams Boise State and Florida. Even more impressive than the play of quarterback Byrum Brown has been how the defense of the Bulls has performed, holding Boise State and Florida to a combined 23 points.
If the CFP were to start this weekend, there’s no doubt South Florida would be the recipient of the Group of Five spot in the playoff.
Saturday’s game will be Miami’s first step in taking the crown as the champion of Florida. Following this week’s game against the Bulls, Miami will host Florida, followed by heading up to Tallahassee for an ACC showdown with Florida State. Carson Beck has been good, throwing four touchdowns in his first two games with the Hurricanes.
What is scariest about Miami is their defensive line with Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor. If any duo is going to contain Byrum Brown, it would be those two.
This feels like a game where South Florida is overwhelmed by a Miami team that not only has tremendous athletic ability, they are also well coached, which is something that Florida definitely cannot claim to be.
Miami (FL) 38, South Florida 17
No. 16 Texas A&M v. No. 8 Notre Dame (-6.5) – 7:30 p.m. ET – NBC
I feel like Texas A&M is again trying to fool people into thinking they are good. Quarterback Marcel Reed is definitely capable of producing electric moments, I’m just worried about the consistency of the rest of the team. The defense hasn’t particularly impressed me, giving up 24 points to UTSA and 22 points to Utah State last week.
Notre Dame has had some time to think about their 27-24 loss to open up the season, as they had a bye last week. C.J. Carr got off to a rocky start early on against the Hurricanes before starting to settle in during the latter half of his first college start.
What was most puzzling about Notre Dame’s game plan against Miami was their usage of running back Jeremiyah Love, who had just 10 carries.
Notre Dame feels like the right side in this game. Last year they went down to College Station and earned a 23-13 win. Nothing I’ve seen from Texas A&M makes me think they can keep this game within a touchdown. The final score in this game feels like it could look similar to what we saw from these teams in last season’s meeting.
Notre Dame 27, Texas A&M 17
B1G Games
No. 4 Oregon (-27.5) v. Northwestern – 12:00 p.m. ET – FOX
As if Northwestern didn’t have a tough enough task in trying to keep pace with Oregon on Saturday, things got even tougher with the news that running back Cam Porter will miss the rest of the season. Quarterback Preston Stone rebounded from his four interception game against Tulane with three touchdown passes last week against Western Illinois.
The 42 points the Wildcats scored were the first time they cracked the 30-point mark since putting up 37 on Maryland last October, in what would be their only game of the season where they scored at least 30 points.
Last week Oregon decimated Oklahoma State 69-3. The only hope Northwestern has in this game is that the Ducks forget about being in central time and they miss kickoff. The Ducks did play a couple close games in the central time zone but they were in the Big Ten Championship Game against Penn State, and under the lights at Wisconsin.
Playing in the early afternoon at Northwestern isn’t nearly as worrisome.
Oregon 45, Northwestern 13
Wisconsin v. No. 19 Alabama (-21.5) – 12:00 p.m. ET – ABC
Which Alabama do we see on Saturday? The Crimson Tide that was embarrassed by Florida State to open the season, or the Crimson Tide that crushed Louisiana-Monroe 73-0 last week? Ty Simpson was perfect in his first start in Tuscaloosa, completing all 17 of his pass attempts for 226 yards and three touchdowns.
Even more impressive considering wide receiver Ryan Williams didn’t play after sustaining a concussion against the Seminoles.
I’m still not used to seeing a Wisconsin team that had nearly double the passing yardage as they did rushing yardage in last week’s 42-10 win over Middle Tennessee. Luke Fickell’s team is 2-0 heading into this week’s game, but there is still a lot we don’t know about the Badgers since they haven’t really played anyone, and starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. was injured in the season opener.
This is such a tough game to predict since both teams still have massive questions. I feel a little more comfortable taking the points, especially since we are getting 21.5. I feel like this game ends with Alabama winning by around 17 points.
Alabama 34, Wisconsin 17
Ohio v. No. 1 Ohio State (-31.5) – 7:00 p.m. ET – Peacock
Even with so many new starters, Ohio State feels like they are the team to beat in college football this year. After winning a defensive battle with Texas, the Buckeyes crushed an overmatched Grambling State team last week. Julian Sayin was nearly perfect, plenty of backups saw the field, and there weren’t any injuries coming out of the blowout of the Tigers.
Last year’s MAC champs look like they are again going to contend for the crown in the conference this year. Imagine if Ohio had beat Rutgers to open up the season. The Bobcats would be at the top of the list to earn the Group of 5 spot in the College Football Playoff even with a loss to Ohio State on Saturday night.
Quarterback Parker Navarro is a fun watch because of his dual-threat ability. Just ask West Virginia how much of a headache trying to contain Navarro is.
Ohio State’s defense will present a much tougher challenge for Navarro than Rutgers and West Virginia did. Even though there will be many Ohio alums in attendance on Saturday night hoping to see their alma mater keep things close, I just don’t see it happening.
The Buckeyes are too deep and talented for the Bobcats to keep pace with. Navarro did have some turnover issues last week, throwing three interceptions, so you just know Matt Patricia is licking his chops when it comes to designing schemes to disrupt the offense of the Bobcats.
Ohio State 45, Ohio 10
Rapid Fire Picks
National
Colorado v. Houston (-4.5) – Friday 7:30 p.m. ET – ESPN
Houston 28, Colorado 17
No. 12 Clemson (-3.5) v. Georgia Tech – 12:00 p.m. ET – ESPN
Georgia Tech 31, Clemson 28
Arkansas v. No. 17 Ole Miss (-7.5) – 7:00 p.m. ET – ESPN
Arkansas 34, Ole Miss 30
Florida v. No. 3 LSU (-8.5) – 7:30 p.m. ET – ABC
LSU 31, Florida 17
Vanderbilt v. No. 11 South Carolina (-5.5) – 7:45 p.m. ET – SEC Network
South Carolina 28, Vanderbilt 24
B1G
New Mexico v. UCLA (-15.5) – Friday 10:00 p.m. ET – BTN
UCLA 35, New Mexico 23
Central Michigan v. No. 23 Michigan (-21.5) – 12:00 p.m. ET – BTN
Michigan 42, Central Michigan 13
USC (-21.5) v. Purdue – 3:30 p.m. ET – CBS
USC 38, Purdue 10
Western Michigan v. No. 9 Illinois (-27.5) – 7:00 p.m. ET – FS1
Illinois 41, Western Michigan 7
Massachusetts v. Iowa (-35.5) – 7:30 p.m. ET – BTN
Iowa 42, Massachusetts 3
Minnesota (-1.5) v. Cal – 10:30 p.m. ET – ESPN
Minnesota 24, Cal 20
