This week looks pretty spectacular especially in Clemson and Austin. The No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies travel to Memorial Stadium to face No.1 Clemson with a 2:30 PM CT kickoff on ABC. The other major headliner happens in Austin, TX as the No.6 LSU Bengal Tigers lock horns with the No.9 Texas Longhorns. LSU is coming off an impressive 55-3 victory over Georgia Southern, a bowl team last season, while the Horns are coming off a 45-14 victory over LA Tech. The game kicks off at 6:30 PM CT and will also be televised by ABC.
The No. 10 Auburn Tigers, fresh off their riveting 27-21 victory over the then No.10 Oregon Ducks will host a pretty good opponent in the Tulane Green Wave, which is coming off a a 42-14 blasting of last year’s Bahamas Bowl victor Florida International. So the Tigers need to put last week behind them, even though it was quite spectacular, and focus on the business at hand Saturday Night at 6:30 on ESPN2.
The No.2 Crimson Tide hosts New Mexico State. S’s goals are to play well and get as many players as possible reps. That means giving the backups a shot.
Here’s a look at this week’s slate.
Last week: 18-8
Overall: 19-9, 68%
No. 12 Texas A&M (1-0) @ No.1 Clemson
2:30 PM CT
ABC
Sean McDonough, Todd, Holly
Clemson by 17
Clemson smashed Georgia Tech last Thursday Night 52-14 and A&M took care of business at College Station defeating Texas State 41-7. I like this to be a very hard fought, close contest. Kellen Mond has played in high pressure stadiums throughout the SEC and he’s battle tested. The running game looks strong, the perimeter looks good, the line is big and physical and the defense is very hard nosed, and intercepted 4 Texas State passes last week. I’ll take Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne (12 carries 205 yards 2 TDs last week) and Clemson barely, but I’m expecting a really tight, electric game. My man G Logic said before the season that this would be a very good game with A&M having a shot. He was almost leaning towards A&M to win. I’m not going to do that Logic, but I completely agree with your thinking.
Clemson 28, A&M 24
No.6 L-S-U @ No.9 Texas
6:30 PM CT
ABC
ABC Rece Davis, Kirk, Maria. (Chris Fowler is calling the U.S. Open this weekend.)
LSU by 6 1/2
Playing in Austin gives the Longhorns a real chance and so does quarterback Sam Ehlinger. Ehlinger was 28 for 38 last week for 276 yards and 4 TDs with no Ints. He’ll face a totally different defense this week with only 2 healthy running backs, one a converted quarterback who had minimal carries last Saturday. Linebackers Jacob Phillips and the reinstated Michael Divinity Jr (internal team discipline in week 1) will make it a lot tougher on Ehlinger this week as will possible top 5 pick in the 2020 draft, safety Grant Delpit. Joe Burrow was 23 of 27 for 278 yards, with 5 touchdowns and no interceptions against Georgia Southern last Saturday. Give me O, Joe and the LSU defense. The Tiguhs look for real this year.
LSU 28, Texas 17
Tulane @ No.10 Auburn
6:30 PM CT
ESPN2
Jason Benetti, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich
Auburn by 17
Bo Nix looked locked in and ultra confident last Saturday Night on Auburn’s game winning drive and he fired a dart to Seth Williams from 41 yards for the winning TD. Bo’s going to be outstanding. The Auburn defense is spectacular. When Big Kat Bryant recovered that fumble deep in Auburn territory with Oregon driving in for a TD and raced down the field only to be caught at the 4 yard line by a 4.4 Oregon wide out, it was beyond impressive. That’s a 275 pound defensive end. I like the Tigers to play pretty well this week and for the defense to be lockdown. Bo Nix will get some more growth this week. Tulane is a pretty good team, but I like the Tigers to win comfortably.
Auburn 31, Tulane 7
New Mexico State @ No.2 Alabama
3 PM CT
SEC Network
Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb (Stinch, does classic Kirby Smart and Todd Blackledge impersonations) Alyssa Lang
Bama by 55
After a little bit of a slow start, the Crimson Tide settled in and played fantastically well in a 42-3 blasting of Duke. The concern with the loss of Dylan Moses and Josh McMillan at inside linebacker was alleviated by the play of freshman linebackers Shane Lee and Christian Harris who both tallied 8 tackles. The Crimson Tide also picked off 2 passes including a beauty by cornerback Trevon Diggs. I’m very bullish on this defense. Tua was 26 of 31 for 336 yards and 4 TDs. The only incompletions he had my wife was calling for PI. She’s in midseason form. Of course, I’m calling holding on every big play against my picks’ defenses, so it’s an active household on Saturdays. What I want to really see Saturday is for No.57 to get in the game. Joe Donald III was an star linebacker at Mountain Brook High School and he pays his dues every week on the scout team. He was scout team player of the week 3 weeks in a row last season. What an awesome young guy as well. Respectful, sharp and fun. If the Tide can get a big lead maybe S will take out Lee and Markail Benton at inside linebacker and give J3 a shot. I know his parents, our great friends Joe (a.k.a. Bama Golf) and Mary would be very pleased and proud. Pulling for my man to get in there. The Tide tunes up for a trip to Columbia next Saturday (2:30 PM CT, CBS) to face the South Carolina Gamecocks, which suffered a highly disappointing loss to North Carolina last Saturday in Charlotte.
Alabama 63, New Mexico State 3
Murray State @ No.3 Georgia
3 PM CT
ESPN2
No Line
What kind of opponent is this? The Dawgs looked OK in handling Vanderbilt 30-6. D’Andre Swift ran for 147 yards and Brian Herrien added 65 yards and a TD. But Jake Fromm looked decent not great. I’m still not convinced he’s a championship quarterback. After watching Justin Fields demolish the Florida Atlantic defense last Saturday, Georgia is probably regretting not giving the former 5 star a chance to fill in for Fromm when he struggled. Fields looked spectacular throwing for 4 touchdowns and running for another. I always thought Kirby Smart should have given him a chance when things were going south at LSU last season and the Dawgs needed a lift. I’m not totally discounting Fromm, but I like Fields better.
Georgia 52, Murray State 3
Arkansas @ Ole Miss
6:30 PM CT
SEC Network
Tom Hart, JRodg, Cole
Ole Miss by 6
Both teams struggled out of the gate with the Rebels losing to Memphis at Memphis 15-10 and Arkansas slipping by Portland State, 20-13 (are you kiddin me?). I guess Matt Luke and the Rebels get it kind of together this week. There was such a big deal made out of Rich Rod as offensive coordinator and Mike McIntyre as defensive coordinator, both former head coaches, but what they were leaving out is they’re both Fired head coaches. Not sure they’ll fix the dysfunction that much in Oxford. But they can defeat a more dysfunctional Chad Morris coached team.
Ole Miss 28, Arkansas 21
West Virginia @ Missouri
11 AM CT
ESPN 2
Missouri by 14
Missouri lost last week at Wyoming which looks bad at first glance, but Wyoming is a pretty good team at home. The Cowboys won 37-31. Pretty good performance by Kelly Bryant though he still shows signs of inaccuracy throwing the ball. West Virginia looks to be rebuilding under former Troy coach and first year coach Neal Brown. They defeated James Madison last Saturday 20-13, so it might take Brown a year to get his program in place. He’s an excellent coach though and I see him getting the Mountaineers right in the thick of things for the Big 12 championship with Oklahoma and Texas in the future. But I like the Mizzou Tigers here.
Missouri 35, West Virginia 20
BYU @ Tennessee
6 PM CT
ESPN
Vols by 4
I think, I repeat, think, Jeremy Pruitt is a good coach. I was pretty sure before the Georgia State game last Saturday that he was a good coach, but I’m not totally positive now after his team lost 38-30. Pruitt needs a good performance this week. I like him to get it.
Tennessee 42, BYU 21
Vanderbilt @ Purdue
11 AM CT
Big Ten Network
Purdue by 7
Vanderbilt looked pretty pitiful on offense last Saturday, and Purdue lost to Nevada on the road. So both teams HAVE to have this. I like the Commodores to come back and for Ke’Shawn Vaughn, the Mamba, to take some carries to the house and for the defense to do enough for the Commodores to pull off the upset.
Vanderbilt 31, Purdue 28
No. 11 Florida 55, UT Martin 7
6:30 PM CT
ESPNU
There is no line for this one for obvious reasons. Nice opponent Dan.
Mississippi State 45, Southern Miss 24
2:30 PM CT
Duh U
State by 17
I like Bullies running back Kylin Hill a lot. Tommy Stevens, the Penn State transfer quarterback, has a shot to be good. To be determined.
Kentucky 41, Eastern Michigan 14
6:30 PM CT
SEC Network
Kentucky by 15
I’m not totally sold on Terry Wilson at quarterback. His accuracy is questionable, but he can be good and he can run. Kentucky has a pretty good team this year. I don’t know if there is as good as last year when they won 10 games, but they look pretty solid. Young on defense.
Charleston Southern @ South Carolina
11 AM CT
SEC Network
No Line
Will Muschamp is firmly on the hot seat after an almost inexplicable loss to UNC last week, a team that went 2-10 last year, like Georgia State I might add. Muschamp has lost starting quarterback Jake Bentley for a while with a broken foot. Muschamp will start true freshman Ryan Hilinski. The good news is Hilinski is a 6.0 4 star according to Rivals. So he’ll have a shot to get ready for the Crimson Tide next week in this game.
South Carolina 35, Charleston Southern 0
No. 4 Oklahoma 59, South Dakota 10
6 PM CT
No line
Jalen Hurts looks to have settled in quite nicely under Lincoln Riley. Hurts played almost the perfect game for the Sooners last Sunday Night in a 49-31 victory over Houston. He went 20-of-23 for 332 yards, 3 TDs and 0 ints. He also ran for 176 yards and 3 more TDs. Wow. Hurts looks ready to take the Sooners to a national championship level, but the big question for OU is will first year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch turns this defense into a serious defense or will it be the same old leaky OU defense. That’s the key to their season.
No. 5 Ohio State 30, Cincinnati 24
11 AM CT
ABC
Buckeyes by 16
Ohio State fans are more than thrilled to have a new coach and a new quarterback though Dwayne Haskins was pretty good last year under center. Ryan Day seems a lot like LIncoln Riley to me in that he can really coach quarterbacks. Justin Fields is the real deal, but I like Luke Fickell and his Bearcats to give the Buckeyes trouble. Fickell was the defensive coordinator in 2016 before getting the Cincy job in 2017. That helps his team and they’re coming off a pretty impressive 24-14 home victory over UCLA. I like the Bearcats to make this a serious ballgame.
No.7 Michigan 28, Army 21
11 AM CT
FOX
Jim by 22
I’m not sure Jim has that great of a team like some are saying. Shea Patterson is not an elite quarterback, at least under Jim. Army won 10 games last season and Jeff Monken said after their Armed Forces Bowl victory over Houston last year, that he had his best team coming back. I give Army a shot to make this a really good game.
Miami 28, North Carolina 17
7 PM CT
ACC Network (336 Charter Spectrum, 612 DirecTV)
Miami by 5
Mack Brown somehow managed to beat South Carolina last week and cried about it afterwards. He struggles this week.
No.18 UCF 48, Florida Atlantic 14
6 PM CT
CBS Sports Network
UCF by 10 1/2
UCF makes life even more miserable for Lane Kiffin and FAU.
No. 23 Stanford 17, USC 14
9:30 PM CT
ESPN
SC by 2 1/2
Both teams’ quarterbacks got knocked out last week. USC’s JT Daniels tore his ACL and his meniscus last Saturday against Fresno State so he’s done this season and Stanford’s K.J. Costello suffered a concussion in Stanford’s 17-7 victory over Northwestern. It was a real cheap shot by the Northwestern defensive player who should have been ejected but nothing was called. USC was victorious over Fresno State 31-23 at the Coliseum. They’re at home here but I like former 5 star junior Davis Mills to lead Stanford to victory over USC’s 5.7, 3 star true freshman Kedon Slovis.
Tonight
No. 24 Boise State 38, Marshall 35
8 CT
ESPN2
Boise State by 12 1/2
Broncos true freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier, the highest rated quarterback to ever sign with Boise State( he’s a 4 star) completed 30 of 51 passes for 407 yards and a TD in a 36-31 amazing come from behind victory over Florida State in Tallahassee. That begs the question, what is Willie Taggert doing down there. Totally dysfunctional team. But Marshall is a quality team as well. They were 9-4 last year and defeated South Florida 38-20 in the Gasparilla Bowl and won last week over VMI, 56-17. So I expect a high quality game here with the Broncos just getting by at Albertson’s Stadium in Boise.
Saturday
No. 14 Washington 31, Cal 14
9:30 PM CT
Fox Sports 1
Wash by 13 1/2
I don’t know if Washington has an elite team, but Georgia transfer Jacob Eason looks pretty good at quarterback for them. They do have good talent, so I’m not counting them out to be a contender for the final 4. For sure the Rose Bowl. I like them in the PAC 12.
Colorado 31, No. 25 Nebraska 28
2:30 PM CT
FOX
Nebraska by 4
Like former SEC coach Mel Tucker and his Buffs to knock off slight favorite Scott Frost and the Huskers.
No. 13 Utah 30, Northern Illinois 7
12 PM CT
PAC 12 Network
Utah by 21 1/2
The Utes have another solid team under Kyle Whittingham. They could very well win the south division of the PAC 12 and play Washington for the PAC 12 championship and at least a trip to the Rose Bowl. I’m not buying Oregon to win the PAC 12.
No. 17 Wisconsin 45, Central Michigan 10
2:30 PM CT
Big Ten Network
Whisky by 34
I watched the Badgers dismantle Charlie Strong and South Florida 49-0 at USF and it was impressive. Jonathan Taylor is a high quality back., Certainly one of the top 3 in the country.
Minnesota 31, Fresno State 27
9:30 PM CT
CBS Sports Network
Minnesota by 3
I went back and forth on this one but after watching both teams, I give the Golden Gophers a slight victory here.
No. 15 Penn State 52, Buffalo 10
6:30 PM CT
FOX
Penn State ny 30
James Franklin beats up on another opponent classlessly like he did last week when he defeated Idaho, 73-7. Nice work, James. Why don’t you play somebody and we’ll see what kind of team you have. Hope you don’t make a player who has a concussion play like you’re prone to do, per ESPN. ESPN reported that Franklin fired the team doctor because he wouldn’t let players who were injured to get on the practice field.