College Football Picks: Week 5

Can anyone beat Alabama? Will we see a top five team falter this week? I can guarantee a top nine team falters this week. OSU vs. Penn State, WVU vs. Texas Tech, Stanford vs. Notre Dame, Ole Miss vs. LSU and Oregon vs. California are just a handful of the good matchups we have this week.

#12 West Virginia vs. at #25 Texas Tech

A great big 12 showdown here. Will Grier (WVU) has 14 TDs with just 3 Interceptions. Tazhawn Henry (Texas Tech) has 6 touchdowns so far this year. The defense, where the Mountaineers are allowing just 12 points per game is where the difference lies (Texas Tech is allowing 28).

Virginia at NC State

NC State hasn’t really been tested yet: Marshall, Georgia State and JMU. UVA’s one test (Indiana) netted a 20-15 loss. I think Virginia’s rushing (averaging twice what NC State is) will be the difference here as Jordan Ellis leads the team with 5 touchdowns.

Florida St. at Louisville

Both teams are averaging more points against then for right now. I know FSU faced Virginia Tech and Syracuse but Louisville played Alabama (51-14 loss). Louisville has home field advantage where they are 2-1 this season. Florida State is 0-1 on the road.

#14 Michigan at Northwestern

Northwestern lost to Akron and Duke at home. Trust they will lose to the Wolverines too

Utah at Washington State

After the heated loss to USC last week, I am expecting Washington State to come out with a fire under their tail. Utah’s loss last week was to Washington who is possibly the best team in their conference so it’s more justifiable. Gardner Minshew has 11 TDs and 3 INTs for Washington State.

Florida at #23 Mississippi St

Florida’s coach Dan Mullen returns to his old team and you better believe they will be amped to win this one. The Bulldogs defense is the deciding factor in this shutting down Feleipe Franks. This defense limited each of their first four opponents to 10 points or less.

Virginia Tech at #22 Duke

Virginia Tech lost Josh Jackson to a broken bone, Duke’s Daniel Jones went down with a broken bone and now we have a battle of the backups. Duke is undefeated and the QB loss hurts tech more than Duke so the defensive difference (where I think Duke has the edge) has the Blue Devils winning

Iowa St. at TCU

Right after speaking highly of TCU, they lose. So I’m doubling down thinking they rebound from the rough Texas loss. Iowa State’s two losses are Iowa and Oklahoma

#4 Ohio St. at #9 Penn St.

The marquee matchup of the week. Heisman potential - Trace McSorley vs. Dwayne Haskins should be fun to watch. I give the Buckeyes the defensive edge and the win in this but Miles Sanders vs. the defense (without Nick Bosa) will be interesting.

South Carolina at #17 Kentucky

Is it bad that I’m picturing Benny Snell as the next NFL star running back (way too soon?). Will Muschamp is good at limiting opposing stars though so this could be a rough matchup. Jake Bentley and Deebo Samuel will test a Kentucky defense that shut down Mississippi State down last week. I’ve become a Wildcat believer though, Kentucky prevails.

#7 Stanford at #8 Notre Dame

I’m believing in Notre Dame for the foreseeable future, they look amazing. They have the home field and it looked like Ian Book helped in lieu of Brandon Wimbush. Tony Jones Jr. vs. a stiff Stanford Rushing defense will be interesting. Ultimately, Fighting Irish take this one.

#20 BYU at #11 Washington

Two solid defenses but Washington’s offense is stronger with Jake Browning and Aaron Fuller combo over Tanner Magnum and Squally Canada (potentially one of the best collegiate names). Man does BYU look good though, outside of the California loss. Huskies take it at home.

Mississippi at #5 LSU

Joe Burrow has been fantastic so far. Brosette and Edwards – Helaire are a great 1-2 punch in their running game. I trust in LSU’s win over Auburn more than any of Mississippi’s games. This game should be down to the wire which LSU has proved the fortitude to prevail in those games.

USC at Arizona

USC fresh off a great win over Washington State they face Arizona Khalil Tate with his 8 touchdowns so far this season and to me a deeper set of WR Corps (Poindexter, Ellison and Brown vs. St. Brown and Vaughns). J.J. Taylor is going to get a handful of touchdowns too.

#19 Oregon at #24 California

Maybe I’m naïve but I’m not a believer in California. They beat BYU who is somewhat up and down and lost to a UCLA team that I don’t think is good. Oregon will be hungry off that come back loss from Stanford last week