Week 4 Video & Picks
Last Week: 3-2
Season: 8-9
Off our first winning week of the season, let’s try to carry that momentum into this week, and channel our inner Coach Prime.
Florida State -2 (at Clemson)
This is the first time Clemson is a home underdog since 2016! Clemson has won 25 straight ACC home games! I don’t care about any of that, Florida State is the better team and I actually think they are going to whoop up on the Tigers. Don’t worry about last week’s debacle against Boston College. It was a conference road game, and it was the red bandanna game for BC. I think it was a wakeup call for FSU and they were probably looking ahead to this game anyway. The Seminoles have the quarterback edge in Jordan Travis. The top two Seminole wide outs have been spectacular, Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson have combined for 23 catches, 379 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns through the first 3 games. Coleman is averaging 14.2 yards per catch and Wilson is averaging 19 yards per catch! Where exactly is the Clemson offense supposed to come from? Tiger quarterback Cade Klubnik has been good against 2 terrible teams but he was less than stellar against Duke in the opener with the Tigers only scoring 1 touchdown and that was because of their defense creating a turnover inside the 20 yard line.
West Virginia +6 (home v. Texas Tech)
The West Virginia Mountaineers are a lot better than I thought coming into the season. Last Week’s win over Pitt was impressive and now they get to ride that momentum at home in their conference opener against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had a disastrous 0-2 start and then got to take out some aggression on Tarleton State last week. Not sure where Tech’s confidence is at, especially if they get down early on the road. Red Raider quarterback Tyler Shouch has had turnover problems so far this season and leads the Big XII in interceptions. I think this is a close game and I’ll take the home team getting points, what’s better than that?
Oregon State -3 (at Washington State)
This is the first ever meeting between these two schools with both teams being ranked! The Beavers haven’t won in Pullman since 2013. I think that ends this year. The Beaver defense is only allowing 11 points per game which ranks 11th in FBS. Oregon State running back has 100+ rush yards in 9 of his last 10 games and is averaging over 110 yards a game this season. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was awful last week with 2 interceptions so we will need him to play better on the road this week. Washington State has a dynamic offense led by quarterback Cam Ward, who is averaging 330 yards per game with a 9-0 touchdown to interception ratio. It’s dangerous taking a road favorite but I think this is a big spot for Coach Smith and the Beavers and I think they rely on that spectacular defense and the Beavers get it done in Pullman.
Texas Team Total Over 33.5 (@ Baylor)
Texas is averaging 34 points per game so far this season and I think they score at least 34 points this week against Baylor. I believe Sark holds stuff back for each conference opponent and I think that explains why this Longhorns offense hasn’t looked the part against Rice and Wyoming. Well I don’t think he’s going to hold stuff back this week as it is the conference opener. The Longhorns scored 36 points against Baylor last year and they didn’t even attempt a pass in the 4th quarter. Texas got in 12 personnel and ran over the Bears because Dave Aranda wants to keep 5 defensive backs on the field at all times. I can see Texas starting off in that same big personnel package this year and if the Bears don’t adjust, then Texas will run all over them again this year. Even if they do adjust, I think Texas has the advantage in the passing game because Baylor’s db’s are slow and can’t keep up with the Texas receivers so either way I think Texas has a big advantage on offense and we will see the Longhorns exploit the Baylor defense and score a lot of points.
Notre Dame +3 (home v. Ohio State)
The Buckeyes have won 5 in a row in the series. Notre Dame last win over Ohio State was in 1936! I think that changes this year. Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman has been special with a 13-0 touchdown to interception ratio. Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord has been to up and down so far this season and I think his inexperience shows in this game. Notre Dame running back Audric Estime leads the nation with 130.3 rushing yards per game. The Irish offense ranks 9th in FBS in points per game. The Irish defense has the 2nd best quarterback pressure rate in the nation at 48%. I think it’s a big day for the Irish .