Eastern Carolina +35 at UCF
Man, oh man. This game pits the best of the American Athletic Conference against it’s absolute worst. Funny thing is, Eastern Carolina isn’t a terrible football school. This is just a really, really, really bad time for them. How bad? Like the worst defense in college football-bad. The Pirates are giving up 47.8 points a game and allowing 600 yards a contest. The defense is very generous though, they’ll let opposing offenses run or pass against them at will. Very nice of them. It doesn’t get easier for Eastern Carolina as right now, one of the hotter teams in the nation UCF are waiting to pounce on them. UCF is number one in scoring offense this year at 47.5 points per game. The Knights are completing 70% of their passes and are averaging 5.8 yards a carry (which is ironically what Eastern Carolina allows per carry). UCF is also looking to show off new “space-themed jerseys” to honor NASA that look amazing that night. With a lot of big programs already at one-loss, and this UCF team looking like one of it’s best ever so far. The Knights will be looking to run up the score when they can because every little bit will count when Bowl Season comes along.
The Pick: UCF -35
N.C. State -12 at Pittsburgh
Pitt is just having a run of bad luck. And now, after losing to Syracuse last week, you can just tell this is a team that’s gotten in its own head. When you’re only wins come against Youngstown State and Rice people start to look at you differently. Then when you barely look competitive against good teams, those same people know exactly what you are. And this season, it’s just “not that good.” The former USC Trojan Max Browne is somehow making a 70% completion percentage on the season look less than spectacular and with no real playmakers on this offense its no wonder why they are number 169 when ranked among college offensive yards for the year. While Pitt is having a season to forget, N.C. State is having one to remember. The Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley has 10 touchdowns with zero interceptions so far this year and has a junior running back in Nyheim Hines who is averaging 5.3 yards a carry. N.C. State is a very good road team and in their last 6 road games they have gone 5-1 against the spread and there is no reason to believe that that trend will come to an end.
The Pick: N.C. State -12
Colorado -11 at Oregon State
It’s been a tough go for the Oregon State Beavers this season. Now that head coach Gary Anderson has parted ways with the university, this bad situation has gotten even worse. Anderson ripped the university and even admitted in text messages that were leaked that he hired the wrong people when it came to his staff. Yikes. The Beavers are 1-5, pretty much losing in blowout fashion, and their only win is a sad 3 point victory against the doormat we call Portland State. They are ranked 183rd in passing yards and 184th in rushing yards and defensively they are dead last in the Pac-12. Colorado comes into this game on a three-game losing streak, one of those losses comes at a blowout to Washington. Their last two losses have been by 4 points and 3 points (to UCLA and Arizona respectively). Colorado running back Philip Lindsay’s stat line for this season is impressive: 810 rushing yards, 5.4 yards a carry and 8 rushing touchdowns. Considering that the Beavers already allow 4.8 yards a carry and have allowed 16 rushing touchdowns already this should be, literally a walk in the park for Lindsay. Colorado quarterback Steven Montez has lost some confidence after throwing 3 picks to Washington’s tough defense in the Buffaloe’s blow out loss. He’s been slowly picking up the pieces and hopefully, last week’s 3 touchdown performance will turn things around. Colorado has three targets in Shay Fields, Devin Ross and Bryce Bobo who are all threats in the passing game and looked at often. All three wideouts have over 20 receptions and 300 yards so far this year. Oregon State is giving up nearly 70% completion percentage to opposing QB’s and if Montez’ focus is in the right place – it should be a breeze throwing another 3 touchdowns. Colorado is a team playing to get to that 6-win mark. It’s been a disappointing season for them and playing against a bad team whose coach just quit on them might be the right kind of recipe for Colorado to get back on track.
The Pick: Colorado -6
Four-Game Teaser of the Week: Michigan / Indiana Under 59.5; Colorado State -12.5; Ohio State -12.5 and Georgia -18
Good Luck and Wager Wisely!
G.W. Gras
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