Week 5 - The Best Games and My Top 5 Heisman Candidates

   (Rankings based off of AP Poll)

  1. (13) LSU @ (20) Ole Miss - LSU and Ole Miss started their SEC play last week, and had wildly different results. The Rebels had a good game going with Alabama, but after leading at the half, they were outscored 18-3 in the second half. LSU played a close game with Arkansas that came down to the wire. Kicker Damian Ramos kicked a 20 field goal with 5 seconds left. The Tigers picked off KJ Jefferson twice, one coming during the Hail Mary at the end of the game. Once again, Jayden Daniels was dominant. He threw for 320 yards and 4 touchdowns, while rushing for 36 yards. He did throw his second pick of the season, but he has 14 total touchdowns. He’s also thrown for 1,300 yards, 200 yards short of half of his 2022 numbers. Just like Daniels, Malik Nabers has another amazing game, grabbing 8 passes for a 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. Another wide receiver, Brian Thomas Jr., had 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nabers is 3rd in receiving yards and Daniels is 5th in passing yards. Daniels has the most rushes, at 45, and has 2 rushing touchdowns. Logan Diggs has 38 carries for 253 yards and a touchdown. The Tigers average around 340 pass yards per game. After Alabama’s loss to Texas and the offense looking subpar in the next two weeks, the SEC West has been blown wide open of LSU, which he didn’t think would happen after their week one loss. But in their way stands the Rebels from Oxford, coming off of a loss to Alabama. Last year, their main focus was the rushing game. Quinshon Judkins had 1,567 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Zach Evans had 936 rushing yards 9 rushing touchdowns. Even Jaxson Dart was active in the rushing game, with 614 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. So far this year, Jaxson Dart is their leading rusher with 219 yards, and Judkins is just behind him with 200 yards. Zach Evans left for the NFL, so Ulysses Bentley IV has been backing up Judkins. He has 15 carries first 91 yards and a touchdown. Bentley hasn’t really been that active in the rushing game, only getting one carry last week for 3 yards. He did catch 3 passes for 41 yards though. Judkins was banged up, but in snaps he’s played, you would expect him to average more than 4.3 yards per carry. Jaxson Dart has thrown for just under 1,100 yards, 7 touchdowns and 2 picks. Tack on the rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns, and Dart looks like one of the best SEC quarterbacks this year. His main target is Jordan Watkins, who has 24 catches for 347 yards and a touchdown. Dayton Wade has 16 catches for just over 300 yards and Tre Harris, although he’s been hurt, has 5 touchdown catches. He didn’t play against Alabama or Georgia Tech, so hopefully he will be able to play this week. Even though Ole Miss has a tough time running the ball, LSU allows 132.3 rush yards per game. They allow 228 pass yards, while Ole Miss throws for 323.5 yards per game. It’s going to be a dog fight between Ole Miss’ offense and LSU’s defense, but Harold Perkins Jr. and the rest of the defense stop Dart while Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers control the game in offense. LSU wins, 34-17. Odds: LSU -2.5, O/U 67.5
  2. (11) Notre Dame @ (17) Duke - Notre Dame is coming off a devastating loss at home to Ohio State, the Fighting Irish go to Durham to face the Blue Devils. College GameDay is also coming to Durham, and it’s going to be a fun time, just like any GameDay. Notre Dame has lost 2 straight GameDay’s, both of them coming against Ohio State. They are 3-5 in their last 8 GameDay’s while Duke has never hosted GameDay. Enough of the GameDay, stats, let’s get into the teams. Notre Dame, like I previously mentioned, is coming off a close loss to Ohio State. Marcus Freeman put 10 players in the field at the end to avoid a penalty, but Notre Dame allowed a touchdown on that play, losing the game. But before that, they were ranked number nine and were looking like a dark horse for the playoffs. The loss pushes them back to 11, but if they lose this game or another one, like to USC, they were be practically eliminated from the playoff. Sam Hartman has thrown a touchdown pass in 35 straight games, which is tied for the 7th longest streak in FBS history. Insane numbers from Hartman, but even crazier numbers come from Audric Estime, who leads FBS in rushing yards. Even though he’s played one more game than most backs, he has just under 600 yards and 5 touchdowns. Second closest is Nate Noel from App State, who has 542 yards. Hartman’s 14 passing touchdowns and backup Steve Angeli’s 2 passing touchdowns have been spread out, with 10 different receivers catching touchdowns. Tight End Holden Staes has caught 4 touchdowns and Jaden Greathouse has caught 3 and Chris Tyree has 2. Everybody else only has one. 7 different receivers have over 100 yards, which helps Sam Hartman in a big way, as he has 1,236 passing yards. The defense has a big task holding Riley Leonard, but their defense has been pretty good. They allow 260.6 yards per game, 111.2 being rushing, the rest being passing. Those are pretty low numbers, and combined with the fact that have allowed 64 points the whole season, Leonard will be in a world of hurt this week. Leonard has led Duke to a 4-0 start, an upset of Clemson, and for the first time Duke has won its first four games by 20 or more points. Leonard has thrown for 778 yards and only 2 touchdowns, but has rushed for 238 yards and 4 touchdowns. Running Back Jordan Waters is tied for the most touchdowns in the ACC, 7, which means he has 42 points. Those points are tied for 7th overall in FBS. Waters has 39 carries for 258 yards and the 7 rushing touchdowns. Duke is averaging 424.5 yards per game and 37.2 points per game. As good as this offense is, the defense is so much better. They allow 8.8 points per game, which is 4 in FBS. The most points they’ve allowed is 14 to Northwestern. That means the Northwestern scored more points against Duke than Clemson did. How insane is that? They let up only 133 rush yards per game and 143.3 pass yards per game. The defense has gotten 8 sacks and 4 picks. Defensive Coordinator Tyler Santucci is a defensive genius, and along with Mike Elko, they have turned this whole team around from 3-9 in 2021. Both of these teams have great running backs and quarterbacks, but Wallace Wade Stadium and all of Durham will be electric Saturday night. Notre Dame’s hard schedule started last week against Ohio State, and they play only 3 more teams that are 2-2 or worse, one of those teams being Clemson. Duke gets the win, 24-21. Odds: Notre Dame -5.5, O/U 52.5
  3. (10) Utah @ (19) Oregon State - This should be a fun Friday night game in Corvallis, as Jonathan Smith and the Beavers host Utah and their incredible defense. Starting with Utah, they beat UCLA for the 4th time since Chip Kelly has been coaching there. The defense got after true freshman Dante Moore, picking him off and returning it for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, forced a Moore fumble, and sacked him 7 times. Half of those sacks came from Jonah Elliss, who now has 5.5 sacks this season. The defense also had 11 tackles for loss, and the only touchdown allowed was with 3 minutes and 40 seconds remaining in 4th quarter. They also held UCLA to only 25 minutes and 32 seconds of offense, which makes it harder to score. On the season, they only allow 51 rush yards per game and the most points they have allowed is 13. They allowed 9 total rush yards last week due to the sacks to Moore, but if you cancel out Moore’s rushing stats, they allowed 60 rushing yards. This defense is fast, physical, and will get after you. I would be saying that Utah has another chance for the Pac-12 title, but when you offense is so bad, you won’t be able to put up points and keep up with teams like Oregon and Washington. Their offense only scored one touchdown last week, and the most points put up is 31, against Weber State, an FCS team. UCLA out gained them, had the same amount of offensive points as the Utes, and had only 2 less first downs than Utah. Obviously they didn’t have Cameron Rising, and he might not go for this game either. Nate Johnson started in his place, throwing for 117 yards and a touchdown, although he went 9/17. Johnson is a dual threat quarterback, but he ran it 14 times for 2 yards. The team had a total of 102 rushing yards, but they got there on 47 attempts. Unlike Utah, Oregon State’s offense has been clicking this season. DJ Uiagalelei and the Beavers were ranked 14th coming into the Washington State game. Uiagalelei struggled through the air and their defense folded, letting up 528 yards of total offense and 38 points. Oregon State was down 35-14 entering the fourth quarter, so I do have to give them props for almost completing the comeback. They fell 38-35, but only moved back 5 spots from 14 to 19. Uiagalelei went 17/34 for 200 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He ran the ball 9 times for 61 yards and a touchdown. He now has 828 passing yards, 12 total touchdowns and 3 picks. Uiagalelei has looked a little better than his days at Clemson, but is still somewhat inconsistent. But Oregon State’s offense focuses on running the ball more. Deshaun Fenwick had 11 carries for 101 yards and 3 touchdowns last week, while Damien Martinez had 17 carries for 81 yards. Fenwick now has 253 yards and 4 touchdowns this season, but Martinez is the leading rusher with 432 yards and only one touchdown. There are only two main receivers for Oregon State, that being Silas Bolden and Anthony Gould. Both have over 200 yards and Gould has 2 touchdowns while Bolden has one. Like I said before, the defense struggled against Washington State, and has struggled a lot this year, allowing 327 yards per game. You could blame the reason that Oregon State lost on Saturday is because Wazzu was their first real test, but Oregon State was slower and less physical. The defense should do well against Utah’s horrific offense, but the Utes’ defense overpowers the Oregon State offense. Utah wins, 24-17. Odds: Oregon State -4, O/U 43
  4. (24) Kansas @ (3) Texas - Texas is ranked 3rd and have a big chance to win the playoffs, but a very underrated Kansas team stands in their way. When Lance Leipold was hired to coach Kansas, they were coming off two 9 loss seasons, including not winning a game is 2020. Kansas went 2-10 in Leipold’s first season, but then started 6-0 last season. They lost the last 7 games of their season after Jalon Daniels got hurt. He came back, but they couldn’t win anymore games. Now Kansas has returned to the polls, and are undefeated. Texas is also undefeated, and are back. Lee by Heisman candidate Quinn Ewers, Texas upset Alabama among the road, and are atop the Big 12 standings and the AP Poll. Going back to Kansas, Jalon Daniels didn’t start week one due to injury, but he came back to thrash Illinois. and he’s thrown for 705 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 pick. Kansas won their first Big 12 game last week against BYU, and the defense picked off Kedon Slovis twice and forced a fumble. The fumble was returned for a touchdown, as was a interception. Daniels also threw 3 touchdowns, but only 130 yards. Running Back Devin Neal ran the ball 17 times for 91 yards, and now has just under 400 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also has 57 carries. Daniel Hishaw Jr. has 235 yards and 3 touchdowns on 33 carries. Another running back, Dylan McDuffie, has 20 carries, and Jalon Daniels has 27 carries. Between those four, Kansas has ran the ball 137 times, and it shows as they held the ball for 36 minutes and 40 seconds against Illinois. Their defense allows 22.8 points per game, and have forced 7 turnovers. The defense is going to have a tough task this week, as they face the 3rd ranked team in the nation, the Texas Longhorns. Quinn Ewers is the quarterback for the Longhorns, and is in the Heisman race. He’s thrown for 1,033 yards, 9 touchdowns, and hasn’t thrown a pick yet. Ja’Tavion Sanders is the leading receiver, with just 16 more yards than Xavier Worthy. Sanders has 268 yards and a touchdown, while Worthy has 252 yards and 3 touchdowns. Against Alabama, Worthy caught 2 touchdowns and Sanders had 114 yards. The main star receiver of that game was Adonai Mitchell. Henry caught 3 passes for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns. He hasn’t done much since, catching 6 balls for 76 yards and 0 touchdowns in the two games since. That’s because Texas has focused on the rushing game. Against Wyoming, Jonathan Brooks had 21 carries for 164 yards. Last week against Baylor, he had 18 carries for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ewers also had a 29 yard touchdown rush last week. Brooks has 379 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season. Regardless of if Texas runs or passes the ball more this game, the defense will get after Jalon Daniels, and add onto their 13 sacks, winning 34-16. Odds: Texas -16, O/U 61
  5. (8) USC @ Colorado - The Buffalos and the Trojans are set for a big Pac-12 clash this weekend. Colorado fell out of the rankings after being destroyed by Oregon. Arizona State kept USC on their toes last week, so it’ll definitely be an interesting way that both of these teams respond. Starting with USC, they were ranked 5th, but after a 42-28 win, they’ve fallen back to 8. Williams didn’t play bad, and he hasn’t all season. He has thrown for exactly 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also has 3 rushing touchdowns and no picks. He had 5 total touchdowns against ASU, but the defense was the problem. The Sun Devils were starting their backup quarterback, Drew Pyne. But the main  man that USC couldn’t stop was Cameron Skattebo. Skattebo threw 3 passes, completing 2 of them for 42 yards. He ran 20 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 4 passes for 79 yards and a receiving touchdown. The USC defense let up touchdowns of 15, 25, and 52 yards. They’ve let up just around 350 or more yards per game in every game, even though they let up 10 points to Stanford and 14 to Nevada. Alex Grinch has a lot to fix. They missed 14 tackles per Pro Football Focus last week, but someone who doesn’t need to fix much is Josh Henson, the offensive coordinator. The USC offensive unit averages 569.3 yards per game and average 55 points per game, which is 1st in FBS. You could say that they average that much because they’ve played not that hard off opponents, but I think that it’s because of the play of Williams and Wide Receivers Tahj Washington, Brenden Rice, and Freshman Zachariah Branch. Branch has the most catches on the team, with 13. However, Washington leads the team with yards with 278 and 4 touchdowns, while Rice leads the team in receiving touchdowns with 5. Running Back Marshawn Lloyd leads the team with 349 yards and 2 touchdowns. As for Colorado, they need to fix multiple things. Starting on offense, Shedeur Sanders has been sacked 22 times so far. Henry was sacked 7 times last week and 7 times against Nebraska. Last week was easily his worst. He went 23/33 for 159 yards and only one touchdown. Sanders now has 1,410 yards, 12 total touchdowns, and only one pick. He has been pretty much Colorado’s offense, because they cannot run the ball. They average 55.8 rush yards per game, but 353.3 passing yards per game. The leading rusher, Dylan Edwards, has 156 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. He has 169 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. When your leading rusher has more receiving yards than rushing, you know you have a problem. You could chalk it up to their offensive line woes, which I agree with. Defensively, Oregon torched them. They let up 42 points, but other than the Nebraska game, they’ve let up a lot of points. Shilo Sanders, Cam’Ron Silman-Craig, and others have been good, but as a whole unit, they have some issues. Sanders is questionable for this game, which will be an even bigger blow to this defense. Both of these teams put up points, but USC can run the ball a lot better than Colorado, so they win 48-42. Odds: USC -21.5, O/U 73
  6. (22) Florida @ Kentucky - For 31 straight years, Florida won 31 games against the Wildcats. But the tide has turned. Kentucky has won 3 of the last 5, including the previous two matchups. Florida Wide Receiver Ricky Pearsall has a bid for catch of the year, while Kentucky Quarterback Devin Leary and Running Back Ray Davis have one of the best touchdowns you will ever see. Florida started their season with a big time loss to Utah, but have bounced back nicely with an upset win over Tennessee in the Swamp. Graham Mertz has been solid, throwing for 951 yards, 4 touchdowns and only 1 interception. Henry also has 2 rushing touchdowns. His main target is Ricky Pearsall, who had the amazing catch last week in a win over Charlotte. He has 26 catches, the next closest is Eugene Wilson III, who has 12. Pearsall has 392 yards, the closest is once again Wilson, who has 104 yards. Pearsall also has one touchdown, which is tied with 3 others. They have a two very good running backs, Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson Jr., both have 45+ carries and at least 2 touchdowns. Johnson Jr. has 3 touchdowns, while Etienne only has 2. Etienne has more carries, only 3, and 118 more yards, with 329 yards. Johnson Jr. has 211. The defense is also insanely good, only letting up 245 yards per game, but 162.8 of that is passing, which is not a lot at all. Even though they were supposed to destroy Charlotte, they lost two fumbles, which is a thing they didn’t do against Tennessee. As for Kentucky, their defense ate last week. They picked off AJ Swann 3 times, two of them going back for touchdowns from  Maxwell Hairston. The offense, specifically Devin Leary, struggled in the 45-28 win. If you take away the defensive touchdowns, that’s a 31-28 win over a team whose only wins were against Hawaii and Alabama A&M. That’s not good. Leary went 15/29 for 205 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 picks. Leary now has 1,060 yards, 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. In his 2021 campaign, the best season of his career, he threw 5 picks the whole season, and Leary has now matched that through the first four. Ray Davis has been a bright spot for this offense, with 50 carries for 314 yards and 5 touchdowns. His 50 carries are 6 in the SEC, but he also has 10 receptions for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensively, Linebacker Trevon Wallace leads the team in total tackles, with 25, sacks, with 3.5, and tackles for loss, with 4. Hairston had the two picks last week, but has 3 on the season. Both of them have a forced fumble. Both of these teams can run the ball and pass when needed to, but the Gators are Swamp Kings, and they get the 27-17 win after Devin Leary once again struggles. Odds: UK -1, O/U 44.5
  7. Texas A&M Vs Arkansas - This might not be the south’s oldest rivalry, but it is one of the best. Nicknamed the Southwest Classic, the rivalry started back in 1903, and after being in different conferences for a while, these two teams have been going at it  every year since 2009. Texas A&M have won every match up except for 4 since they started to play every year again back in 09. The first 3 years back, however, went to Arkansas, so that means that A&M have won 9 of the last 10. The only loss was in 2021 losing 23-21. But for this year, Arkansas is coming off 2 losses to ByU and LSU, while Texas A&M have bounced back in a big way since the Miami loss. Starting with the Aggies, they suffered a huge loss Miami in week two, 48-33. They came back by blowing out ULM and then winning their first SEC game this season against Auburn, 27-10. However, Quarterback Conner Weigman left the Auburn game with an ankle injury. He is out for the season, so  Max Johnson will step in, and based off of last week, he will play pretty well. Johnson went 7/11 for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including one to his brother, Jake Johnson. In his 2021 season at LSU, Johnson threw for 2,815 yards and 37 touchdowns. Obviously it’s a different offense, but if he can put up the numbers for however long he has to play, A&M might have a chance at making it to Atlanta. Texas A&M also has phenomenal wide receivers, like Evan Stewart, who’s caught 22 passes for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns. Players like Ainias Smith, Noah Thomas, and Jahdae Walker are great as well. Thomas has 4 touchdowns while Smith has 272 yards. Even though A&M is primarily a passing team, last week they ran the ball extremely well. 209 rushing yards on 33 rushes, 97 yards coming from Le’Veon Moss, who also had a touchdown. Amari Davis had only 5 rushes, but capitalized off those carries to get 85 yards. The defense only let up 56 passing yards, and held Auburn to 200 total yards. Texas A&M also got 7 total sacks. The defense lets up around 110 rush yards per game, which is going to be tough to do against KJ Jefferson and the Hogs. Star Running Back Raheim Sanders hasn’t played since the opening game, when he suffered a knee injury. He won’t be able to go for this game, and backups AJ Green and Rashod Dubinion have rushed for a combined 364 yards. Green has 31 carries for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Dubinion has 41 carries for 174 yards and one touchdown. KJ Jefferson leads the team in carries with 47, and he has 128 yards and one touchdown.  Jefferson has thrown for 918 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 3 picks. 2 of his picks came last week in the close loss to LSU, but Jefferson also threw for 3 touchdowns. One of those interceptions was on the last play of the game when Jefferson threw a Hail Mary, so he basically has 2 touchdowns on the year. The Razorbacks lost on a last second field goal, which marks the second week in a row where Arkansas lost while scoring 31 points. 2 weeks ago against BYU, Arkansas committed multiple penalties on their last drive of the game, while they were deep in BYU territory. Arkansas needs to run the ball if they want to win, and that will help with taking the ball out of A&M’s hands. Even so, A&M’s defense is to good, and those great recruiting classes pay off, as the Aggies win 31-21. They continue the dominance in this rivalry since 2009. Odds: Texas A&M -6, O/U 53.5
  8. Louisville @ N.C. State - This is the second Friday game in his list, but not the last. The Cardinals are one of the 6 undefeated teams in the ACC, while the Wolfpack are one of two 3-1 teams. Starting with Louisville, they have played their first 4 games under Jeff Brohm, and it’s been pretty good. As I stated earlier, they are undefeated, but have close wins over Indiana and Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech isn’t bad, but Indiana is horrible. Jack Plummer, who played for Brohm when they were both at Purdue, has thrown for 1,120 yards, 10 touchdowns and 4 picks. He has also ran for 100 yards and a rushing touchdown. He’s a fearless leader, and we saw it last week as he had 6 total touchdowns and 390 total yards in the 56-28 win over Boston College. Running Back Jawhar Jordan has 50 carries for 478 yards and 6 touchdowns. Jordan leads the ACC in rushing yards and is tied for the most touchdowns in the ACC that’s not a quarterback. Plummer is 3rd in the conference for passing yards as well. The offense is electric, as their leading receiver, Jamari Thrash has 409 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, as both of those are second in the ACC. The Cardinals put up 542 yards per game, and average 43 points per game. A big reason why is Brian Brohm, Jeff Brohm’s younger brother. He had average offenses at Purdue, but has exploded this year. NC State has had a tough time stopping opponents, as they let up 45 points to Notre Dame and 384 yards to Virginia. Focusing on the Virginia game, Virginia is very bad, so this is not good for the Wolfpacks defense. They did nab two picks, but only won by 3. Brennan Armstrong, the Virginia transfer, went 15/30 for 180 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 pick. On the season, he’s thrown for 859 yards, 5 touchdowns to 4 picks. Armstrong, like his name suggests, has a strong arm. In 2021, he threw for 4,448 yards, 31 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He had a different offensive coordinator in 2022, which made his numbers worse, but his offensive coordinator from 2021, Robert Anae, is the offensive coordinator for NC State this year. However, Armstrong hasn’t been able to get it clicking. Armstrong does lead the team in rushing yards with 225, and 3 touchdowns off 52 carries. There’s really only one receiver for NC State as well, and that’s Kevin Concepcion, who’s caught 22 passes for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns. NC State’s record is tricking you, but they play this one close, losing 34-27. Odds: Louisville -3.5, O/U 56.5
  9. Clemson @ Syracuse - Like I stated in the last game, there are 6 undefeated teams in the ACC. One of those teams is the Syracuse Orange. One team that isn’t on the43 that’s been there a lot is the Clemson Tigers. Starting with Clemson, they were embarrassed on the road against Duke in week one, bounced back pretty nicely in weeks 2 and 3, but lost a close one to Florida State last week. Cade Klubnik lost a key fumble that was returned for a touchdown last week. Florida State won 31-24, so if Klubnik didn’t lose the fumble, Clemson might’ve won this game. Clemson held the ball for 34 minutes and 36 seconds, out gained and had more first downs than Florida State by a lot,  ran the ball better, and were just an all around better team in that game. However, Florida State pushed the game to overtime, and Cade Klubnik could not get it done in overtime. That’s what Dabo gets though when he puts a kicker that’s never kicked a field goal in a college game before to kick the game winner. With that loss, Clemson has practically no chance at making it to playoffs or the ACC championship after what we’ve seen from the conference so far this year. Klubnik has thrown for just under 1000 yards, 9 touchdowns and 2 picks. Henry also ran for 2 touchdowns. This offense is very balanced, and we’ve seen pretty good ball outside of the first 6 quarters for the Tigers. Will Shipley has 54 carries for 292 yards and 1 touchdown. He hit pay dirt 15 times last year on the ground, and has only gotten in 3 times, two through the passing game. It is shaping up to be his best receiving year, as he has just under 100 yards through 4 games. He hasn’t gotten a receiving touchdown in 2021 or 2022, and had 242 receiving yards last year. When Clemson wants a rushing touchdown, they go to Phil Mafah. He has 3 touchdowns off 35 carries and 235 yards. Defensively, they allow 263.8 yards per game, and have out gained all of their opponents, including Duke. The defense has been pretty good outside of the Duke game, but they are going to have trouble stopping Garrett Shrader and the Syracuse offense. After Running Back Sean Tucker left for the NFL, Lequint Adams was supposed to take on most of the rushing duties. He’s done phenomenal, with 61 carries, 311 yards and 6 touchdowns. However, he’s not even the leading rusher. That’s the quarterback, Garrett Shrader has 46 carries for 316 yards and also has 6 touchdowns. A bulk of his rushing numbers came from the Purdue win, when he ran the ball 25 times for 195 yards and 4 touchdowns. He ran the ball for 50 yards and another touchdown last week against Army. Shrader’s passing stats are 972 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 picks. he’s the reason why the Orange offense puts up 507.8 yards per game and are undefeated. The defense has been solid, allowing just under 90 rushing yards per game. Shrader and Syracuse face their real first test against Clemson, and the more battle tested Tigers win, 24-17. Odds: Clemson -7, O/U 53
  10. South Carolina @ (21) Tennessee - South Carolina took Tennessee to Rocky Bottom last year in Columbia, but this year it’s Rocky Top. The Vola suffered a devastating loss to Florida in the Swamp, which is pretty bad because I though that coming into the season, even with all the talent that left for the NFL, that Tennessee would be the only team to compete with Georgia in the SEC East. Joe Milton III has played really well, throwing for 925 yards, 8 touchdowns and a pick. He’s also ran for four touchdowns. Losing both Cedric Tillman and Jalin Hyatt definitely hurts, as Milton won’t have two dependable targets, but Ramel Keyton, Squirrel White, and Bru McCoy have stepped up in big ways, all with 170+ receiving touchdowns. Keyton also has 3 touchdowns. The dual running backs have worked, with Jaylen Wright having 45 carries for 312 yards and Jabari Small with 42 carries, 258 yards and a touchdown. Most of their running touchdowns have came from Dylan Sampson, who has 5 touchdowns and 200 yards. Milton also has the 4 previously mentioned rushing touchdowns. Defensive Lineman Tyler Baron has 4 sacks, and the team has 16 total sacks. The secondary only has 3 picks, which is something that they have to do this week if they want to win. They’re going to get sacks, Spencer Rattler has been sacked 16 times this season, but Rattler has only thrown 2 picks. The offensive line is so bad, that South Carolina has the worst rush yards per game and total rush yards in the SEC. As a team, they have 303 rushing yards. The next closest in the conference is Kentucky, who have 526 rush yards. The leading rusher is Mario Anderson, who has 34 carries for 129 yards and a touchdown. Dakereon Joyner has 38 carries for 99 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Rattler has 32 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown. They have the sixth worst rushing average as a team. Star Wide Receiver Xavier Legette is a bright spot, as he’s caught only 27 passes, but has 556 yards and 3 touchdowns. Both of these teams can throw the ball, but Tennessee can run it, so they win 37-21. Odds: Tennessee -11.5, O/U 60
  11. West Virginia @ TCU - One electric offense and two bad defenses. It fits Big 12 football. Starting with West Virginia, they are 3-1 after a loss to Penn State back in week one. They win their rivalry game against Pitt, but Quarterback Garret Greene was injured. He is still day-to-day with that injury. In his place is Nicco Marchiol, who’s thrown for 213 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 picks. Both of his picks came last week in the 20-13 win. Marchiol only threw for 78 yards, but after the Pitt game and the playing time he got in week 2, he has the 213 yards. He led WVU in rushing last week, with 15 carries for 72 yards. Marchiol has been inconsistent, with a 56.8 completion percentage. Running Back CJ Donaldson Jr. has 64 carries for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Jaylen Anderson has 36 rushes for 125 yards and a touchdown. This team is incredibly mid, averaging 348.5 yards per game and allowing 311 yards per game. They only had an offensive explosion in one game, which was against Duquesne. They face an a lot more interesting TCU team, led by Chandler Morris. Morris has thrown for 1,121 yards and 9 touchdowns, but has thrown 3 picks. He’s also ran for 2 touchdowns. TCU also lost in week one, to Colorado. Morris didn’t play bad that game, but the defense let up 45 points. They’ve been pretty good on defense since, letting up 6 points to Nicholls, 13 points to Houston and 17 to SMU. They’ve had a pretty hard non-conference schedule other than the Nicholls game, and the Houston win gives them a jumpstart in the Big 12. Emani Bailey leads the Big 12 in both carries, with 81, and yards with 483. He does only have 2 rushing touchdowns, but has had back to back touchdown games. Morris spreads the ball out pretty evenly, with JP Richardson, the leading receiver, only having 14 catches for 185 yards and no touchdowns. Defensively, they have 16 sacks and 5 picks, but allow 377.5 yards per game. TCU is a little more exciting and has a better offense, so they get the 34-20 win. Odds: TCU -13.5, O/U 52
  12. Cincinnati @ BYU - Both of these teams are new to the Big 12, and while BYU has a win over a SEC team, they lost their first Big 12 game, just like Cincinnati. Cincy got embarrassed last week in their Big 12 home opener to Oklahoma, while BYU has their Big 12 home opener this week. The Bearcats lost 20-6, turned the ball over 2 times, and ever since week one, this offense has not looked good at all. In week one, Emory Jones had 7 total touchdowns, 5 of them being passing. He now has 7 passing touchdowns and 3 rushing touchdowns. In the past 2 weeks, he hasn’t thrown a touchdown. On the year, he has 970 yards, 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He also has 186 rushing yards. This is his third team in three years, so he hasn’t been able to get much going under 3 different offenses. Cincy runs the ball very well,  as Corey Kiner has 57 carries for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jones’ top receiver, Xzavier Henderson, has 23 catches for 340 yards and a touchdown. Braden Smith and Dee Wiggins are pretty close to 200 yards,  while Smith has 2 touchdowns and Wiggins has one. They started out 2-0, but lost to Miami of Ohio and Oklahoma, while allowing 425 yards to the Sooners. They allow 336.8 yards per game, which is probably going to increase even more against BYU’s high flying offense. Kedon Slovis has thrown for 1,017 yards, 8 touchdowns and 3 picks, while also having 3 rushing touchdowns. This is also Slovis’ third team in 3 years , but it seems like he has things clicking so far this year. BYU averages 263.5 pass yards per game, but only 61 rush yards per game. That’s just slightly better than Colorado and slightly worse than South Carolina, which really puts it into perspective. The Cougs turned the ball over 3 times last week, but just barely out gained Kansas in the loss. In the narrow win over Arkansas, the Razorbacks put up  143 more yards than BYU, but BYU still won. The defense was torched in that game, and was torched by Kansas too. Cincy’s offense, even though they only put up 6 points last week, still had 376 yards. They should beat up BYU’s defense, but this game is going to show us a lot about these two teams. Cincinnati gets the close win, 27-20. Odd: BYU -1, O/U 49
  13. Iowa @ Michigan State - Iowa’s offense is so bad, it makes the Broncos look good. Last week against Penn State, in the white out, they ran 33 plays to Penn State’s 97. The drive for 325 has been stalled at 85, after being shut out at Penn State. They fell out of the rankings, and need to do a better job at controlling the ball, as Penn State held the ball for 45 minutes. They lost 4 fumbles, went 1-9 on third downs and only had 4 first downs. I can’t even go in to detail without being and, and I’m not even an Iowa fan. It’s just bad. I know Kirk Ferentz doesn’t want to fire his son, Brian Ferentz, but if they don’t get the drive for 325, or average 25 points per game and get 7 wins, he will have too. Iowa looked like a peewee football team out there last week, but hopefully it will change. Another team that looked like a peewee team last week was Michigan State, but we’ll get to them soon. All Iowa does is produce offensive linemen and tight ends for the NFL, and it looks like it will continue as Tight End Luke Lachey is Iowa’s leading receiver, with 10 catches for 131 yards. Iowa’s wide receivers have a combined 14 catches through 4 games. That is so bad. Cade McNamara has looked subpar, as he’s thrown for 459 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He also boasts a 50.6 completion percentage. I would say their defense is good, but they couldn’t hold Penn State, Iowa State, or Utah State, all of which out gained them. They’re lucky they won those first 3 games because if they dropped at least one more, I don’t think they would make a bowl game as they have Wisconsin, Purdue and Minnesota coming up, all of which are able to play them close and even beat them. I said earlier that Michigan State was playing like a peewee football team last week, but it stretches to week 3 as well. But first, Mel Tucker was fired with cause on Wednesday, which was needed, but under Harlon Barnett, they’ve been blown out twice. Getting blown out to Washington is acceptable, they’ve done it all season, but to Maryland? Maryland is good but not beating MSU 31-6 good. The Spartans lost the ball 5 times, 3 of them being interceptions. Noah Kim has thrown for 897 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 picks so far, and was replaced last week, but will remain the starting quarterback. As for running the ball, they have the third worst rush yards per game in the Big Ten, only ahead of Indiana and Northwestern, the 2 worst teams in the conference. They haven’t been able to get anything going on defense the last two weeks, allowing a combined 72 points, while only putting up 13. Both of these team’s offenses are bad, and after last week both defenses look bad. It’s going to be close, but not an exciting game. Iowa does win though, 13-9. Odds: Iowa -10.5, O/U 36.5
  14. Louisiana @ Minnesota - Usually I would not have this game in the top 25, because Minnesota would destroy Louisiana. But something changed last week. Minnesota was up 31-10, but lost 37-34 to Northwestern. Athan Kaliakmanis went 14/19 for 153 yards, 2 touchdowns and 34 rushing yards. On the year Kaliakmanis has struggled, throwing for 600 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 picks. He also has a 55.1 completion percentage. The Gophers offense might average 341 yards per game, but they only average 150 pass yards per game. They can run the ball very well, Darius Taylor has 87 carries, 532 yards and 4 touchdowns. Taylor has the most rushing yards in the Big Ten, and the third most in the country. He also has the most carries in the conference. Minnesota only has 8 players who have caught a ball, but 3 of them have 3 or less catches. Defensively, they’ve looked pretty good, with 11 sacks and 6 picks. They let up a lot of yards, and the past two weeks they’ve let up 31 and 37 points. In the first two weeks, they allowed 10 points to Nebraska and 6 to Eastern Michigan. The offense has always been lackluster, but the defense has been blown open the past two weeks, so the Ragin’ Cajuns will definitely try to do the same as Northwestern and North Carolina. Louisiana has a pretty even offense, so Minnesota has to let in on both offense and defense. They average 241.3 pass yards per game and 237.3 rush yards per game. Last week in a close 45-38 win over Buffalo, Zeon Chriss threw for 249 yards, while the team ran for a combined 269 yards. Chriss threw one touchdown and 2 picks as well. Chriss was starting in place for Ben Wooldridge, who suffered a lower leg injury against UAB. Chriss has now thrown for 423 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 picks. Not bad, not good, but he’s also ran the ball 18 times for 186 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns, the most on the team. Jacob Kibodi leads the team in rushing yards, however, with 311 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also leads the team in carries with 33. That leads to 9.4 yards per rush. They let up 337 yards per game and 27.5 points per game, while the fewest amount of points they’ve let up is 13 in week one, but that was to an FCS team. UL has the 5th most average rush yards in the country as well. At the end of the day, Minnesota is the better team, and they win 17-13. Odds: Minnesota -11, O/U 49
  15. Virginia @ Boston College - Both of these teams are the worst in the ACC, with Boston College being 1-3 and Virginia winless. Starting with Virginia,  they were blown out against Tennessee and Maryland, blew a lead to James Madison, and lost by 3 last week to N.C. State. Starting Quarterback Anthony Colandrea is having a weird season. He’s thrown for 923 yards, 5 touchdowns and 6 picks. He is only a freshman, so he has time to improve, but as of right now, he’s having a Jameis Winston 30-for-30 type season. The offenses averages for yards has been boosted by Colandrea’s passing numbers, as they average 333.5 yards per game. 254.3 of those are pass yards, so 79.3 are rush yards. That’s only slightly better than South Carolina, who I ripped on their bad rushing game earlier. It’s the worst rushing yards per game in the ACC and they have the least rush yards in the whole conference. They have the second shortest longest rush, with the longest that they have is 22, while NCSU’s longest rush is 21. There’s only two main targets in the passing game, Malik Washington and Malachi Fields. Washington has 28 catches for 459 yards and 3 touchdowns. Fields has 22 receptions for 267 yards. The next closest to Fields in yards is Running Back Kobe Pace, who has 3 more receiving yards than rushing yards. He has 100 rushing yards, so 103 receiving yards. He also has 2 receiving touchdowns, so one more receiving touchdown than rushing. Defensively, they have 5 sacks, 3.5 of them coming from Kam Butler. They let up 418.5 yards per game, which Boston College will definitely destroy, as they average 400.3 yards per game. BC’s only win is by 3 points over Holy Cross, and they lost by 3 to NIU, 2 to Florida State, and were destroyed 56-28 last week against Louisville. The first 3 games were close, and the only reason they lost to Florida State is because they committed a school record 18 penalties. Thomas Castellanos has thrown for 909 yards, 8 touchdowns, 2 picks, and has ran for another 3 touchdowns and 280 yards. Henry has a pretty bad completion percentage of 57.3%. Speaking of Castellanos, he leads BC in rushing yards, and has the same amount of attempts as Running Back Kye Robichaux has 51 carries for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lewis Bond has 16 catches for 246 yards, and 4 touchdowns. As much yards and points as the offense puts up the defense lets up even more. IN average, they let up 35.5 points per game and 416 yards per game. 582 yards to Louisville, 350 yards to FSU, Homy Cross nearly out gained them, as they put up 384 yards and 338 yards to NIU. Both of these teams are either going to put up little points or a lot of points. I think it will be the former, but Boston College gets the win at home, 14-9. Odds: Boston College -3.5, O/U 52.5
  16. Houston @ Texas Tech - Houston is new to the Big 12, while Texas Tech has been in the Big 12 since 1996. Starting with Houston, they are 2-2 after losses to Rice and TCU, but they bounced back nicely last week, blowing out Sam Houston. Donovan Smith is facing his former team this week, as he had 19 total touchdowns last year. So far, Smith has thrown for 1,012 yards, 5 touchdowns, but 3 picks. He’s also ran for 3 touchdowns.  His top target is Samuel Brown, who has 24 catches for 405 yards, but no touchdowns. Matthew Golden has 22 receptions for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns. Houston hasn’t ran the ball well, with the leading rusher being Parker Jenkins, who has 28 carries for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, Nelson Ceaser has been phenomenal, with 3.5 sacks and 4 tackles for loss. The team also has 6 picks, half of them coming from Malik Fleming. Houston has been out gained in every game except for last week, including their week one win over UTSA. They’re going to have to stop Texas Tech this week if they want to get their first Big 12 win. It’s going to be easier than normal, as Behren Morton will get the start as Tyler Shough is injured. Tahj Brooks is going to make it easier on Morton, as he’s been electric, with 62 rushes for 417 yards and a touchdown. Texas Tech is 1-3, with losses to Wyoming, a close one to Oregon and a 7 point loss to West Virginia last week. Their only win is against an FCS school, but they do have to pay themselves on the back for being in a close game with Oregon, but when you turn the ball over 4 times, you can’t expect to win, especially against a great team like Oregon. Defensively, they’re a little bit better than Houston, only allowing 347.5 yards per game. Texas Tech was a dark horse to win the Big 12 in the preseason, but they have looked underwhelming. They do prevail, winning 24-16. Odds: Texas Tech -8.5, O/U 52
  17. (2) Michigan @ Nebraska - This is Michigan’s first real test, but when someone plays Nebraska, they are probably going to steamroll. Starting with Nebraska, in two games Heinrich Haarberg has thrown for 278 yards, 4 touchdowns, and is Nebraska’s leading rusher with 42 carries, 272 yards and 2 touchdowns. Anthony Grant is the leading running back, with 38 carries, 208 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jeff Sims was horrible in the first two games, but after suffering an injury to Colorado, he’s ready to return. Matt Rhule said that both quarterbacks might play, so we’ll see. Nebraska’s defense has allowed 46.3 rush yards per game, which is going to be tough to do this week against Blake Corum and Michigan. As for Michigan, they’ve been dominant all season. Even when JJ McCarthy played bad, like against Bowling Green, Blake Corum has stepped up. Corum has 351 yards and 8 touchdowns. McCarthy has thrown for 915 yards, 8 touchdowns and 3 picks. All of the interceptions came in the win against Bowling Green, when he went 8/13 for 143 yards, 2 touchdowns and the aforementioned picks. Michigan also allows very few rush yards, only allowing 80 per game. JJ McCarthy has to play well if Michigan wants once against dominant, but we saw this with both the Bowling Green and Rutgers games, when he played bad or were down early, but the team eventually prevailed and won. It’s a team game, not an individual. Michigan wins, 34-20. Odds: Michigan -18, O/U 40
  18. Indiana @ Maryland - He might not have a game like his brother, but Taulia Tagovailoa will play lights out against the worst Big Ten team. Don’t let Indiana’s 2-2 schedule trick you, they went to 4 overtime’s with what might be the worst MAC team, Akron. Their other win was against Indiana State, an FCS team. They had that weird opening game loss to Ohio State, and lost by 7 to Indiana. Maryland is trying to start 5-0 for the first time since 2001. Tagovailoa has thrown for 1,112 yards 8 touchdowns and 3 picks. Maryland has blown out every opponent they’ve played, and the closest game they played was against Charlotte, winning 38-20. The Maryland offense averages 450.5 yards per game, while Indiana averages 337.5 yards per game. Starting quarterback for Indiana is Tayven Jackson, who’s thrown for 749 yards, but only 2 touchdowns and 2 picks. There’s not much to talk about with Indiana, other than they should not go to 4 overtimes against Akron, and for Maryland, they’re playing g very well, beating up in Michigan State last week. Maryland steam rolls,  35-10. Odds: Maryland -14.5, O/U 50
  19. (6) Penn State @ Northwestern - Penn State was dominant last week in the 31-0 win over Iowa, while Northwestern came back to win against Minnesota. Starting with Penn State, they held the ball for 45 minutes last week, and only allowed 76 total yards last week. Iowa also turned the ball over 4 times last week, while Penn State put up 400 yards and 28 first downs. Drew Allar went 25/37 for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns, which is definitely a weird stat line, but 4 passing touchdowns is 4 passing touchdowns.  On the year, Allar has thrown for 903 yards and 8 touchdowns, while he has no picks. The two amazing running backs for Penn State, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, have a combined 483 yards. Allen has 280 of those, but Singleton has 5 rushing touchdowns to Allen’s 2. Beau Pribula has made an impact in the rushing game, with 28 carries for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns. He’s also the backup quarterback. Keandre Lambert-Smith has been a huge impact in the passing game, with 21 catches for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tight End Tyler Warren leads the team in receiving touchdowns with 4. Penn State has one of the best defenses, only allowing 138 passing yards and have allowed 35 points in 4 games. They picked off Luke Altmyer 4 times 2 weeks ago, and have 6 forced fumbles as a team. They are going to shut down Ben Bryant and Northwestern, but if Northwestern can comeback like they did last week, it’ll be interesting. Northwestern has slowly getting better and better, which we saw last week. Ben Bryant, the Cincinnati transfer, has thrown for 804 yards and 6 touchdowns, while throwing 3 picks. He had the best game of his career last week, going 33/49 for 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. Northwestern’s defense, however, was not as good last week. They let up 400 yards of total offense to a bad offense, that being Minnesota. They were also down 31-10 at one point. Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton should destroy the Northwestern defense, and they win 34-10. Odds: Penn State -26.5, O/U 47
  20. (1) Georgia @ Auburn - It’s the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, but recently it hasn’t felt like a rivalry. The Dawgs have won 6 straight, including the 2017 SEC Championship Game. They’ve won 9 of the last 10 as well. Georgia’s number one in the country, and have won two straight national championships, which everybody knows. But they’ve been damaged by injuries, as Ladd McConkey hasn’t touched the field yet. McConkey caught 58 passes for 762 yards and d 7 touchdowns last year. They have also lost Running Back Branson Robinson, who was supposed to take a big step up this year. Tack on that this is Georgia’s first road game and that they’ve haven’t put up more than 10 points in the first quarter, so Auburn needs to get off to a fast start. The defense has been good for Georgia, and the team has looked pretty good except for the first half of the South Carolina game. As for Auburn, Hugh Freeze’s first year has been interesting. They went undefeated in non-confrence play, but two of their wins were against either a FCS team or a very bad FBS team. The other game that I didn’t talk about was the 14-10 win over Cal.  It was a messy game, with 7 total turnovers between the two teams, and Auburn turned the ball over 4 times. The Tigers started SEC play last week, and were destroyed by Texas A&M. Auburn had 56 total passing yards, and went 3-15 on 3rd downs. The defense and offense were bad, and that was their first real test. I think Auburn gets it going early, but fall apart and Georgia wins 45-14. Odds: Georgia -14.5, O/U 45
  21. (12) Alabama @ Mississippi State - Alabama has had some offensive struggles, while Mississippi State has also had some struggles, but that’s the whole team. Alabama lost to Texas, and then barely won at USF before Nick Saban put Jalen Milroe back into the starting quarterback spot before Ole Miss and won. Milroe, in 3 games has thrown for 674 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 picks. He’s also ran for 2 touchdowns and 120 yards off 38 carries. Bama only has 2 receivers that’s gone over 100 yards, but 3 players that have ran for more than 100. Jase McClellan is the leading back, with 52 carries for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had 105 yards and a touchdown last week in the win over Ole Miss. Alabama needs to figure out these offensive struggles, which they improved on last week, before they hurt them once again. As for Mississippi State, they have fallen apart the past two weeks, getting destroyed by LSU and losing by 7 to South Carolina last week. Will Rodgers has thrown for 979 yards, 6 touchdowns to 1 pick. He’s had two amazing seasons in a row, so hopefully he can continue this year as well. State has ran the ball much more than last year. Last year they had 295 total attempts the whole season. So far this season they have 122. It is still second in the conference, but is improvement from last year. They might have to worst defense in the conference though. They have allowed 1,601 total yards, which is 3rd worst. Only South Carolina and Vanderbilt have allowed more yards. Vandy has played one more game than the rest, so that makes sense. The Bulldogs have also allowed the second most total points, once again the team that has allowed the most points in Vanderbilt. Alabama figures some things out while Mississippi State’s defense continues to struggle, and Bama wins 35-20. Odds: Alabama -14.5, O/U 46
  22. (8) Washington @ Arizona - Washington’s offense might be one of the best offenses in football history, not just college football. Michael Penix Jr. has thrown for 1,636 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 2 picks. Last week against Cal was his first game this season without 400 passing yards, but the offense didn’t even touch the field until they were up 14-0 with 5:30 left in the first quarter. That’s because of a pick six and a punt return touchdown. The punt return touchdown came from Rome Odunze, who has 27 catches for 544 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ja’Lynn Polk has 21 catches for 427 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Jalen McMillan has 20 catches for 311 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tight End Jack Westover also has 4 touchdowns catches. Of course when you pass the ball as much and as well as Washington does, you don’t run the ball well. But it doesn’t matter as Penix is first in the country in passing yards, Odunze is second in receiving yards, with Polk coming in a 13. The defense has been alright, but this is Washington’s first road game, so we’ll see how well they perform on the road. Arizona barely beat Stanford last week, but their only loss is to Mississippi State, in a game where Jayden de Laura threw 4 picks. On the season, de Laura has 1069 yards, 9 touchdowns and 5 picks. he’s also ran for 3 touchdowns. Defensively, Arizona has two sack monsters at linebacker. Jacob Manu has 3 sacks while Taylor Upshaw has 3.5. Manu also leads the team in total tackles. The Washington offense is just too strong, and they win 48-17. Odds: Washington -18.5, O/U 66
  23. Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech - Both of these teams are 1-3 and towards the bottom of the ACC, but one team has to win. Both quarterbacks have had lackluster play, which has led to their team’s records. Phil Jurkovec for Pitt has thrown for 583 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 picks. Grant Wells for Virginia Tech has thrown for 494 yards, 5 touchdowns, and two picks. Wells hasn’t played since week 2, as it’s been Kyron Drones, who’s thrown for 389 yards, one touchdown and one pick. He did have 2 rushing touchdowns last week though. Both of these team’s quarterbacks have to step it up, but the solid Pitt defense that allows only 110.8 rush yards per game gets the win. Pitt wins 21-12. Odds: Pitt -2.5, O/U 40.5
  24. (23) Missouri @ Vanderbilt - Missouri is ranked for the first time since 2019, and it looks like it will continue this week. Headlines by both an amazing passing game and rushing game, Mizzou upset Kansas State 2 weeks ago before finally jumping in the rankings this week. Brady Cook has thrown for 1073 yards and 7 touchdowns, while Luther Burden III has caught 32 passes for 504 yards and 3 touchdowns, which is 3rd in the country. Cody Schrader has ran the ball 65 times for 403 yards and 2 touchdowns. This offense runs a lot of  plays, and it’s worked as they haven’t lost a game yet. They play their first road game this week when they travel to Nashville to play Vanderbilt. Vandy is led by AJ Swann, who’s thrown for 1290 yards, 11 touchdowns and 7 picks. Will Sheppard has caught 27 passes for 345 yards and 6 touchdowns. Bit of these offenses are going to go head to head, but Vandy’s worse defense is going to be the cause of them losing, 37-28. Odds: Missouri -14, O/U 54.5 
  25. Arizona State @ California - Arizona State almost had USC last week, but they lost, which means that ASU has lost 7 straight games to FBS opponents. They are 1-3, with their only win being a 3 point win over Southern Utah. They were shut out against Fresno State and lost to Oklahoma State, and the games like the Southern Utah one make me question if ASU should be a Group of 5 team and Washington State or Oregon State should be moving to the Big 12 in their spot. ASU is going to have their backup quarterback in this week, so Cal is going to have to shut him down. Cal were destroyed by Washington last week, and lost the worst game of the year to Auburn, they are 2-2, and a big reason why is Jaydn Ott. Ott has ran for 306 yards and 4 touchdowns on 54 carries, and I think he’s one of the best running backs in the Pac-12. Cal are big favorites, and they get the big 35-10 win. Odds: Cal -12.5, O/U 47.5


My top 5 Heisman candidates



  1. Caleb Williams - Williams retaineds the number one spot after a dominant performance last week at Arizona State. Henry had 5 total touchdowns, 3 of them being passing. He also had 322 passing yards. On the season, Williams has 1,200 yards, 15 passing touchdowns and 3 rushing touchdowns. He also has 71 rushing yards. He won the Heisman last year, and so far it looks like he’ll win again. USC faces a very bad defense is Colorado, so he will probably have another great game.
  2. Michael Penix Jr. - Penix is the second  Pac-12 quarterback to show up on the list, but not the last. I talked about him earlier, but he’s thrown for the most yards in all of College Football, 16 touchdowns, and only 2 picks. He has the best receivers in college football, and Washington’s first real test comes up in 2 weeks against Oregon. UW finished their season against 4 ranked teams, so we’ll see if Penix can keep on playing games against better teams.
  3. Jordan Travis - Travis is the only non Pac-12 player on this list. Travis has thrown for 1028 yards, 10 touchdowns  and only one pick. He threw the game winning touchdown in overtime game last week, but Florida State hasn’t looked as good the past two game. If Florida State loses some games, Travis will start to slip on this list
  4. Cam Ward - Cam Ward is debuting on  this list, and he might be here to stay. Ward has thrown for 1,390 yards, which is third in FBS. He also thrown for 13 touchdowns and zero picks. He had an incredible career at FCS Incarate Ward, and its continued at Wazzu. He went 28/34 for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown, which means he accounted for all of Washington State’s touchdowns last week. Wazzu has a bye week, so unless someone blows me away, Ward will stay on this list.
  5. Bo Nix - Nix is the fourth Pac-12 quarterback team in this list, and also the last on the list. Nix has thrown for 1,169 yards, 11 touchdowns and a pick. Nix ran for 14 touchdowns last year, but has only one so far. Oregon has Stanford this week, so Nix will play amazing as Stanford is very bad. The posters are working for me, just like the rest of the country. 
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