Week 5 Predictions

Another weekend of college football has come and gone and we now find ourselves quickly approaching the halfway mark. Week four provided quite a few close finishes. #5 Auburn held off Kansas State on Thursday night for a 20-14 win. The Wildcats defense played well but the offense couldn't seem to get anything going against the Tigers. #1 Florida State slipped past Clemson down in Tallahassee behind backup quarterback Sean Maguire. #2 Oregon survived against Washington St, 38-31. Florida hung tough with Alabama before the Tide pulled away in the second half for a 41-21 victory. Oklahoma used a 21 point second quarter to get past West Virginia, 45-33. Mississippi State went into Death Valley Jr. and held off a late LSU rally to knock off the #8 Tigers, 34-29. South Carolina had to rally on the road in Nashville but took care of Vanderbilt 48-34 to improve to 3-1 on the season but coach Spurrier made it clear that he was not satisfied with the Gamecocks performance in his post-game press conference. Georgia had no trouble with Troy at home locking up a 66-0 win after falling to South Carolina last week. Week 5 doesn't have many intriguing games but there are a few that should at least be worth watching this week. ESPN's College Gameday will be live from Columbia, SC for the showdown against Missouri. Clemson returns home to face North Carolina, Arkansas has a big opportunity this weekend as it travels to Arlington, Texas to square off against Kenny Hill and the Texas A&M Aggies. UGA begins a stretch of seven straight SEC opponents as Tennessee comes to town and North Carolina State looks to stir up some trouble in Raleigh as the #1 Seminoles come calling.


#12 Georgia vs Tennessee 

UGA is back to business after last week's scrimmage against Troy and prepare for a stretch of seven straight SEC games. Luckily, the only ranked team left on the schedule is Auburn and they get them at home in November. I think UGA's backfield again is simply too deep and talented. The offensive line will get the job done and open up holes for the running game and protect Mason in the pocket and overpower Tennessee's front. If this game was in Knoxville I might give the Vols a chance but the Dawgs have too many advantages and are simply the better team. Look for them to score early and often and handle their business and keep their name in the hat for the race in the SEC-East.

The Pick: Georgia 

Arkansas vs #6 Texas A&M 

The Razorbacks are showing all the signs of improvement from last year and their offense is starting to come together well, averaging 48 points per game. We will learn a lot about them starting this week which begins a 3 game stretch against #6 Texas A&M in Arlington, an open date, then back to back home games against #3 Alabama and #12 Georgia. Saturday is a great opportunity for the Razorbacks but I think A&M is just that much better. Kenny Hill and the Aggies look like a team on a mission and are ready to be a contender for a SEC title. I think Arkansas has some success and puts points on the board but won't be able to keep up.

The Pick: Texas A&M


Missouri @ #13 South Carolina

Last year's game was a thriller with South Carolina rallying behind Conner Shaw who had to come off the bench to save the Gamecocks in the "battle of Columbias". I think we are in for another great game this year as well. College Gameday will be there, primetime kickoff, Kenny Chesney will be there ( if you're into that kind of thing) and I heard it was also Parent's Weekend. Should be a grand ole time down in Columbia, SC. The Gamecocks have been flirting with a loss the past few games and haven't been playing well, especially on defense where they are giving up nearly 40 points per game ranking 108th in the nation. (ouch!) They had to rally on the road last week to take care of a terrible Vanderbilt team and Spurrier didn't hesitate to let the media know how he felt about his team and its effort. The Tigers are without their top three receivers from last year in L'Damian Washington, Dorial Green-Beckham and Marcus Lucas but Maty Mauk is a solid QB and he will put some points on the board against this young defense. The Gamecocks offense is also not too bad either but have struggled at times. Mike Davis has been unimpressive thus far and doesn't look to be the guy we knew from last year that some had as a Heisman contender at the beginning of the season. Expect another close finish Saturday night. I think Missouri comes into town and gives the Gamecocks a good fight but can't seal the deal. Put the Gamecocks on Upset Alert but I think they get it done.

The Pick: South Carolina

Clemson vs North Carolina

Deshaun Watson is now the starting quarterback and will lead the Tigers onto the field this weekend in their first home ACC game of the season when Clemson kicks off against North Carolina under the lights Saturday night. The Tarheels gave up a jaw dropping 70 (!) points to East Carolina (!!) last weekend and hope to have a much better outing in Death Valley. It'll be nice to see former Clemson DC Vic Koenning back in Clemson and even nicer to see him on the visitors sideline. I think the defense continues to play well and doesn't have a hangover from last week's tough loss in Tallahassee. The last time these two teams met up, it was a 59-38 shootout and while I think a good bit of points will be scored Saturday night...most of which will come from one side of the scoreboard. Tigers cover the 14 point spread and more.

The Pick: Clemson

#1 Florida State @ North Carolina State 

The last time the Seminoles invaded Raleigh they were ranked #3 the nation and let the Wolfpack pull the huge upset. While much has changed on both sidelines since that evening, a lot is still the same. This time FSU is #1 and again is clearly the far better team. However, weird things happen sometimes up in Raleigh and while I don't think will be a repeat of the Noles last trip, I would approach it with caution. Coming off an emotional win against Clemson, it will be key for FSU to come out focused and ready to play and not allow NC State to get any early momentum or the confidence that they can hang around. Winston will be back and I'm sure he's eager to get back on the field and lead his team to an important divisional win on the road

The Pick: Florida State 

Other Predictions: 

#8 Notre Dame over Syracuse 

Washington over #16 Stanford 

Oregon State over #18 USC

Duke over Miami