Season Picks: 6-0
Season Money Lines: 3-3
With our first dose of College Football last week, we turn to Week 2 of the College Football Season. Last week had some intriguing matchups leading to upsets across the country. We saw teams from the Sun Belt Conference knock-off Power 5 schools, we saw some of the greatest catches of the season, we saw breakout performances from Spencer Rattler, Leddie Brown, and many more. To top things off from last week, we went undefeated in our predictions, we even called the Louisana vs Iowa State upset. Again this week, we are picking marquee matchups, six to be exact, for this week's action.
Graeme's Predictions
USF @ 7 Notre Dame
Game Time: 2:30 pm EST
Venue: Notre Dame Stadium - South Bend, IN
Network: USA
Line: Notre Dame -25
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame is coming off of a win last week against the Duke Blue Devils and is trying to carry that momentum to this week's matchup. There are no questions about how good this Notre Dame defense is, especially their run stop. The Irish stuffed the Blue Devils to just 73 rushing yards for the entire game. With that being said, the Bulls of USF put up 302 rushing yards against the Citadel. So, this will be very interesting to see what side of the ball will be the deciding factor for this game. USF did have a hard time putting the game away against a mediocre FCS team last week, which is very concerning. Even if USF had an early lead you could expect an inevitable comeback run from ND.
Prediction: 38-18 Notre Dame
17 Miami @ 18 Louisville
Game Time: 7:30 pm EST
Venue: Cardinal Stadium - Louisville, KY
Network: ABC
Line: Louisville -2.5
I'm not going to hesitate when I say I expect big things from Miami QB, D'eriq King. King is getting his first taste of ACC competition and it won't be easy by any means. Miami is coming off of its best running performance in 6 years. Louisville's run defense has been my main critique for the Cardinals over the past couple of years. How much better is their run defense this year than last year? Well, nothing jumps at you on paper, that's for sure. A bright spot for UL would be their QB, Micale Cunningham. He had a historic outing last week and is only looking to build on that performance. Miami has had the Cardinals number the last couple of years, beating Louisville 52-17 last season. Now, I don't expect that type of scoreline tomorrow, but I do give Miami the upper-hand.
Prediction: 27-21 Miami
Logan's Predictions
14 UCF @ Georgia Tech
Game time: 3:30 pm EST
Venue: Bobby Dodd Stadium - Atlanta, GA
Network: ABC
Line: UCF - 7.5
The UCF versus Georgia Tech game should be an interesting one. On top of starting the season 1-0, Georgia Tech will get to play a rusty UCF team that did not play in week 1. Luckily for UCF, they have a future star at the quarterback position in Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel is a sophomore who passed for 3600 yards last season leading UCF to a 10-3 record. Coming into this game, Dillon Gabriel will look to take advantage of the weak defense of Georgia Tech and he should have no problem in doing so. This matchup seems to be a very one-sided game unless Georgia Tech can manage to not throw interceptions. Freshman quarterback Jeff Simms started off the season with a victory against Florida State although he did throw two interceptions in doing so. Turnovers will not be as acceptable versus such an offensively dominating UCF team. All in all, I believe that the UCF Knights will have no problem whatsoever against Georgia Tech and their win won’t be by a small margin.
Prediction: 38-10 UCF
Syracuse @ 25 Pittsburgh
Game time: 12:00p EST
Venue: Heinz Field -Pittsburgh, PA
Network: ACCN
Line: Pittsburgh - 21.5
This week, Syracuse will take on one of their biggest rivalries in the Pittsburgh Panthers. Pittsburgh started the season 1-0 and are the large favorites coming into this game. Although Syracuse started the season 0-1 they had a difficult matchup versus the UNC Tar Heels that got them to where they are. Pittsburgh may be a bit easier of a matchup for Syracuse, but they are still a much stronger team. In week 1, Pittsburgh showed off their offensive strength by destroying Austin Peay, 55-0. Syracuse certainly has a better defense than Austin Peay so they should have no problem keeping Pittsburgh under 50 points, although their offense is a concern. Syracuse only put up 6 points against UNC and if they play that poorly against Pittsburgh it won’t even be a competition. I think that Syracuse will easily beat the spread to this game but they will not be able to win the game.
Prediction: 27-14 Pittsburgh
Davis's Predictions
The Citadel @ 1 Clemson
Game Time: 4:00 pm EST
Venue: Memorial Stadium - Clemson, SC
Network: ACCN
Line: Clemson -45.5
Well, I really only know one sure thing and that is Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne will be out of the game by halftime. The Clemson Tigers are looking to make it 19 straight wins against The Citadel with the streak dating all the way back to 1933. I am taking the Tigers to cover at 45.5 especially since the last two matchups between these teams the point total was 113-9. If the Citadel even covers this game it is a win for them.
Prediction: 59-6 Clemson
Austin Peay @ 13 Cincinnati
Game Time: 12:00 am EST
Venue: Nippert Stadium - Cincinnati, OH
Network: ESPN+
Line: Cincinnati -33.5
Austin Peay played a tough game against Central Arkansas on opening night but lost, 24-17. The next week was a different story against PITT when it looked like there was no heart in the game with the score 55-0. I believe this game will be no different to the PITT game with Cincinnati coming off an 11-3 season and a lot of key players returning. Expect this game to get out of hand quickly with most Cincinnati starters being out around the 3rd quarter.
Prediction: 55-0 Cincinnati
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