College Football Results Against The Spread Week 4 2017
We had 56 FBS vs. FBS games over our college football weekend. That was the biggest weekend of college football so far this season for my picks. Most of the cupcakes are off of the schedule now except for the SEC’s week off in the middle of their conference season. The first conference weekend was interesting. How did I do?
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I only ended up with 43 points in Pick Em last week, mostly thanks to Oklahoma State getting blasted by TCU at home. College football is a weird animal sometimes.
Our leading scorer only had 45 points in pick em this week, so I only fell one more point out of first place. It’s a tight race at the top in the Fantasy CPR readers group!
Here we will recap my picks against the spread. The winner against the spread will be in BOLD. My result will follow. Let’s get to it!
In case you want to follow along:
Thursday-Friday
Early Saturday
Saturday Afternoon
Late Saturday
Temple at South Florida(-19.5): HIT! The Owls are just not a good football team right now. Just think, two years ago they were getting close to crashing the New Year’s Six. Now they will be lucky to win six…..
Virginia at Boise State(-13.5): HIT! I didn’t really expect Virginia to win outright, and I certainly didn’t expect them to run off with it, but Boise’s offensive issues and ineffectiveness running the ball caught up to them. It wont be the last time. The Mountain West is tougher than you think.
Utah(-4.5) at Arizona: HIT! Arizona’s defense actually held the Utah offense better than Utah held Arizona’s, but four Brandon Dawkins turnovers did the Wildcats in.
UNLV at Ohio State(-40.5): MISS! I knew better. I should have known that the Buckeyes would let off the gas. They didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
North Carolina State at Florida State(-12.5): HIT! I didn’t expect the Wolfpack to win outright in Tallahassee, but they earned it. We see just how much Deondre Francois meant to this team. James Blackman was solid for the Noles, but Auden Tate getting hurt ultimately did them in.
Kent State at Louisville(-43.5): HIT! Lamar Jackson “only” had 299 passing yards, but it was on 18-22 passing and he didn’t play the entire fourth quarter. It may have been a pedestrian day from Jackson, but Louisville didn’t need him and played it safe. There is nothing wrong with that.
Texas Tech at Houston(-6.5): MISS! This was a good game like I expected, but it was much more low scoring than I thought it would be. That said, holding the Red Raiders to 27 is something that a lot of Big 12(10) schools wont be able to do….
Army at Tulane(-2.5): MISS! Or not. Nostalgia doesn’t mean what it used to.
Texas A&M(-2.5) vs. Arkansas at Jerry World: HIT! Jerry Jones is now hoping that his Cowboys can score 43 points in that stadium sometime. Knowing their luck, they would lose just like Arkansas did.
Massachusetts at Tennessee(-27.5): MISS! How’s this for coaching: the game is essentially on the line, yet Butch Davis rolls with the backup. I get it. Quinten Dormady didn’t have that great of a game, but what does that do for his confidence going forward? Unless Butch plans on showing Dormady the bench before the Vols show him the door.
West Virginia(-21.5) at Kansas: HIT! I was sweating this one after Kansas came back in the second half. The Jayhawks look a lot better this year than last year. Unfortunately for them, it wont show in the win column just yet. At least they are heading in the right direction.
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech(-9.5): HIT! Pitt’s defense has holes in the run and pass defense. This is essentially a lost season for the Panthers at this point. It’s tough sledding from here on out.
New Mexico at Tulsa(-10.5): MISS! Well, Tulsa had its best defensive showing of the year. Too bad the offense only scored 13 points….
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech(-28.5): HIT! Josh Jackson is putting up some really good numbers so far. Can he do it against Clemson this week? I’m going to go out on a limb and say no. The Tigers are still the team to beat in the ACC.
Idaho at South Alabama(-3.5): MISS! This was a wild game no matter how you look at it. I should have had only one point on this one. It may go unnoticed, but the Sun Belt is a very interesting conference.
Ohio at Eastern Michigan(-3.5):MISS! Our second straight double overtime game and second straight miss. Both the road teams pulled off the win in the second extra session. I smell a conspiracy!
Central Florida at Maryland(-3.5): HIT! I expected a UCF win, but I didn’t expect them to rout the Terps at home. So, uh, which power five school is going to lure Scott Frost out of Orlando this off season?
Alabama(-19.5) at Vanderbilt: HIT! This was a beatdown. Vandy couldn’t even keep it close for the first quarter! Bama already had them covered by then!
Boston College at Clemson(-33.5): MISS! Too bad Clemson didn’t wake up until the fourth quarter. They almost covered even though they only had seven points prior to the final period.
USC(-17.5) at California: HIT! I haven’t really decided if this was a product of Cal being much improved or USC being overhyped. It is likely both, as it usually is with the Trojans. That said, the SC defense held Ross Bowers to just 22-50 passing and forced six turnovers. At this point, there needs to be questions about the offense.
TCU at Oklahoma State(-12.5): MISS! So much for Oklahoma State. That offense is specieal. The defense lacks playmakers. The Cowboys couldn’t get a stop when they really needed it at any point in this game.
Toledo at Miami(FL)(-13.5): MISS! You know that Toledo defense that I had questions about? They gave up 28 points in the fourth quarter to blow a nice performance by Logan Woodside that was keeping this one close.
Rutgers at Nebraska(-12.5): MISS! I don’t know that I can take Nebraska on any line anymore. This team is a disaster on offense, and Mike Riley refuses to make any changes. It will be his undoing. The Cornhuskers likely wont even win five games at the rate this is going. They are dogs in all but this weekend’s game the rest of the season!
Georgia Southern at Indiana(-23.5): HIT! Richard Lagow threw just 13 passes and the Hoosiers still did this to Georgia Southern. It was an impressive performance on both sides of the ball for the Hoosiers.
Wake Forest(-5.5) at Appalachian State: MISS! You think Dave Clawson is still a fan of this rivalry? I’m sure this was much too close for (southern) comfort for him and the Deacons.
Duke(-1.5) at North Carolina: HIT! I’m surprised the game was this close. On the bright side for the Tarheels, that defense was pretty solid against a decent Duke offense. They look a lot better than they did a couple of weeks ago.
Louisiana Tech at South Carolina(-8.5): MISS! I didn’t realize that Deebo Samuel had this big of an impact on the Gamecock offense. After topping 30 points in each of the first two games, the Cocks have 30 combined in the last two.
Miami(OH)(-1.5) at Central Michigan: MISS! This was another beat down in a game that should have at worst been a toss up. This Central Michigan team has taken a big step backwards since last year. Shane Morris hasn’t been able to do what Cooper Rush did under center commanding this team.
Cincinnati at Navy(-11.5): MISS! Hayden Moore did everything he could in this one to keep it close. It worked. The Bearcat defense still had no answer for the option offense.
Michigan(-10.5) at Purdue: MISS! Had I known that John O’Korn woudl play most of the game, I would have taken Michigan. This offense moved the ball well on a solid defense with him in there. If Speight had played the entire game, I’m not sure Michigan could have won, let alone covered. Michigan fans better hope Speight misses significant time for the sake of their offense…..
Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana(-6.5): MISS! This was the most entertaining game of the day, giving us two overtimes and 106 combined points. It still didn’t land me a win though.
Nevada at Washington State(-28.5) HIT! Well, it was a good tuneup for USC…..
Akron at Troy(-16.5): HIT! I was panicked a bit when Troy was up 16-3 at halftime. Troy’s woes against the spread continue, which is good for me.
Georgia State at Charlotte(-1.5): HIT! I expected a Panther win, but I didn’t expect the 49ers to get shut out at home.
Oklahoma(-27.5) at Baylor: MISS! Leave it to the Oklahoma defense to make a quarterback look good. We are in trouble against teams that can throw. Ohio State? Couldn’t throw. They make most of their hay running the ball. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are going to be far more interesting games than they should be.
UAB at North Texas(-12.5): HIT! How about that comeback by UAB? They were getting blown out at halftime. The Blazers could have just as easily laid down. Instead they stormed back with 29 second half points to tie, only to lose inside of ten seconds left.
Mississippi State at Georgia(-3.5): HIT! I knew the hot team wasn’t quite that hot, but I didn’t expect them to get blown out by Georgia. The Bulldogs have to be the favorites in the east. It is theirs to lose so long as they don’t get too drunk at the Cocktail Party…
San Diego State(-3.5) at Air Force: HIT! The Aztecs benefitted far more from the weather delay than Air Force did. The Aztecs struggled through the driving rain, but after the 90 minute delay, they were finally able to throw the ball some. That opened the offense all the way up and Air Force couldn’t stop it.
Syracuse at LSU(-21.5): MISS! I should have stuck with my first instinct. Missing Guice hurt, but if LSU has nothing around him, which may be the case, they are in a lot of trouble.
Ball State at Western Kentucky(-10.5): MISS! This was going fine until the Letterman’s fell apart late in the fourth quarter.
Florida Atlantic at Buffalo(-2.5): HIT! The oddsmakers pegged this one. The Bulls are 4-0 against spreads this year. That is useful information going forward.
Bowling Green at Middle Tennessee State(-7.5): HIT! I told you this wouldn’t matter. John Urzua looked pretty good against the Falcons defense.
Arkansas State at SMU(-4.5): HIT! I didn’t think this would be a blowout, but I’m not all that surprised either. SMU has been a pretty dangerous offensive team for a few years. If that defense holds up, look out!
Penn State(-12.5) at Iowa: MISS! The Hawkeye defense played a great game this year. Last year they were destroyed by Penn State. Saquon Barkley still had a huge game even if Iowa did hold his scoring down to one touchdown.
Auburn(-17.5) at Missouri: MISS! Wow, this was a beating. The second consecutive one that Mizzou has suffered at home if you’re keeping track. Jarrett Stidham is starting to grasp the Auburn offense, likely just in time to save Gus Malzahn’s hide. I wouldn’t want to play Auburn right now.
Florida(-2.5) at Kentucky: MISS! Florida deserved to lose this game, but the domination over the Wildcats continues. Once again, Kentucky seems oh so close to being relevant, then it slips away again.
Florida International at Rice(-2.5): HIT! I still have no idea why Rice was favored, but I learned a long time ago that it has virtually nothing to do with the teams on the field. The line follows the action. It is puzzling why Rice opened favored in the first place though.
Utah State(-1.5) at San Jose State: HIT! There is nothing quite like covering a spread by 49.5 points. No, I mean it. I have never seen this happen before!
UTSA(-13.5) at Texas State: MISS! And here I thought I was going to make it through the week without being sabotaged by a half point…. The Roadrunners dominated this game and still didn’t cover.
UTEP at New Mexico State(-19.5): HIT! This week is really going to test my faith in the Aggies’ ability to keep beating spreads. They are 4-0 for me so far though!
Notre Dame(-3.5) at Michigan State: HIT! So, uh, just how bulletproof is Mark Dantonio? We may find out if Sparty misses a bowl for the second straight season. That looks likely after this debacle.
Washington(-11.5) at Colorado: HIT! How many of you still think that USC is going to beat Washington? After the last two weeks, who still believes outside the walls of Troy?
Oregon(-14.5) at Arizona State: HIT! I didn’t expect Sparky to win outright, but I’m not all that surprised either. Oregon was really hurt by the lack of a deep threat with Nelson out.
Hawaii at Wyoming(-4.5): HIT! Wyoming hasn’t progressed under Craig Bohl the way they had hoped. The good news for Bohl? He still has a shot at a job about 400 miles east on I-80….
UCLA at Stanford(-7.5): HIT! Is Keller Chryst going to lose his job? He wasn’t doing much while he was in there. Oh, and UCLA has the worst defense in the Pac 12. Yes, it is even worse than the Oregon schools. BOTH of them……
East Carolina : at Connecticut: HIT! I finished this weekend strong. Hopefully it carries over into next week!
I improved a bit this week, finishing six games over at 31-25. That puts my season total at 107-90. That is a 54.3% success rate. That may not seem like much, but my foal was 55% before the season. That tells how difficult this gan be. Let’s see if I gained some more points!
This week’s totals follow the number. The season totals are in parentheses.
1. 5-3 (15-15) = 0
2. 11-11 (36-32) = 8
3. 9-6 (35-22) = 42
4. 4-4 (12-15) = -12
5. 2-1 (9-7) = 10
I gained a solid 16 points this week to put my season total at 48. I am five points in the black now since I have erased last year’s debt. It’s all in the clear now!
Next: ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 5 2017
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