The fourth week of the season had an impressive slate of games that included three Top-25 contests that will surely have some serious playoff implications. One of those games turned out to be a real laugher that has the folks in Ann Arbor doing yet another temperature check under the buns of their quirky commander.
Things are going quite well in Columbus, however, as Ohio State scored 76 unanswered points in a romp against a team that hails from the southwest part of the state and hopefully makes great use of the Oxford comma. 42 points in the second quarter? That was fun, and all of our staff members not named David Wertheim had the Buckeyes covering the 39-point spread.
As for the Wolverines' miserable day in Madison, we were fairly split on the Badgers as a three-point favorite as Dan, Jones, and David all liked Michigan to cover. Wisconsin's 35-14 victory wasn't even close to being indicative of how one-sided that game was. The good news for Jim Harbaugh is that he still gets to face Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. Good luck!
Utah and USC actually started the week off last Friday night and the Trojans lost yet another quarterback when Kedon Slovis exited with a concussion. Third-stringer Matt Fink put together a masterful performance in leading USC to a 30-23 home upset. Jones and Wertheim were the only ones to correctly pick the Trojans in that one.
Gus Malzahn and the Tigers headed to Texas A&M as a four-point underdog, but Bo Nix and crew got another big win topping the Aggies by a score of 28-20. Auburn has a nice little resume already with wins over Oregon and now TAMU.
Oklahoma State has been giving Texas problems for a while now, but Tom Herman got the home win over the Cowboys last weekend. The Horns were favored by five and came away with a 36-30 win over Mike Gundy. Sam Ehlinger threw for four touchdowns and we were siding with the Longhorns here.
Notre Dame put up a darn good fight on the road in Athens. Georgia was a two-touchdown favorite over the Irish and escaped with a 23-17 home victory. Our staff members were split on this one and Brian Kelly will now need a small miracle to get back to the playoffs.
Props to David Regimbal for going 8-2 last week and leading the charge this season. He's up to an impressive 62-percent hit rate.
Week five is here and my personal favorite non-Ohio State game of the weekend is coming your way Friday night from College Park. Unfortunately, there aren't too many big ones to look forward to.
- Just a reminder that all of our submissions are against the spread rather than a straight pick'em. The lines are from www.sportsbook.ag and are collected on Mondays of each week. There's always a chance that the lines will move in the days leading up to kickoff.
| KEVIN | CHRIS | RAMZY | HOPE | JONES | ELLIS | WERTHEIM | REGIMBAL | VANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAST WEEK: | 5-5 | 3-7 | 5-5 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 7-3 | 5-5 | 8-2 | 7-3 |
| OVERALL: | 19-20 | 19-20 | 20-19 | 19-20 | 18-21 | 21-18 | 22-17 | 24-15 | 20-19 |
| ACCURACY: | 49% | 49% | 51% | 49% | 46% | 54% | 56% | 62% | 51% |
| #12 Penn State (-6.5) @ Maryland | MARY | PSU | PSU | PSU | PSU | MARY | PSU | PSU | PSU |
| #15 Cal (-4.5) vs. Arizona State | CAL | ASU | ASU | CAL | ASU | CAL | CAL | CAL | ASU |
| #8 Wisconsin (-24) vs. Northwestern | WISC | WISC | WISC | WISC | WISC | WISC | NW | NW | WISC |
| #20 Michigan (-27) vs. Rutgers | MICHI | MICH | MICH | MICH | MICH | MICH | MICH | MICH | MICH |
| #1 Clemson (-27) @ North Carolina | UNC | CLEM | UNC | UNC | CLEM | UNC | UNC | UNC | CLEM |
| Purdue (-1) vs. Minnesota | PURD | PURD | MINN | PURD | MINN | MINN | PURD | PURD | MINN |
| #10 Notre Dame (-11) vs. #18 Virginia | UVA | ND | ND | ND | UVA | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| #17 Washington (-10) vs. #21 USC | USC | USC | WASH | USC | WASH | WASH | USC | WASH | WASH |
| #5 Ohio State (-17.5) @ Nebraska | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | NEB | OSU | OSU |
| #19 Utah (-5) vs. Washington State | UTAH | UTAH | UTAH | UTAH | UTAH | UTAH | UTAH | WAZZ | WAZZ |
Maryland hosting Penn State is a nice way to kick off an otherwise sub-par slate of games. Will the Terps' offense look anything like it did during its first two games or was the Temple performance a more realistic indicator of what's to come? I'm guessing the truth will fall somewhere in the middle. Andrew is the lone staff member feeling the Terps covering the +6.5 at home.
Pat Fitzgerald benched Hunter Johnson during last week's game against the Spartans as the Clemson transfer continues to struggle. Meanwhile, Wisconsin is coming off its dominant performance over the Wolverines. The Badgers are a 24-point home favorite against the West Division's reigning champions. We're liking Wisconsin here.
Jim Harbaugh really couldn't ask for a better bounce-back opportunity than a game against Chris Ash and Rutgers. Michigan could beat the Knights by 100 and Harbaugh's seat would still be a little crisp. Shea Patterson is probable to start, but a few more blunders may allow Joe Milton to see the field more with Dylan McCaffrey doubtful. We've got the Wolverines covering at home.
Lead FOX analyst Joel Klatt: I'm not going to be surprised if Jim Harbaugh walks away after this season.https://t.co/D3dF9TWsj4
— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) September 26, 2019
Purdue hosting Minnesota is quietly an interesting game. The Gophers are unbeaten on the season but they haven't really played anyone. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers are off to a disappointing 1-2 start. We got this line when the Boilers were a one-point favorite, but it's actually shifted since Monday and the Gophs are currently favored by 1.5. We're pretty split on this Big Ten battle.
Notre Dame was impressive last weekend in a game that most didn't think would be that close. The Irish now get the chance to host a ranked opponent in South Bend when the Cavaliers arrive in town. The Irish are favored by 11 and most of our forecasters have sided with the home team.
The last time the Buckeyes headed to Lincoln they handed the Huskers a 56-14 beatdown. With Scott Frost now running the show, Nebraska finds itself as a 17.5-point home underdog. Turnovers and kicking woes have been a major problem all season, but the Huskers do have some firepower on that offense.
They're calling for some evening thunderstorms Saturday in Lincoln. Obviously teams can still throw the ball even if it does rain, but Ohio State has the country's No. 15 rush offense while the Huskers check in at No. 36. The Buckeyes' rush defense is No. 7 and Nebraska is sitting at No. 41 after getting drilled by the Illini last week.
Way back in January, many folks – ourselves included – started circling this one as a potential stumbling block. A lot has certainly changed since then. David likes Nebraska to cover the 17.5 on Saturday night. Everyone else is rolling with Ohio State despite last year's home struggles against Frost and the Huskers.
How are you feeling about the week-five lineup? Will it be a repeat of the 2017 season or can the Cornhuskers keep it close this time in Lincoln?
