The Locksmith's Pick Six: Week 2
Slim pickings again this weekend with a couple of more games postponed due to COVID-19. The schedule will fatten up soon enough, with the SEC on deck to start playing shortly.
DUKE over Boston College, giving 6
Saw some encouraging signs from Duke QB Chase Brice, the Clemson transfer, against Notre Dame last week. Eagles’ defense can’t compare to Irish’s and BC will try playing two QBs. We’ll see how that goes.
Ucf over GEORGIA TECH, giving 7½
Great win by the Yellow Jackets last week against floundering FSU. But it also adds to UCF’s motivation. Knights know they have to go unbeaten to continue to make a splash nationally. Tech QB Jeff Sims recovered from two INTs to have a nice debut but now there’s film on the true freshman.
LOUISVILLE over Miami, giving 2½
A fun QB showdown between Micale Cunningham and D’Eriq King. Don’t be fooled by the close score in the Cards’ 35-21 victory over Western Kentucky. Special teams mistakes led to TD drives of one and four yards for the Hilltoppers. The other TD came in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided.
TULANE over Navy, giving 7
Kudos to the Green Wave for coming back from 24-6 in the third quarter at South Alabama to win 27-24. More proof that sometimes it’s just a matter of getting out there and playing for a while to get started. Midshipmen looked dreadful against BYU and may have QB issues – no small thing for a triple option team.
Syracuse over PITTSBURGH, taking 21½
A couple of Jersey-raised QBs going at it here. Hard to read too much into Pitt’s rout of Austin Peay. Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito wasn’t good in the loss to UNC – he’s too experienced to continue to be that bad – but remember the Orange trailed just 10-6 going into the fourth quarter against a Tar Heels team that could be very good.
MARSHALL over Appalachian State, taking 4½
Thundering Herd’s frosh QB Grant Wells was sharp in his debut – with the important thing being that he now has a game of experience. Mountaineers needed 14 fourth-quarter points to put away pesky Charlotte. Maybe they aren’t quite as good as the 13-1 squad of a year ago.
LAST WEEK VS. SPREAD: 5-1
SEASON TO DATE VS. SPREAD: 5-1
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