Lowell's Locks: College Football Week Two

Feel the difference - The best user experience on mobile devices or personal computers. Avoid clickbait and sites bloated with advertising!  Join us today for just $1 or get a full year for $63.17.

Week one had some good and some bad, and at the end, it all balanced out to a .500 record to start. Not bad, not great. There were some good breaks, like Utah rolling over BYU or Stanford getting a scoop and score to cover at the end of the game. There were some bad breaks, like Clemson kicking a 51-yard field goal to cover the spread, or Oregon controlling Auburn only to lose late. 

Then there was some ugly, like South Carolina losing outright to UNC, or whatever that Miami-Florida game was, even though I actually got that pick right. 

So week two is now upon us. In the immortal words of Deshaun Watson, let’s go be great.

Saturday, September 7th

#21 Syracuse at Maryland (-2):

Dino Babers is looking to keep his Syracuse program rolling after a 10-win season a year ago, but with an entirely new offense, they slogged their way to a 24-0 win over Hugh Freeze and Liberty in week one. They’ll need to be better as they travel to College Park, where Maryland started their season with a 79-0 thrashing of Howard. While that’s not exactly high-level competition, the Terps looked really good as they were led by Virginia Tech transfer quarterback Josh Jackson’s four touchdowns to a tie of the school record for points in a game.

The competition is about to get a whole lot stiffer for Maryland, but it’s hard to pick against them at home after seeing the way Syracuse struggled to start the season. Not to mention, the Orange may be peeking ahead to the #1 team in the country coming to town the following week. Maryland gets the cover in an exciting game that comes down to the wire.

Lowell’s Lock: Maryland covers -2

West Virginia at Missouri (-14):

It seems odd that Missouri is a two-touchdown favorite after a game against Wyoming in which the Tigers got manhandled. Wyoming could seemingly run at will against Missouri’s front. The good news? West Virginia only managed 34 yards on 24 attempts against James Madison and showed no semblance of a downfield passing game. Outside of a couple of misfires, Kelly Bryant actually threw the ball well and showed he can make you pay over the top. That makes all the difference, as Missouri stifles West Virginia’s offense and Kelly Bryant shows why he was such a coveted transfer.

Lowell’s Lock: Missouri covers -14

Charleston Southern at South Carolina (-40):

Well, things couldn’t have gone much worse for South Carolina in week one. I mentioned last week that the game against UNC was close to a must-win in terms of confidence and making a bowl game. Not only did they lose to the Tar Heels, but they lost starting quarterback Jake Bentley to a broken foot as well.

Freshman Ryan Hilinski will get the start for the Gamecocks against Southern who got thrased by Furman to start their season. Hilinski will make some big plays and look pretty good in his first start, but 40 is a large number, and I doubt the Gamecocks are keen on keeping their new quarterback in the whole game with Alabama looming. 

Lowell’s Lock: Charleston Southern covers +40

#23 Stanford at Southern California (-1):

Stanford secured a backdoor cover for me last week with a scoop and score against Northwestern, and now travels to take on USC and a head coach who is fighting for his job. USC got a 31-23 win over a game Fresno State team last week, but lost quarterback J.T. Daniels for the season in the process.

Stanford has their own quarterback issues, as K.J. Costello is questionable as of the time of this article. That means this game likely comes down to the defenses, and in a pick ‘em situation with two backup quarterbacks, I’m riding Stanford’s nasty defense for another week.

Lowell’s Lock: Stanford wins outright

#6 LSU (-6.5) at #9 Texas:

The last time we saw Texas against an SEC team, the Longhorns were embarrassing Georgia in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Texas is starting to buck the Big 12 trend of being soft on defense, and they have an explosive quarterback in Sam Ehlinger.

LSU, meanwhile, has one of the best secondaries in the country and quarterback Joe Burrow looked impressive last week in a new-look offense. The fact that this spread is over three points blows my mind. One of these teams wins it on a late field goal after a slugfest of a ball game.

Lowell’s Lock: Texas covers +6.5

#12 Texas A&M at #1 Clemson (-17.5):

Last season, this game came down a stop on a two-point conversion as A&M came roaring from behind to push the Tigers late. This year, the scene moves from College Station to Death Valley. Kellen Mond looked much improved in week one for the Aggies against Texas State, but some questions still remain about the ability to run and the offensive line.

In Aggieland, Trevor Lawrence was not the starter and only attempted nine passes. Entering Saturday’s contest the Tigers are more explosive and will have the crowd behind them. Texas A&M has confidence in themselves, with several players saying publically that they will pull the upset. Whether or not poking the bear is the best strategy can be debated, but Dabo Swinney is a master motivator and will use anything given to him to make his guys work a little harder. This one doesn’t come down to a two-point conversion.

Lowell’s Lock: Clemson covers -17.5