Lowell's Locks: College Football Week Five

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A week after going 1-5, we had a solid bounceback with a 4-2 week. We were a late Oklahoma State touchdown from a 5-1 record, but it’s a start. Of note, I was all over the Wisconsin-Michigan, South Carolina-Missouri and Notre Dame-Georgia games. Clemson gave me a bit of a scare, using a late touchdown to cover, but Texas A&M never even came close to covering against Auburn in a surprisingly one-sided ball game.

It’s once again a new week, and we’re going to keep the momentum rolling! Shooters shoot, and we’re going to shoot our shot again this week. As always, in the immortal words of Deshaun Watson, let’s go be great in week five.

Friday, September 27th

#12 Penn State (-6.5) at Maryland:

Penn State is another one of those top 15 teams that don’t seem like they belong. After overwhelming Idaho in week one, Penn State struggled with BUffalo in game two, trailing at the half before using a big third quarter to pull away. In an ugly game against Pitt, they managed to pull out a 17-10 victory after trailing the Panthers, as well. Maryland, meanwhile, started off hot, scorching Howard and a then-ranked Syracuse team before falling in a tight ballgame to Temple. The offense for the Terps is explosive, and they’ve had a bye week to stew on that Temple game, while you have to wonder if Penn State is emotionally spent after a tight win over an in-state rival. Give me Maryland to cover, and doesn’t be surprised if they pull out a second-ranked home win this season.

Lowell’s Lock: Maryland covers +6.5

Saturday, September 28th:

Wake Forest (-6.5) at Boston College:

Boston College bounced back after a shocking loss to Kansas, beating Rutgers in a fairly ugly game. Wake Forest, meanwhile, comes into this game with an undefeated, 4-0 record, and has shown that they are one of the most explosive offenses in the ACC, averaging 38 points and over 500 yards per game. Quarterback Jamie Newman is a legitimate ACC player of the year candidate and is even garnering some darkhorse Heisman talk. Wake Forest leaves Chestnut Hill with a win and a cover.

Lowell’s Lock: Wake Forest covers -6.5

#18 Virginia at #10 Notre Dame (-12.5):

UVA is 4-0, but it hasn’t done it in a particularly attractive manner. They’ve had close calls the past two weeks to Florida State and Old Dominion, and the offense can’t seem to create any big plays. Notre Dame, meanwhile, is coming off a hard-fought loss to Georgia, and you have to wonder about their fatigue and mindset headed into this one. The spread on this one is almost perfect (Vegas is good at setting lines, go figure), but I’ll go with the home team’s defense and quarterback Ian Book to snag the backdoor cover at home.

Lowell’s Lock: Notre Dame covers -12.5

#21 USC at Washington (-10.5):

USC seemingly accidentally stumbled on another stud quarterback, as Matt Fink came in last week against Utah and absolutely shredded a good Utes defense for 351 yards and three scores in a huge upset. Washington, led by Jacob Eason, is a quiet 3-1 on the year and is coming off a 45-19 shellacking of BYU. While Washington does have a good defense, so did Utah, and +10.5 is too tempting not to take with a red hot USC offense.

Lowell’s Lock: USC covers +10.5

Kentucky at South Carolina (-3):

Kentucky is struggling right now, their offense severely hampered by the loss of quarterback Terry Wilson. However, their offense may get a boost from a South Carolina defense who is getting shredded through the air by everyone it meets so far. South Carolina quarterback Ryan Hilinski had a great debut against Charleston Southern, and an admirable performance against Alabama, but struggled last week against Missouri. There are rumors of injury to Hilinski, and this week might be determined by how healthy and effective he is. My head is telling me to lean towards South Carolina, assuming they have a healthy quarterback, but I can’t get past one last thing; the Gamecocks haven’t beaten Kentucky in five tries, and I’m not sure a confidence zapped team this year will be able to break that streak.

Lowell’s Lock: Kentucky covers +3

#1 Clemson (-27) at North Carolina:

North Carolina started the year off right, pulling out an upset of South Carolina in its opener and following that up with a win over Miami, but seemingly nothing has gone right since. They were dominated by Wake Forest for three quarters before almost pulling off a late rally, only to fall short, and had a potential game-tying field goal against Appalachian State blocked last week to be the first Power-five team to lose to the Mountaineers since they upset Michigan in 2007. Clemson has gotten the offense clicking over the past two weeks, and the defense continues to dominate opponents week after week. After playing the starters for just one-quarter last week against Charlotte, the Tigers should be well-rested headed into this one and should handle the challenge with ease.

Lowell’s Lock: Clemson covers -27