Lowell's Locks: College Football Week Ten

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Well, it wasn’t the undefeated week I had hope to have to follow up a 5-1 record last week. But I didn’t lose any ground at least, going 3-3 and staying within striking distance of a .500 record. Hey, .500 is all you need to make a bowl game. Maybe I can get into the Belk Bowl of game picking if I blow up enough fax machines.

Last week I missed on Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, and South Carolina, but I nailed the Penn State, Auburn and Clemson covers. Nothing wrong with breaking even. But as always, shooters shoot and in the immortal words of Deshaun Watson, let’s go be great in week ten.

Saturday, November 2nd

#14 Michigan (-22) at Maryland:

After starting off on fire, Maryland has totally fallen off a cliff, including last weekend’s 52-10 throttling at the hands of Minnesota. Michigan, meanwhile, crushed Notre Dame last weekend, using their defense and running game to control the game from the start. Expect more of the same for both teams in this one.

Lowell’s Lock: Michigan covers -22

Virginia Tech at #16 Notre Dame (-17.5):

Don’t look now, but after being left for dead following a crushing loss at the hands of Duke, Virginia Tech has quietly won three straight games and is a contender again in the ACC Coastal. Notre Dame is coming off a big loss to Michigan, and how this game goes might depend on their mindset. Will they come out angry and play with pride, or will they come out disappointed and let Michigan beat them twice? History with the Fighting Irish under Brian Kelly suggests the latter. Look no further than their 7-5 finish in 2014 after losing a potential playoff spot in a game with Florida State, and then their blowout loss to Stanford two games after getting blown out by Miami in 2017. The Irish come out flat and the Hokies give them a big hangover scare.

Lowell’s Lock: Virginia Tech covers +17.5

Miami at Florida State (-3):

I can’t figure Miami out. Just when it seems like they’re dead, they throw a wrench into the whole Coastal Division race by beating Pittsburgh, just a week after losing to dreadful Georgia Tech, which came a week after upsetting Virginia. Week by week, you never know what Hurricanes squad to expect. The Seminoles are in a similar boat, getting crushed by Clemson and losing to Wake, but bouncing back in handling Syracuse last weekend. At home, I expect Willie Taggart to take another step towards saving his job with an explosive offensive effort.

Lowell’s Lock: Florida State covers -3

#8 Georgia (-6) vs. #6 Florida:

Don’t get caught up in the hype of what happened to Georgia against South Carolina. This is still a solid team with one of the best backs and one of the best defenses in the SEC. Jake Fromm is still a good quarterback, albeit overshadowed by Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, and the Bulldogs still have one of the more well-rounded rosters in the SEC. Florida, meanwhile, is hurting on defense with some injuries and Kyle Trask is good, but young. In what will be a fairly ugly game, expect the Bulldogs to slowly, methodically take control late in the game with a vintage touchdown drive.

Lowell’s Lock: Georgia covers -6

Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina (-15):

As much as South Carolina has struggled this season, they’re still a two-touchdown favorite at home vs. Vanderbilt, which should tell you enough about how their season is going. South Carolina is coming off a 20-point loss to Tennessee and looking to bounce back, while Vanderbilt somehow shut down Missouri last weekend to pull a big upset. Look for South Carolina to get off the mat with a win against Vanderbilt, but I’m not sure how you can trust this team to cover a two-touchdown spread.

Lowell’s Lock: Vanderbilt covers +15

Wofford at #4 Clemson (-46.5):

Not a whole lot to say about this one. Clemson’s offense is coming off a 59 point effort against Boston College, and the offense keeps it going in this one. Clemson gets close to covering the spread by halftime and finishes the job with the backups in the second half. 

Lowell’s Lock: Clemson covers -46.5