Lowell's Locks: Week Ten

Three terrible weeks have me on the verge of collapse. Dabo Swinney often speaks of being just a few plays away, and a few plays have gone against me the past few weeks to turn some incredibly productive weeks into incredibly bad ones.

Last week, Utah couldn’t hold serve at home against Oregon, having one of the longest win streaks in the country snapped. Riley Leonard was ruled out for Duke and couldn’t save the Devils against Louisville. Then A&M had the ball against South Carolina in the red zone and elected not to score to potentially cover late, and Oklahoma suffered a massive upset against Kansas. Bad luck on top of bad luck, but that’s life in college football. There’s an intriguing slate on tap this week, and I feel good about these picks. Don’t start fading me yet. 

Saturday, November 4th

#23 Kansas State at #7 Texas (-3.5):

With Quinn Ewers out, freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy made his first career start and had a solid performance, throwing for 170 yards and two touchdowns against BYU, but he’ll get a step up in competition against this Kansas State team that ranks in the top 15 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Look for Will Howard to have a huge game at quarterback for the Wildcats and Murphy to have some freshman struggles.

Lowell’s Lock: Kansas State covers +3.5

#12 Missouri at #2 Georgia (-15)

Everyone wanted to know how the Bulldogs would look after losing Brock Bowers for a stretch of time, and they came out and dominated Florida in a way that I’m not sure many people were prepared for considering the talent level defensively for the Gators. The Tigers are a good squad, but after being placed at #2 in the playoff standings, the Dawgs will be looking to make a statement at home. 

Lowell’s Lock: Georgia covers -15

#9 Oklahoma (-6) at #22 Oklahoma State:

Oklahoma was embarrassed by the Kansas offense last week, and you may want to write them off. Call me biased, but I know Brent Venables, and the same thing doesn’t work against teams coached by him twice in a row. Kansas was able to run the ball with great success last week, which is what the Cowboys would like to do, and I’d expect the Oklahoma defense to shut it down this week. With the Big 12 and playoffs on the line, look for a big win from Oklahoma.

Lowell’s Lock: Oklahoma covers -6

#14 LSU at #8 Alabama (-3.5):

This one should be pretty fun. Alabama will likely be the best defense LSU has faced all season, but that doesn’t mean they’ll totally shut the Tigers down. The real advantage lies in the Alabama offense. Not because they’re elite, but because the LSU defense has some major injury concerns, and they haven’t exactly been lights out in general. Jalen Milroe has the best game of his season in this one as the Tide survive at home.

Lowell’s Lock: Alabama covers -3.5

Jacksonville State at South Carolina (-15.5):

It could get scary for South Carolina here. While the Gamecocks from Jacksonville, Alabama, haven’t played the best competition this season, they still rank in the top ten in rushing offense. At the same time, the Gamecocks from Columbia don’t have much of a pulse on defense at all. Jacksonville State is also the number five team in the country in sacks, and South Carolina is 127^th in sacks allowed. Rattler should be able to move the ball enough on Jacksonville State to survive this one, but I like the other Gamecocks to cover.

Lowell’s Locks: Jacksonville State covers +15.5

#15 Notre Dame (-3.5) at Clemson:

The way things have gone this week for Dabo Swinney, it’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of thinking the Tigers will come out motivated and fired up after “Tyler from Spartanburg” lit the fuse. The Tigers have generally played well at home, and have played up to competition this season, but the simple fact of the matter is Notre Dame has the advantage in the trenches. Clemson fights for three and half quarters before Notre Dame ices it on a long game-winning touchdown drive late against a worn down Clemson defense.

Score Prediction: 27-20 Notre Dame

Lowell’s Lock: Notre Dame covers -3.5

Until next week, folks.