College Football Picks 9/22 - Part 1

Here are the picks for the morning and early afternoon games. Will be back later with the winning side for ND/Michigan, Clemson/FSU and other afternoon/night games!

5 Star Plays

Georgia Tech -14 vs Miami
W. Virgina -25.5 vs Maryland

Top Picks

Florida -23 vs Kentucky
Ohio st -35.5 vs UAB

Lean

Colorado +12.5  Wash St (First Half)

Writeups

Ga Tech- Both these teams are 2-1 but there is a world of difference between them. Ga Tech will be primed in this game to make a big home statement by taking apart Miami. The Hurricanes are in a rebuilding mode and Georgia Tech despite a loss to Va Tech has a real shot at getting to the ACC championship game. Look for their option offense to control the tempo and when Miami has the ball, they will be under pressure to throw the ball and Ga Tech will be able to get a lot of pressure on the qb and will force bad decisions and turnovers.

W. Virginia- College football stats can really be misleading. For instance, Maryland currently has the 8th ranked offense in the nation. That will surely plummet after they get a beatdown from the Mountaineer offense. I love these types of matchups when a team with an anemic offense (Maryland) goes up against a team with a prolific offense (WVU) and the difference will come down to whose defense will be able to hold their own. In this case, WVU has enough on defense to handle the Terrapin offense while Maryland's defense will not be able to hold WVU's offense and this game will be an easy blowout win and cover for WVU.

Florida- I was on the wrong side last week with Florida/Tenn and like the Gators this week. Kentucky is struggling mightily and traveling to Gainesville to face a fired up team and crowd is no way to get healthy. The  only concern I have is if Florida puts it on autopilot in the 2nd half and Kentucky can get a late cover. However I do like Florida to stretch this game out with suffocating defense and a quickly improving offense.

Ohio St- I was on the money predicting the Buckeyes to struggle last week against Cal. This will be a different story as there is a huge talent disparity between these teams and after a close game last week the Buckeyes will be focused in this one and will make quick work against UAB. Look for Ohio St to score on special teams and defense to ensure that the Buckeye's cover the big number.

Colorado- Ugggh, what an ugly start of the season for the Buffs. With all of the criticism, I do like Colorado to bring their best effort against Washington St this week. I think their effort will keep them close for the first half. After that, look out but they will be spirited early and keep it under 12 for the first half.