FTRS Picks Week 3: Rough Seas Ahead

By Logan Sandor Sep 12, 2023, 10:00am EDT

Week 2 has come and gone and it feels like some of our pickers have found their groove, here are the results from the week. AHolt continued his hot streak with 9 correct picks this week, he tied with Ched C. and maxdiggler for first last week. Congrats guys! Our overall score leader remains a three way tie, with some new faces present. We currently have a tie between Anuj Bhyravabhotla, AHolt, and Ched C., all with 18 correct picks on the year. With us starting to see how teams are playing this year, things will only get tighter at the top of our pick chart.

I hate rain, its cold and wet and it gets everywhere. Plenty of weird weather last week and a few interesting upsets to enjoy. The ACC still looks good against the SEC this year, we saw some more wins with Miami taking out Texas A&M and Wake Forest knocking down Vanderbilt.

Another top team in the SEC struggled. Bama looked almost like they didn’t belong on the field with Texas. These are not promising signs for the Tide, they seem to be struggling on the line on both sides of the ball and at QB. Meanwhile, if you’re a Longhorns fan you have another reason to tell everyone about how Texas is back this year... and you might actually be right this time.

NCAA Football: Louisville at Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech did what they were supposed to do, even if they didn’t score 21 points in a quarter. They came close a few times, the offense looked good aside from a few silly turnovers. The defense seemed to struggle more than you would like to see, but overall we looked like an actual P5 team playing against an FCS team. It’s been a while and it feels good, but we have some of our toughest challenges ahead over the next 2 weeks and they may define how we view the rest of the season.

picks:

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ #17 Ole Miss Rebels (-20.0)

Logan: This is going to be a tough one, it certainly was last year. Ole Miss is at home so we’re not going to be able to rely on our crowd this time to help us out. Ole Miss is an offensive juggernaut and our defense has not looked great over the previous 2 games. We really need to find a way to get in the Rebels backfield if we expect to stop them from scoring, and I’m not sure we can. The good news is the Jackets offense is looking good and might be able to keep things close. The other good news is Ole Miss plays Alabama next week so maybe we catch Ole Miss looking forward to that game. I don’t buy into the idea that we are a 20 point underdog, I’m not sure if we can win this one, but we should be able to keep it closer than 20 points.

Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech covers

#14 LSU Tigers (-10.0) @ Mississippi State Bulldogs

Logan: Mississippi State is coming off of a game where they got 5 turnovers and still needed OT to put away Arizona at home. Despite this game being a rivalry matchup I just don’t see Mississippi State standing against LSU if the tigers are running on all cylinders. LSU is getting a second chance with me here, they should have the talent to win by more than 10 points so I’m going to tentatively take LSU even though this is a rivalry game and Mississippi State could make some magic happen.

Logan’s pick: LSU

#15 Kansas State Wildcats (-5.5) @ Mizzou Tigers

Logan: If you are familiar with CFB you should be aware that Mizzou is somewhere between an average to bad team and Kansas State is somewhere between an average to good football team. Mizzou hasn’t looked fantastic this year but they have won both their games, so maybe they are more towards the average side this year. Kansas State has looked like they have a great offense though so I tend to look at them being a good team which could potentially be a underdog in the BIG 12. I think this one may be closer than some expect, but I still expect Kansas State to win by a touchdown.

Logan’s pick: Kansas State

South Carolina Gamecocks @ some school in athens (-27.0)

Logan: First game for the dwags we are covering. South Carolina kind of fizzled out against UNC despite looking good in the first half. The school in athens looks about how we have expected given who they have played the past few weeks. Despite fans of the black and red already whining about how the dwags aren’t beating teams by the margin they should, uga is still uga and I don’t see South Carolina winning this one. I think Desmond Ridder might be able to work some magic here and keep it closer than 27. I’m not confident in that pick but that is the pick I am making.

Logan’s pick: South Carolina covers

Louisiana Ragin Cajuns @ UAB Blazers (-1.5)

Logan: I wanted to work in at least one non-power 5 matchup in here. These teams are both pretty evenly matched with talented QBs leading skilled offenses. Defense is not the strong spot for either of these teams... so me saying that would dictate that it will be a defensive showdown. UAB is at home, but if it does become a defensive focused game then the Cajuns should have a slight edge; also I just like their name. I’ll go with the Ragin Cajuns.

Logan’s pick: Louisiana

San Diego State Aztecs @ #16 Oregon State Beavers (-23.5)

Logan: This one reminds me of the App State game last week. I have no doubt in my mind that Oregon State will win, but the Aztecs have shown enough for me to think they won’t be a push over. The spread in this game is simply too large, I’ll take the Aztecs to cover.

Logan’s pick: San Diego State

Minnesota Golden Gophers @ #20 UNC Tar Heels (-7.0)

Logan: UNC looked bad last week, but that’s the App State effect. People who aren’t familiar with that, App State has a way of making good teams struggle. why are they able to do that? I have no idea, maybe hill folk black magic. Regardless UNC is still one of the best teams in the ACC and they get the Golden Gophers at home. Minnesota does not have a good offense, even if their defense is very good. I expect UNC to get a statement win in this one to prove last week was just the Tar Heels struggling with black magic.

Logan’s pick: UNC

Virginia Tech Hokies @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights (-4.5)

Logan: Wow, more games where Rutgers is favored. This is such a weird season. Not an unfair choice though, the Hokies have struggled to look mediocre through 2 games. Rutgers hasn’t looked like they will win the BIG 10 or anything, but they certainly have the talent to make a bowl game. If that is going to happen the Scarlet Knights need to win this game. I picked against Rutgers in week 1, that was a mistake. I’m going to take Rutgers here.

Logan’s pick: Rutgers

#11 Tennessee Volunteers (-7.0) @ Florida Gators

Logan: Florida doesn’t deserve to be given a 7 point spread in this game. Tennessee hasn’t really played anyone yet, but they have looked like a force to challenge teams in the SEC East. If Tennessee is who we think they are then this game should not be close. I’m not trusting that one win against a nobody team (sorry McNeese) at home is going to set the UF program back on track. The Volunteers should run away with this one.

Logan’s pick: Vols

Syracuse Orange (-2.5) @ Purdue Boilermakers

Logan: It’s a little hard to gauge where Syracuse is right now. They have won their two games against Colgate and Western Michigan while making it look like they have the best offense and defense in college football. Purdue has had some tougher opponents and has kept things close throughout their games. I am expecting Purdue to take advantage of playing at home and find a way to win this game.

Logan’s pick: Purdue

Pitt Panthers (-1.5) @ West Virginia Mountaineers

Logan: The Backyard Brawl. Plenty of sweet and sour memories from both teams involved in this rivalry. This one could go either way, especially after Pitt tripped up last week against Cincy. West Virginia is going be out for blood in this one. I will take West Virginia in this one... for no particular reason, I guess I just like their fight song.

Logan’s pick: West Virginia