FTRS Picks Week 5: Finding Footing

By Logan Sandor Sep 26, 2023, 10:00am EDT

NCAA Football: Georgia Tech at Wake Forest

Week 4 had plenty of close spread games, but that didn’t stop most of the pickers from knowing which teams would come out on top results from the week.

4 way tie at the top this week with 9 correct picks had some new faces and some old faces. We had wsecor, GTbadCarma, kjjrb55, and dakotabull. Great job guys, clearly you know your college football.

Our overall score leader remains a tie between 2 people, although one of the people in question is new. Ched C. remains on top and kjjrb55 has jumped up with his performance last week to lead with 32 correct picks on the year.

In our never ending following of the Colorado Buffaloes and Coach Prime, the Buffaloes got destroyed by Oregon. I’m not sure if Oregon is that good of a team or if the Ducks just came into this game with the plan that they were going to show no mercy, but my goodness, that was a hard game to watch. Time will tell how the bandwagon fans nationwide will react to this devastating loss for a Colorado team most people forgot existed last year.

Notre Dame seems to have given away a game against Ohio State. Don’t get me wrong, both Ohio State and Notre Dame looked like championship contenders in the game, until Notre Dame made some questionable play calls and struggled to keep 11 people on the defensive side of the ball at the end of the game. In other top team news, Bama looked decent in a game, Texas and Michigan won games they should win, FSU found a way to stay alive against Clemson, and uga doesn’t schedule anyone worth playing until the back half of the season.

We won! I hesitate to say we looked good doing it, but hey a win is a win. Jackets did what I was hoping, they got some pressure on the QB and forced him into making turnovers. We did give up nearly a football field and a half worth of penalties, so we definitely needed those turnovers. King and the rest of the offense continue to look good. Hopefully the win against Wake gives us the footing the push forward and win in our next matchups. We need some strong ground to stand on moving forward, and we seem to have found the foundation we need to compete.

picks:

Bowling Green Falcons @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-20.5)

Logan: Y’all know what this is. I don’t want to get overconfident (we’ve seen how that can go) but Bowling Green doesn’t have a great offense. The Falcon’s QB has currently thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Bowling Green doesn’t have a great defense either, they have given up more than 30 points in every game they have played this year. The only reason their stats look good on defense is because the offenses can only get so many yards after getting the ball in BG’s half of the field. Georgia Tech should win this, so this becomes a question of can we meet the spread. I still struggle to get out of the mentality of the past 3 years which tells me not to be excited, but I have no reason to believe Tech won’t win by more than 20 points.

Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech

Louisville Cardinals (-3.0) @ NC State Wolfpack

Logan: Time to take a look back at our “rivals” from week 1. Louisville is one of a few teams currently trying to stay atop the ACC in Clemson’s absence. This week they get a Wolfpack team which struggles on the road at Virginia. The fact of the matter is that Louisville’s offense is overpowering. Being at home might help the Wolfpack, but I can’t see a situation in which Louisville doesn’t win this game by at least a FG. I’ll take Louisville.

Logan’s pick: Louisville

#10 Utah Utes @ #19 Oregon State Beavers (-3.0)

Logan: I feel bad here. I really like Oregon State, and they have a good story going for them this year. At least they did before losing to Washington State last week. Now that Utah is starting to put things together on offense and defense I struggle to see most teams in the PAC-12 challenging them. I just don’t know if I can trust a pick for the beavers right now, I’ll take Utah.

Logan’s pick: Utah

#22 Florida Gators @ Kentucky Wildcats (-2.5)

Logan: I don’t know what to make of the Gators after they slapped Tennessee in the face. Florida is better than I have given them credit for, clearly, but how good are they exactly? Statistically UF is better on offense and defense than Kentucky, so despite Kentucky having a hot start and a talented team I guess I’ll give picking Florida a shot.

Logan’s pick: Florida

Clemson Tigers (-6.5) @ Syracuse Orange

Logan: A chance to get a look at two upcoming opponents for us. According to ESPN’s game analyzer Syracuse is expected to win this game despite Clemson being the points favorite. I think people may be getting ahead of themselves a bit in assuming Clemson has fallen apart, similar to what happened with Bama. Clemson is still Clemson despite being on the road this week and having 2 losses. I think Syracuse has a chance to cover but I’m going to stick with my opinion that Clemson should prove they should be taken seriously and win game handily.

Logan’s pick: Clemson

#24 Kansas Jayhawks @ #3 Texas Longhorns (-17.0)

Logan: Kansas and UT have some fun history regarding unusual upsets. Despite that history the Longhorns currently look like a playoff team and I just don’t see how Kansas is going to keep this one close. I don’t think the Longhorns get caught off guard here, this may be reminiscent of the Colorado game last week. Texas is the smart pick and that’s the one I’m going with.

Logan’s pick: Texas

#23 Mizzou Tigers (-13.0) @ Vanderbilt Commodores

Logan: It’s been 4 years since Mizzou was last ranked in the top 25. Mizzou comes into this game as an overwhelming favorite against Vandy, and it makes a lot of sense. I’m kind of hoping Mizzou keeps this run going, because they could challenge for the SEC East if they continue the pace they are on.

Logan’s pick: Mizzou

South Carolina Gamecocks @ #21 Tennessee Volunteers (-11.5)

Logan: In other SEC East news, both South Carolina and Tennessee are looking to re-establish themselves as teams who deserve the hype they are getting. I think South Carolina has a talented QB in Ridder, and sometimes that is all you need to be competitive in a game. I think The Vols are going to have a tough fight on their hands in this matchup. I’ll take the Gamecocks to at least cover.

Logan’s pick: South Carolina

#7 Washington Huskies (-17.5) @ Arizona Wildcats

Logan: We haven’t talked much about Washington this year. That might be because Washington has won all of their games by at least 27 points, so there isn’t much to say. Washington is great on both sides of the ball and is highlighted by a Heisman frontrunner at QB in Michael Penix Jr. So basically I spent this whole pick just to hype up how good Washington is and how they will win this game big... sorry Arizona.

Logan’s pick: Washington

#13 LSU Tigers (-3.0) @ #20 Ole Miss Rebels

Logan: I could go either way on this one. Both teams are good, but neither team has shown they have the competitive edge to be at a championship level. Both teams have similar statistics from their past games, and both teams have struggled in certain matchups. I guess my one thing that sticks out in my mind is how lost Ole Miss looked last week against Bama. They just couldn’t seem to find the offense needed against what is, ultimately, a mediocre Bama team this year. I’ll give LSU the edge in this one.

Logan’s pick: LSU

#11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-5.5) @ #17 Duke Blue Devils

Logan: If you told me this would be a premier match at the start of the year I would have thought you were crazy. This week we find out if Duke is for real. As good as both teams have been on offense, their defense has been the standout in big games thus far. I think Duke can actually pull the upset as long as they manage to control the ball like they did against Clemson. This game is gonna be wild, I’ll take the Blue Devils to at least cover, because what fun is life without a little chaos.

Logan’s pick: Duke