by The greatest time of the calendar year is here and us fans are in store of a loaded slate of games this weekend. Here are my favorite plays that will hopefully make me a little richer by Sunday morning.
Clemson vs Georgia
My belief in Kirby and the Dogs is substantially high, and I fully expect this to be a classic low-scoring, hard-nosed, control the clock type of UGA game.
Clemson should improve offensively, but unless QB Cabe Klubnik can take a step forward in year two under OC Garrett Riley, I can’t trust him to make enough big plays vs this elite defense. Phil Mafah is a talented runner, but the Tigers can’t keep up if they’re too one-dimensional.
In their last 10 regular-season games against ranked opponents, Georgia has allowed 11.7 PPG and never more than 21 points in any game. They have a top-two defensive line, a pair of NFL linebackers, and a stout secondary led by All-American safety Malaki Starks.
It’s also a quintessential home game for UGA given that it’s taking place in Atlanta, so expect to see a sea of red on Saturday afternoon. If you’re a trend guy, Georgia is 6-3 ATS in its previous nine season openers, too.
The play: Georgia -11
Penn State at West Virginia
I completely flipped my prediction for this game. All offseason I said that WVU will give the Nittany Lions fits and might pull off the upset (which they still can), but then my inner-PSU fandom kicked in.
I also remembered how good James Franklin is covering as a favorite. WVU is a talented team who will have the hostile home crowd to their advantage, but PSU is the better team, especially on defense. I love the Andy Kotelnicki hire at OC and believe he will help Drew Allar and this offense be more explosive. I still need to see a WR emerge and be a game changer, but I trust my gut on this pick. Besides, WVU is getting a little too much respect here; they lost by 20+ points in each of the three games vs AP Top 25 opponents they faced last year. Close at first but PSU runs away with it late.
The play: PSU –7
SAM HOUSTON STATE AT RICE
The only sicko game bet I have on my card this week. Sam Houston State was one of the worst FBS programs is the country last season and is on the road against a Rice team who is a sneaky AAC contender. The Owls have one of the top QB-RB duos in the conference with Temple transfer EJ Warner (Kurt’s son), who led the AAC with 307 pass yds/game in 2023, and workhorse Dean Connors.
The play: Rice -8.5
Notre Dame at Texas A&M
The big narrative surrounding this game is how the Fighting Irish lost their new starting left tackle Charles Jagusah for the season after he suffered a torn pec in fall camp. The depth is obviously now a major question mark and it doesn’t help that the ND line will have to block elite edge rusher Nic Scourton all game long.
To make matters worse, QB Riley Leonard will be game planned by a familiar face in his former head coach Mike Elko — a defensive guru — and isn’t a great thrower. With that, expect ND to lean heavy on the run game.
On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame has one of the best defenses in the nation and will carry the Irish all season long. QB Weigman is solid, but has yet to face a top-notch defense in his college career (only 9 total starts).
I’m feeling a 17-13 kind of game here.
The play: Under 48.5 | 1H U 23.5
