CFB Picks: Week Five

There are plenty of good games across the college football slate this weekend. Our staff picked the winners, and I will guarantee that we all got at least one pick right! Let’s see who the staff picked to grab a “W” this weekend.

Baylor @ West Virginia

Baylor started the Dave Aranda era off on the right foot with a big win over Kansas. The Bears won 47-14 after Tristan Ebner scored a rushing touchdown, receiving touchdown, and returned TWO kicks for touchdowns. That’s an all around player right there. It’s hard to take too much from a Kansas game but Baylor looked pretty good.

West Virginia fell to Oklahoma State 27-13 on the road. The Mountaineers struggled to get their offense going after falling behind 17-0 in the first half. Jarret Doege passed for 285 yards and a score and Leddie Brown rushed for over 100 yards, but West Virginia has to finish drives against Baylor if it wants to win. 13 points will not get it done, especially not in the Big 12.

I have Baylor in this one, and so does Matt, but the rest of the staff is going with West Virginia. This should be an interesting matchup and a relatively close game. I am excited to see Baylor play a better football team than Kansas, and to see how West Virginia responds to the loss against OSU. You can watch this one at 11:00 on ABC.

TCU @ (9) Texas

Both TCU and Texas were involved in close, high-scoring affairs last weekend. TCU lost by three to Iowa State at home in its first game of the season. Texas mounted a furious comeback to beat Texas Tech in overtime. TCU would like to avoid an 0-2 start to the season. Texas would like to remain unbeaten with OU already adding a mark in the loss column.

TCU struggled to get its offense going in the first half with Matthew Downing at quarterback. Max Duggan helped ignite the offense in the second half, passing for three touchdowns to give TCU a chance. It was too little too late as the TCU defense couldn’t mount enough stops.

I thought Texas would win big and instead the Longhorns barely survived in overtime of a WILD game. Texas looked to be all but finished, down 56-41 with three minutes left in the game. Then Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman felt confident enough to flash the horns down and it was all downhill for the Red Raiders from there. Texas scored three unanswered touchdowns, the last one in overtime, to defeat Texas Tech 63-56.

Simply put, our staff has Texas in this one. The Longhorns are at home and I don’t think the TCU offense can keep up with Sam Ehlinger and the Texas offense. That being said, the Texas defense concerns me after its performance last weekend and if the TCU defense can keep the Horned Frogs in the game, Texas could be on upset alert in this one.

(17) Oklahoma State @ Kansas

The most interesting part of this game will likely be the quarterback play for Oklahoma State. Do the Cowboys start Spencer Sanders, who is still dealing with an ankle injury? Or is it back to the freshman Shane Illingworth. Oklahoma State should win this one handily no matter who starts. It would be nice to get another look at Illingworth, who won his first Big 12 game last weekend.

Kansas lost to Baylor last weekend and it wasn’t close. The Jayhawks are still struggling to get much of anything going in the passing game. Pooka Williams Jr. is a talented back but it’s just not enough to be competitive in the Big 12.

Oklahoma State defeated West Virginia with a conservative offensive gameplan last weekend. It will be interesting to see if the Cowboys open up the playbook more if Illingworth gets the start against Kansas. The defense has looked great for Oklahoma State and that should continue against a floundering Kansas offense.

Our entire staff has Oklahoma State over Kansas. The Cowboys should roll to 2-0 in Big 12 play with a win in Lawrence today.

Texas Tech @ Kansas State

Texas Tech will be looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss against Texas. Kansas State will be looking to build on its road win at Oklahoma from last weekend. The Texas Tech offense looked better last weekend and Bowman can sling it. The Red Raiders have a good receiving corps and the offense is the strength of this team as always.

Kansas State avenged a terrible opening loss to Arkansas State with an impressive road win at Oklahoma. Bowman has a little more experience than Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler though. I don’t think the Wildcats will be able to come from behind in this one. On the other hand, I don’t think the Wildcats fall behind by many points today.

I have Kansas State in this one, and so does Robert. The rest of the staff has Texas Tech picking up a big road win. This should be an interesting game and I anticipate it being close. This one is a 2:30 kickoff on FS1.

(18) Oklahoma @ Iowa State

That leaves the game of the weekend in the Big 12. Oklahoma desperately needs a bounce back win. Iowa State wants to remain perfect in the Big 12 play. Pressure on Oklahoma. On the road in Ames. Night game. Packed stadium....wait, sorry. Forget that last part.

Oklahoma blew a home lead against Kansas State last weekend. The Sooners were outscored 17-0 in the 4th quarter and lost 38-35. Spencer Rattler was impressive for most of the game but looked like a freshman at the end. He will be a great college quarterback but that doesn’t mean he won’t make the same mistakes great freshman have made before him. Nobody really remembers Kyler Murray’s stint at Texas A&M. But tonight will be a big test for Rattler and the Sooners.

Iowa State is actually 0-1 at home this season. Maybe that’s the effect of not having a packed stadium in Ames? The Cyclones defeated TCU on the road last week by a score of 37-34 despite one of the worst interceptions I have ever seen from Brock Purdy. Iowa State could use a win tonight over Oklahoma, and I expect the Cyclones to be competitive.

Our staff has Oklahoma in this one. Rattler might struggle at times but I think Lincoln Riley’s squad will pull out a win by whatever means necessary. It also helps not having a packed stadium in Ames. We all know what Jack Trice Stadium has done to the Big 12 historically.

As for the rest of the nation, the SEC has a pretty interesting slate today. Texas A&M plays Alabama. Auburn travels to Georgia. I am also looking forward to SMU’s showdown with Memphis. Let’s take a look at some of our staff picks from around the nation.