CFB Picks: Army To Run Wolverines Close
Army @ No. 7 Michigan, FOX, 12:00 p.m. ET:
Michigan will look to carry its Week 1 victory into this game against Army.
Quarterback Shea Patterson completed 17-of-29 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns and running back Zach Charbonnet had eight carries for 90 yards in a 40-21 victory over Middle Tennessee.
Army also got a win in its season opener.
Kelvin Hopkins Jr. had 21 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown, and he completed 3-of-8 passes for 53 yards and one touchdown for Army in a 14-7 victory over Rice.
Army won its first five meetings against Michigan, but the Wolverines won the next four games with their last matchup coming way back in 1962.
Michigan is favored to win by 22 points, but Army will look to build off last season when it won 11 games, which is a program record.
I like the Wolverines in this football game, but I believe the Black Knights will cover the 22-point spread.
BYU @ Tennessee, ESPN, 7:00 p.m. ET:
The Volunteers were on the losing end in one of the first upsets of the college football season.
Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns to go along with one interception, but the Georgia State Panthers came away with a 38-30 victory over the Volunteers.
BYU is also coming off a big loss in their opener last week.
Quarterback Zach Wilson didn’t have his best game, as he completed 21-of-33 passes for 208 yards and two interceptions, and they couldn’t get much going on the ground as Ty’Son Williams had only seven carries for 45 yards in a 30-12 loss to No. 14 Utah.
BYU had three turnovers total in the game last Thursday night.
The Volunteers are giving BYU 3.5 points in this game. I believe Tennessee will rebound after a heartbreaking loss to Georgia State last week.
Roll with Tennessee giving the points in this matchup.
No. 23 Stanford @ USC, ESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET:
No. 23 Stanford and USC will square off in a battle between two programs from California.
Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello was knocked out of the game last week against Northwestern, so the Cardinals relied on their running game to pick up the win.
Costello had 152 yards and one touchdown before leaving with an injury but running back Cameron Scarlett had 22 carries for 97 yards, and as a team Stanford piled up 132 rushing yards in a 17-7 win over Northwestern last week.
USC, on the other hand, also came away with a win.
Running back Vavae Malepeai had 23 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown to lead the Trojans’ rushing attack, as they piled up 175 yards as a team in a 31-23 victory over Fresno State.
Wide receiver Tyler Vaughns had 11 receptions for 150 yards in the win.
USC quarterback J.T. Daniels suffered a knee injury and is out for the remainder of the season.
Both Stanford and USC will be without their quarterbacks in this Week 2 showdown. So, USC's Kedon Slovis and Stanford's Davis Mills are expected to make their first career starts in this matchup.
In a game with such little experience at such an important position, I’m going to take the team with the head coach advantage. David Shaw of Stanford is one of the better coaches in all of college football, and I believe he will lead his Cardinals to a road victory over Southern California.
Take Stanford in this one.
Recommended bets
Army +22 points
Tennessee -3.5 points
Stanford +3 points