Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
The 2021 college football season heated up in a major way last weekend, when Alabama fell to Texas A&M and Oklahoma vs Texas produced an instant classic. What will this week do for an encore? Are there additional upsets in store?
Let’s take a look at some underdogs who can be expected to cover the spread or win outright.
California Golden Bears +14 over Oregon Ducks
California’s offense is led by quarterback Chase Garbers and a passing attack that averages 249 yards per game. The Golden Bears’ scoring has been dependent on Garbers’ performance, as they have produced at least 24 points in the three games in which he has thrown for at least 275 yards. Oregon lost safety Bennett Williams to a season-ending injury earlier this month, so the secondary may be hard-pressed to contain Garbers and company. On the other side of the ball, the Ducks also saw leading rusher CJ Verdell go down with a season-ending injury. California heads into this road contest coming off of back-to-back losses to Washington and Washington State, which is why you can get the visitors with a 2-touchdown spread. Against a reeling Oregon squad, that should be enough to cover. The Ducks are just 1-4 ATS this season and have won by double-digits only against Stony Brook and Arizona (who are a combined 0-11). California is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games as a road underdog.
Check out our full game preview
Virginia Tech +5 over Pittsburgh Panthers
Pittsburgh has to go on the road to Lane Stadium for this ACC matchup with Virginia Tech. The Panthers’ offense has been on a roll, but their defense is the area of concern. Although on paper it appears to be strong (22.6 ppg allowed), the average is inflated due to blowout wins against UMass and New Hampshire in which they allowed a combined 14 points. Virginia Tech gets its third home game in a row and it is coming off a heartbreaking 32-29 loss to Notre Dame. The Hokies really should have won but squandered an 8-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Still, that is a relatively encouraging result for Virginia Tech and should give it confidence heading into this weekend. The Hokies’ defense is allowing just 18.6 points and 196 passing yards per game. Virginia Tech has played every opponent tough at home as it normally does and this one seems like it will be decided by a field goal.
UCLA Bruins ML over Washington Huskies
One month ago, UCLA and Washington were trending in completely different directions. Head coach Chip Kelly’s team blew Hawaii off the field to open the regular season before announcing itself as a serious PAC-12 contender with a dominant victory over LSU. Since that point, it has been a much different season for the Bruins. UCLA fell to Fresno State in an instant classic before falling to Arizona State two weeks later for the Bruins’ first conference loss in 2021. That’s why you can get the Bruins as underdogs, and it is a bet worth making. Washington is slowly climbing its way out of an early-season hole, but things are still a work in progress. The Huskies have not got anything out of their passing game with Dylan Morris at quarterback, and while the Huskies’ defense has been above average in terms of points allowed they are still surrendering nearly 5 yards per carry on the ground. That doesn’t bode well against a UCLA side that is clearly a run-first team.
Check out all of our Week 7 college football predictions
At Pickswise we offer free expert College Football Picks and College Football Predictions for all games in the Power Five conferences and the top 25 teams outside of Power five, including our College Football Parlay picks each week.
