College Football Week 7 Pick Em: Bama, Georgia, Penn State, and Wisconsin locks

No. 1 Alabama (-16.5, 61) at No. 21 Texas A&M

Texas A&M had a bye week after their last outing against
Arkansas 31-27 at AT&T Stadium following up a home loss to Auburn 28-20. Alabama
is 9-2 against Texas A&M, including a 4-0 mark at College Station. The last
time A&M beat Alabama was in 2012 with Johnny Manziel at quarterback.  

Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t been intercepted this season and has 16 touchdown passes. Tua has also completed 76.4 percent of his passes for 1,718 yards with most of that damage going to Jerry Jeudy. Jeudy has caught at least six passes in every game this season and will likely do so again. Alabama has scored 42 or more in every game this season and averages slightly over 51 so expect lots of points.

Prediction: Alabama -16.5 / Over 61

Michigan State at No. 8 Wisconsin (-10.5, 40.5)

Wisconsin is holding opposing quarterbacks to 44.6 percent
completions and offenses to 3.0 yards per play; both marks are the best in the country.
The Badgers have allowed 29 points in five games posting three shutouts. Only
Northwestern (15) and Michigan (14) have scored on the undefeated Badgers.

Michigan State is coming off a 34-10 loss to Ohio State after posting 31 points in consecutive wins against Indiana and Northwestern. Michigan State’s offense will be overmatched on Saturday and the defense will try to be the first to stop James Taylor (745 YDS, 12 TDS). Michigan State and the Underdog is 5-0 ATS in the last five matchups between the two.

The over has gone 6-1 in Wisconsin the last seven games in Madison. I don’t think Wisconsin’s defense lets Michigan State past 20 points making the under convincing. This Wisconsin defense is a different animal but I like the Badgers chances to get to 30 points more then Sparty’s chance to get to 20.

Prediction: Wisconsin -10.5

No. 9 Penn State (-3, 42) at No. 18 Iowa

Penn State has won five straight games versus Iowa and is currently riding the play of quarterback Sean Clifford and their running back committee. Clifford ranks second among Big Ten passers with 1,443 yards and is third with 12 touchdowns. The only team that gave Penn State issues was Pitt, escaping Beaver Stadium with a 17-10 win. Penn State has beaten Iowa by combined eight points the past two games and 4-1 ATS vs Iowa in the past five wins against the Hawkeyes.

Iowa is coming off a 10-3 loss to Michigan giving the
Hawkeyes their first loss of the year. Both teams run the ball very well, Penn
State is averaging 194.0 yards per game on the ground while Iowa is averaging
174.2 per game. Iowa ranks second in FBS in time of possession so expect them
to try to run the ball and control the clock from the start. Iowa should score
more than three points at home, but won’t manage much against a tough Nittany
Lions defense.

Prediction: Penn State -3

South Carolina at No. 3 Georgia (-24.5,
52.5)

The over has gone 5-1 in the last six meetings and 4-1 in Georgia. The Bulldogs beat the Gamecocks 41-17 at South Carolina last season. This time shouldn’t be much different. UGA is looking like a championship team that can take Alabama and Clemson head-on.

South Carolina holds a 5-4 advantage over the last decade and over the last 10 meetings the winning team has scored 35 points or more. I like Georgia to win this one and take their team total of 37.5. The spread is a bit high based on last season’s meeting while the over/under is all based on how much of a fight South Carolina puts up. I think the Gamecocks can get two touchdowns and the Bulldogs put up 38, but I’d tease down somewhere between 48-50.

Prediction: Over 48 / Georgia Team Total Over 37.5

As always, good luck this Saturday and follow Vaughn on Twitter @VaughnDalzell if you have college football questions or comment below what you thought of this week’s pick ’em.