Professional handicapper Lee Sterling joins Matt Moscona on After Further Review weekly to give his best college football picks of the week. This week Sterling targeted the Southeastern Conference opener and the big game between Texas and Michigan.
South Carolina at Kentucky
South Carolina, I think that with Texas and Oklahoma joining, they’re going to be bottom three almost every single year now. And you watched that game, it was tough to watch. They’re playing Old Dominion, who is dreadful. They average 3.1 yards per carry. LaNorris Sellers, their quarterback, completed 10 for 23 for 114 years and he was sacked four times. They got big problems here.
The path to points for the Gamecocks, I just don’t see it. I mean, Kentucky, I think is going to build the lead. They’re going to force Sellers to pass, create some turnovers, stretch it out.
Kentucky 27, South Carolina 10
Cal at Auburn
I think Auburn went with the game plan: We don’t have a great quarterback, so what we’re going to do is we’re going to put three or four young kids who are really talented around him. We can be pretty good, and that’s what we saw in that game (against Alabama A&M). I think that Auburn is much improved here. I think that Cal, they got this quarterback named Mendoza’s from Miami, went to Columbus High, which is literally like five minutes from my house. I saw him play a couple times. I just don’t think this kid is much of a player. He can’t throw the ball really well with accuracy, can’t make plays with his feet here. They’re just not attracting a high-level athlete now. Jaydn Ott is an incredible senior running back, but I think (Auburn is) going to shut him down here.
Auburn 37, Cal 7
Tennessee vs. NC State
So I think Nico is really good. But here’s the thing, sometimes the better team doesn’t win. It’s all about matchups. So he’s got 7 or 8 receivers, but let me tell you something, this NC State team, if you watched the first three quarters, you’re like thinking “wow, they are not very good.” But I love Grayson McCall and all of a sudden with 14:45 to go in the game he caught fire. He was hurt most of last year. He was a dual-threat quarterback. He only ran five times in the game last week, but he all of a sudden started clicking and it was fun to watch their receiver, Casey Concepcion. I think is better than anything Tennessee has running and catching the ball. Noah Rodgers is very good. Tight end Justin Joly fits in well with this offense here. Even though running back Jordan Walters fumbled three times in the game, I think he’s going to have some success. I think the Vols have an incredible passing game, but it’s the matchup. I think Tennessee’s DB’s are the worst in the SEC. Upset of the weekend. Wrong team favored.
NC State 38, Tennessee 34
Texas at Michigan
I think this is a trap line here. I think Michigan’s going to lose two, three or four games this year. This is not a good overall team. They have a good defense. I think they’re going to hold Texas in check. But I think that Michigan’s going to turn the ball over. Their quarterback. Davis Warren was a walk on. He’s a game manager’s manager. With four touchdown drives last week, well, two were touchdowns, two were field goals. They ranged only from 26 to 47 yards here. Texas’s defense actually plays better on the road, and they’ve covered seven straight non-conference road games.
Texas 28, Michigan 16
