Bru's Clues: Week 5 College Football Picks

We’re still making money thanks to the fact that Savannah State has a football program. After a 3-2 week four, the Bru’s Clues picks are now 11-7 overall.

Here’s what I learned in week four: It’s a bad idea to drink excessively in the Florida heat, unless you’re going to have to watch the Gators and Volunteers offense.

I went back to Gainesville for my first game as a fan in a couple years. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning and woke up at 7:30 a.m. Unfortunately, the “present” couldn’t be unwrapped for another eight hours, so I unwrapped copious amounts of alcohol. Beers, a couple bloody marys, and fireball whiskey were mixed together with a minimal amount of food.

Thankfully I was fully lubricated by kickoff, so most of the first quarter didn’t stick. This is what I “missed”: botched snap by Kyle Christy, Tennessee fumble, Driskel pick-6 and injury, another Tennessee fumble. Sounds blissful.

Let’s get to this week’s games, which I will be watching fully sober.

South Carolina – UCF

This is arguably the biggest game in UCF history and there is going to be a packed house on hand to watch it. If you can’t find a ticket or don’t want to dish out $100 on StubHub you can watch the game on Channel 9. If you’re going to be doing some early morning tailgating, I once again suggest the “Shazam” (orange or grapefruit juice, vodka and champagne).

The UCF offense is every bit as good as South Carolina’s. Blake Bortles is an NFL talent with receivers that would likely be starting at just about every other program. The Gamecocks do have Jadeveon Clowney, but he’s been underwhelming this year due to bone spurs and conditioning issues.

The defense for UCF is what scares me about this matchup. They gave up nearly 200 yards on the ground to a Penn State team, that doesn’t have nearly the horses that South Carolina does. Mike Davis and Shaw are a scary 1-2 punch in the read-option.

Pick: UCF hangs tough early, but can't cover the seven points. South Carolina 31 – UCF 21

Florida State – Boston College

The Seminoles-Eagles showdown can be seen on Channel 9 right after UCF-South Carolina. Florida State looks scary good and should be ranked much higher than 8^th.

Boston College has a senior quarterback and the top rusher in the ACC, Andre Williams, but the FSU defense looks perfectly fine without all that NFL talent that was lost from 2012.

The Florida State offense shouldn’t have much of an issue moving the ball on Boston College. The Eagles gave up more than 250 yards rushing to USC and Florida State’s running game is terrifying. They’ve run for 643 yards the past two weeks. It’s no coincidence that Karlos Williams moved to running back two weeks ago. The Seminoles also have Famous Jameis under center.

Pick: Florida State goes on the road and thrashes Boston College, covering the 21.5 point spread. FSU 38 – Boston College 7

Florida – Kentucky

The news continues to get worse and worse for the Gators. After losing Jeff Driskel for the season to a broken fibula, Dominique Easley tore the ACL in his right knee on Tuesday.

The good news for Will Muschamp, Tyler Murphy and the rest of the Gators is that they get to face Kentucky this weekend. Florida has beat the Wildcats 26 straight times.

Mark Stoops has the Wildcats moving in the right direction, thanks to recruiting the state of Florida heavily. Central Florida natives JoJo Kemp and Jeff Badet have already had an impact for Kentucky, but don’t look for much from the Wildcat offense on Saturday. Even without Easley, the Gators should not have much of a problem slowing down the Big Blue offense. Kentucky quarterback Maxwell Smith is also nursing a sore shoulder.

Everyone has already said it, but I want to pile on. Kudos to Tyler Murphy for sticking it out as a backup for four years and then taking advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself. I expect Brent Pease and Muschamp to go even more conservative with Murphy than they have in the past. Mack Brown, Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor better be ready to tote the rock over and over and over again.

Pick: Florida wins another ugly one and for the first time all year covers the 13.5 point spread. Florida 21 – Kentucky 6

Miami – South Florida

South Florida is not as bad as Savannah State, but they could very well be the worst team in the FBS. I openly lauded the hiring of Willie Taggart, but right now it’s not looking good for the first-year head coach. The Bulls have been outscored 102-37 in their three losses and those losses were to Michigan State, McNeese State and Florida Atlantic.

Miami avoided a scare when quarterback Stephen Morris left this past Saturday’s game against Savannah State with an ankle injury. It’s being called a bone bruise and Morris says that he will play this weekend.

Pick: Miami is much better than all of USF's previous opponents, but somehow are only favored by 19.5. Miami 40 – USF 7

LSU – Georgia

There are a number of great matchups on the slate this weekend, including another monster showdown in the SEC. This will be Georgia’s third matchup with a top ten opponent and last I checked the calendar still reads September.

Zach Mettenberger continues to impress, but I’m going with Aaron Murray in this one between the hedges.

Pick: Georgia finally makes me looks smart, covers the 2.5 point spread and wins by a field goal at home. LSU 31 – Georgia 34

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