Kyle’s College Football Picks: So good you can feel at ease taking them to Vegas (well, not really)

We deliver to you a game, the spread, which team we are each taking and why.

Please note: Parentheses by a team name denote its current ranking. All point spreads are current as of September 13^th  

Favorite	Underdog	Spread
@ Alabama (1)	Arkansas	20.5

The pick: Alabama

The Razorbacks lost to who last week? No. I don’t believe it.

(searching Internet for the truth….)

Whoa! Unbelievable! Arkansas, ranked No. 8 in the country lost to Louisiana-Monroe, a program that has consistently gone .500 or worse since joining the FCS in 1994. The Warhawks slogged through the last two seasons going 9-15. In contrast, the Razorbacks were 21-5.

After starting quarterback Tyler Wilson left the game at halftime with an apparent head injury, Arkansas embarrassingly blew a 28-7 lead, and Razorback backup Brandon Allen completed 6 of 20 passing attempts. Meanwhile, Warhawks’ quarterback Kolton Browning connected on 42 of his 67 passes for 412 yards. Where was that vaunted SEC defense?

There are big upsets (Iowa State over Oklahoma State, 2011) and then there are shocking upsets (App. State over Michigan, 2007). The Razorbacks loss to Louisiana-Monroe falls somewhere in between. Personally, I’d like to think this is a bit of karma coming back to John L. Smith after he abandoned Weber State, his alma mater, after only a few months on the job to accept Arkansas’ vacancy following a certain motorcycle accident.

Picking this game is easy if you ignore the three touchdown point spread … Roll Tide.

But that’s not the service we provide here. No, instead we give you rock solid whatever-you-do-don’t-actually-take-on-this-bet picks and here at Kyle Franko’s ISJ blog, we believe in the power of home-field advantage.

But Wilson’s status versus Alabama is unknown, and it feels like the safe bet is giving up the 20.5 points and taking the Alabama.

Favorite	Underdog	Spread
@ Boise State	Miami (OH, not the dirty one)	21.0

Kyle: Boise State

Hmmmm… the Broncos lose under Chris Peterson for only the seventh time in his head coaching tenure. With two weeks to stew over that, now BSU hosts 1-1 Miami (not the dirty one) in Boise.

Give up the points and take the Broncos.

Favorite	Underdog	Spread
@ Michigan State (10)	(20) Notre Dame	6.0

Kyle: Notre Dame

We have two weaknesses here at Kyle Franko’s ISJ blog. The first is doughnuts. The second is Notre Dame football.

When confronted with “choosing” a team many years ago, a young catholic boy was pointed in the direction of South Bend (from 1,600 miles away), and with the purchase of one ball cap a love was born.

This love is steadfast, even in the face of constant losing, disappointment and three years of JimmyClausen. In any relationship there a lot of ups and downs, sadly, we are still waiting for the ups.

So what is the chance that the Fighting Irish start the season 3-0, and avenge a fake punt turned game winning touchdown from the last time Notre Dame visited Spartan Stadium?

Well, in Notre Dame’s first game against Navy, a 50-10 shellacking, the Irish ran for 293 yards behind a bruising, experienced offensive line. For any first year starting quarterback, a running game like that is comforting like hot chocolate on a cold, wintery day.

But after rushing the ball 45 times on the Midshipmen, Notre Dame handed it off to its running backs only 21 times against Purdue.

Granted, Purdue is not Navy but it seemed like Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly had found a definitive offensive style in Dublin that was much more like Stanford (run first, two tight end formations) than Notre Dame circa 2011 (spread offense, chuck the ball 40 times a game).

Against Michigan State, on the road, the Irish might need that running game at full speed.

(Oh, and can Notre Dame stop the guy who ran the ball 44 times for 210 yard and two touchdowns against Boise State?)

Favorite	Underdog	Spread
@ Tennessee (23)	(18) Florida	3.0

Kyle: Tennessee

Equation of the week!

Gator bait + Tyler Bray (74 percent completion percentage and six passing touchdowns in two games) + 100,000 screaming, orange clad Volunteer fans = Tennessee victory

Favorite	Underdog	Spread
@ LSU (2)	Idaho	42.5

The pick: LSU

This is a tricky game. LSU only won by 43 points twice last season (49-3 over Northwestern State and 52-3 against Ole Miss).

After beating the Washington Huskies handily 41-3 last week, and with the Tigers’ first SEC game against Auburn looming, we don’t see the Tigers taking the field with the mission to pulverize the Vandals (on the scoreboard).

But Idaho – breaking news alert! – really stinks. The Vandals managed only 237 total yards versus Eastern in week one. Against Bowling Green Saturday, Idaho did throw for 358 yards but had six yards via the ground attack. That lack of balance in Baton Rouge leads us to think that the Tigers win 49-3.