2019 College Football: Week 4: Picks and Viewers Guide

Week 4 is upon us and this here is the week we’ve all been waiting for. Multiple ranked vs ranked matchups, lots of intrigue, and a better understanding of the shape of the season.

Weekday Slate (Thursday & Friday)

Utah at USC (8:00 pm, FS1)

Will USC lose back to back games to the state of Utah?  Will the Utes smell leftover BYU on the Trojans? Did this get oddly sexual? Will this be USC’s Swann song? Maybe, but more importantly a USC win is devastating for the Pac-12 and that’s saying a lot.

Air Force at Boise State (8:00 pm, ESPN2)

Air Force upset Colorado last week and because they play a unique brand of football and are difficult to prepare for in the middle of a schedule and mid-week. I still like Boise State in this one but it’s going to be a skittish affair.

Early Slate (11:00 am – 1:00 pm)

Michigan at Wisconsin (11:00 am, FOX)

Michigan/Wisconsin is the headliner of the early slate with Wisconsin being all the way back up to speed keeping inferior opponents to exactly 0 points in two games. Michigan showed flaws against Army on both sides of the ball far too often and if they look leaky on the ground against the Badgers Jonathan Taylor will run roughshod in Camp Randall on Saturday.

Tennessee at Florida (11:00 am, ESPN)

Florida/Tennessee isn’t sexy and probably won’t be a good game but it’s a second rivalry game in as many weeks and Florida is still starting an inexperienced QB. I’m mostly watching for silliness and to get a better idea of how underwhelming the SEC might be this season.

Louisiana at Ohio (11:00 am, ESPN+)

A mid-major matchup with two equal teams that have Sun Belt and MAC aspirations. Louisiana gave Mississippi State a scare week 1 and have handled Liberty and Texas Southern in the latest weeks. Ohio gave a good Marshall team a run last week, was minorly disappointing against Pitt and beat a perennially good FCS team in Rhode Island handily week 1. Have This game on a computer to keep an eye and see some solid mid-major ball.

California at Mississippi (11:00 am, ESPNU)

An early game cross country for California but the quality of their defense will be a real test for a surprisingly good Ole Miss team. The offense will be lacking from Cal but it will be nice to see if the Washington win was a fluke or if the upside of the Bears is higher than it has been in recent years.

Home	Away	Home Rating	Away Rating	My Spread	Win%	Date	Time	TV
Tulane	Houston	3.421	-6.254	11.468	62.5%	9/19	19:00	ESPN
Louisiana Tech	FIU	-3.983	-6.997	5.028	55.7%	9/20	19:00	CBSSN
USC	Utah	7.670	22.413	-10.805	61.8%	9/20	20:00	FS1
Boise State	Air Force	12.888	1.477	14.410	65.6%	9/20	20:00	ESPN2
Alabama	Southern Miss	37.926	3.528	39.901	92.9%	9/21	11:00	ESPN2
Vanderbilt	LSU	1.734	27.155	-22.739	74.4%	9/21	11:00	SECN
Florida	Tennessee	24.346	-0.808	30.201	82.4%	9/21	11:00	ESPN
Northwestern	Michigan State	7.453	14.493	-4.431	55.1%	9/21	11:00	ABC
Iowa State	ULM	7.128	-2.804	13.806	65.0%	9/21	11:00	FS1
Syracuse	Western Michigan	9.856	5.705	6.541	57.3%	9/21	11:00	ACCN
Rutgers	Boston College	-13.113	-1.335	-8.694	59.6%	9/21	11:00	BTN
Wake Forest	Elon	12.787	-22.636	38.291	-	9/21	11:00	ACCN
Mississippi	California	-2.099	8.467	-6.433	57.2%	9/21	11:00	ESPNU
Indiana	Connecticut	7.951	-17.898	29.052	81.2%	9/21	11:00	BTN
Wisconsin	Michigan	10.424	24.178	-8.984	59.9%	9/21	11:00	FOX
Army	Morgan State	8.443	-22.636	33.889	-	9/21	11:00	CBSSN
UMASS	Coastal Carolina	-30.777	-5.952	-23.800	75.6%	9/21	12:00	-
Ohio	Louisiana	-6.580	0.584	-4.669	55.3%	9/21	13:00	ESPN+
Akron	Troy	-29.570	-3.002	-25.140	77.0%	9/21	14:00	ESPN+
Eastern Michigan	Central Conn	-1.198	-22.636	22.472	-	9/21	14:00	ESPN3
Ohio State	Miami (OH)	33.375	-10.485	49.604	100.0%	9/21	14:30	BTN
Texas A&M	Auburn	17.164	22.547	-0.176	50.6%	9/21	14:30	CBS
BYU	Washington	6.682	9.714	0.819	51.3%	9/21	14:30	ABC/ESPN2
Pittsburgh	UCF	5.145	23.342	-15.771	67.0%	9/21	14:30	ABC/ESPN2
Florida State	Louisville	3.867	3.335	4.911	55.6%	9/21	14:30	ESPN
North Carolina	Appalachian State	-2.310	11.396	-10.389	61.4%	9/21	14:30	ACCN
TCU	SMU	11.620	5.750	9.656	60.6%	9/21	14:30	FS1
Buffalo	Temple	-9.211	4.492	-12.466	63.5%	9/21	14:30	ESPNU
Tulsa	Wyoming	-9.468	4.984	-13.051	64.2%	9/21	14:30	CBSSN
Kent State	Bowling Green	-15.119	-25.286	11.200	62.2%	9/21	14:30	ESPN3
UAB	South Alabama	-2.788	-23.113	21.468	73.1%	9/21	14:30	NFL
Miami (FL)	Central Michigan	1.785	-20.631	26.194	78.1%	9/21	15:00	ACCN
Mississippi State	Kentucky	11.825	11.620	4.286	54.9%	9/21	15:00	SECN
Missouri	South Carolina	14.893	6.052	12.135	63.2%	9/21	15:00	SECN
New Mexico	New Mexico State	-18.820	-16.991	-0.320	50.8%	9/21	15:30	-
Kansas	West Virginia	-6.416	6.674	-11.397	62.4%	9/21	15:50	ESPN+
East Carolina	William & Mary	-14.837	-22.636	10.762	-	9/21	17:00	ESPN3
Liberty	Hampton	-7.250	-22.636	17.128	-	9/21	17:00	ESPN+
FAU	Wagner	-8.195	-22.636	15.795	-	9/21	17:00	ESPN+
Stanford	Oregon	7.276	11.781	-0.847	51.3%	9/21	18:00	ESPN
NC State	Ball State	5.165	-14.194	23.503	75.3%	9/21	18:00	ESPNU
Virginia	Old Dominion	13.594	-22.261	38.399	91.3%	9/21	18:00	ESPN2
Texas State	Georgia State	-17.218	-5.314	-10.345	61.3%	9/21	18:00	ESPN+
Rice	Baylor	-20.465	10.058	-29.394	81.6%	9/21	18:00	CBSSN
Arkansas State	Southern Illinois	-2.411	-22.636	22.544	-	9/21	18:00	ESPN3
Clemson	Charlotte	40.338	-5.573	50.800	100.0%	9/21	18:30	ACCN
Texas	Oklahoma State	12.763	12.193	5.663	56.4%	9/21	18:30	ABC
North Texas	UTSA	-8.011	-17.561	11.457	62.5%	9/21	18:30	-
Arkansas	San Jose State	-7.433	-19.111	15.826	67.1%	9/21	18;30	SECN
Illinois	Nebraska	-4.609	4.944	-6.873	57.7%	9/21	19:00	BTN
Georgia	Notre Dame	33.474	26.401	12.313	63.4%	9/21	19:00	CBS
UTEP	Nevada	-35.096	-2.828	-31.137	83.4%	9/21	19:00	ESPN3
Arizona State	Colorado	10.776	-3.023	17.341	68.7%	9/21	21:00	P12N
Fresno State	Sacramento State	-0.393	-22.636	24.577	-	9/21	21:00	-
Colorado State	Toledo	-19.018	-3.890	-12.222	63.3%	9/21	21:15	ESPN2
Washington State	UCLA	11.296	-2.983	17.446	68.8%	9/21	21:30	ESPN
San Diego State	Utah State	9.317	1.368	10.060	61.0%	9/21	21:30	CBSSN
Hawaii	Central Arkansas	6.168	-22.636	30.273	-	9/21	22:59	-

Midday Slate (2:00 pm – 3:30 pm)

Auburn at Texas A&M (2:30 pm, CBS)

You know CBS thinks this is the marquee game because it’s in the traditional 2:30 slot. A&M took their licks against Auburn of the Carolinas (Clemson). These teams are more evenly matched than that and this should be an exciting game with good not great offenses. Whichever defense makes the most stops (I lean Auburn) will mark themselves, along with LSU, as the team with the biggest Bama target on their backs.

Kentucky at Mississippi State (3:00 pm, SEC Network)

A battle of two teams with major question marks. For Mississippi State it’s which players will play and which will be serving suspensions, for Kentucky it’s how do they respond to the loss to Florida and how their new QB reacts in game two on the road against a conference opponent.

South Carolina at Missouri (3:00 pm, SEC Network)

Helinski has looked really good in relief of Jake Bentley against one terrible and one fantastic opponent. He now heads on the road to face a Missouri team that walloped WVU and lost to Wyoming. It should be a fun SEC test that allows us more clarity about the middle of both divisions.

Washington at BYU (2:30 pm, ABC/ESPN2)

Can BYU keep the non-Utah P5 surprise machine going? Probably not but they should provide a prickly test for Washington who now has to regain the trust of a nation after their second annual loss to Cal.

Appalachian State at North Carolina (2:30 pm, ACC Network)

I need to stop gravitation towards UNC games, but they still puzzle me a bit and App State looks to be handling the start of the post Satterfield era in stride. I think UNC wins this one by the skin of their teeth, but I’m not sure it’s ever as comfortable as most Tar Heels fans will want to see and don’t be surprised if this one goes right to the wire in Chapel Hill.

Evening Slate (5:00 pm – 7:00 pm)

Oregon at Stanford (6:00 pm, ESPN)

The marquee game of five years ago is still interesting if only for an Oregon team that will need to blowout Stanford to prove their bona fides. If Oregon struggles on the road here this team will be doubted for most of the season up until and maybe through winning a division, and a conference.

Oklahoma State at Texas (6:30pm, ABC)

This game intrigues me because I feel like we, or at least I, don’t have a great read on either of these teams. Texas looks to have it’s offense mostly together but the defense needs work and they need to improve their consistency across the board. Oklahoma State looked like it was going to blow out Tulsa at several points last week but toyed with them through half time before pulling away in the second half.

Notre Dame at Georgia (7:00 pm, CBS)

This one should confirm what we already know: 1) Notre Dame is good. 2) Georgia is better.

Georgia State at Texas State (6:00 pm, ESPN+)

Your laptop/2^nd screen/G5 game of the evening is Georgia State and Texas State. Both are middling at best but should put on a close exciting finish as the other games are being put away or are completely out of hand.

Late Night Slate (9:00 pm – Midnight)

Colorado at Arizona State (9:00 pm, Pac-12 Network)

It’s #Pac12AfterDark with two teams that are… something. Colorado has a win against Nebraska and a loss to Air Force. Arizona State beat Michigan State last week in a game not quite fit for human consumption and remains undefeated. This is either going to be really entertaining, or a very close game that none of us are happy we stayed up for.

Utah State at San Diego State (9:30pm, CBSSN)

San Diego State’s offense has been, less than enjoyable for much of the season but it once again fields one of the most efficient defensive units in the country. That stellar defense get’s a pretty great test this week with a visit from Utah State and Jordan Love. Love has first round potential and instead of watching poor Pac-12 football watch his face a stiff test in a conference road game.