Free College Football Picks For Today 9/3/2021
More College Football Picks Predictions Previews
Army vs. Georgia St Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Army vs. Georgia St—College football pick is Army Black Knights +3. Head coach Jeff Monken has led the school to four bowl berths in his first seven seasons. This year he has eight starters back on defense from a 9-3 team. His starter quarterback and running backs return. Army was an outstanding defense in 2020 that held opponents to 14.8 points and 275 yards per game. Georgia St was a fourth loss team last year that is experienced returning nineteen starters. Offensive numbers were good but it is the defense that is worrying. Panthers surrendered 31.7 points and 410 yards to their opponents in 2020. Panthers have a trip to North Carolina the following week. The Sunbelt team surrendered 61 points at home Coastal Carolina and 59 at Arkansas St. Sophomore quarterback Cornelius Brown had 17 touchdown throws last year but tossed 10 interceptions to go with a 58.6% completion rate. Prefer the defense of Army here. Play Army +3.
UL Monroe vs. Kentucky Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
UL Monroe vs. Kentucky—College football free pick is Kentucky Wildcats -31. Kentucky has been able to cover 11 of their past 15 at home against unranked teams. Warhawks finished at 0-10 and bring in Terry Bowden as head coach along with offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez. Facing all SEC opponents last year the Wildcats held teams to 25.9 points per game along with 4.2 yards per carry on the ground. The offense this year goes up tempo with Penn St transfer Will Levis who works with offensive coordinator Liam Coen who was formally on the LA Rams staff. Running back Chris Rodriguez was effective running the football in 2020 with 6.6 yards per carry. Wildcats size and strength wears down UL Monroe in the second half. Play Kentucky -31.
Rice vs. Arkansas Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Rice vs. Arkansas—Free pick is Rice Owls +20. Arkansas a seven loss team a year ago found wins only against down SEC schools. The team is experienced but defensively allowed 35 points and 459 yards per game. Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren was an assistant at Stanford prior to becoming head coach. He has nineteen starters on offense It was the defense that held opponents to 18.8 points and 342 yards per game last year. A late season shut out 20-0 win at Marshall was inspiring heading into 2021. Their entire offensive line and ten on defense return from last year. Do believe Arkansas is moving in the right direction with head coach Sam Pittman in his second year. But it will take more time and experience to get right. Not comfortable laying these many points. Play Rice +20.
Marshall vs. Navy Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Marshall vs. Navy—College football pick is Marshall Thundering Herd -2.5. Charles Huff takes over at Marshall after serving as an assistant coach at Alabama. There are fifteen starters back for the Thundering Herd. The program has been to bowl games four seasons in a row. Team was strong defensively in 2020 holding opponents to 13 points per game and only 2.8 yards per rush. Navy endured a poor season finishing at 3-7. This is an inexperienced offense returning two starters on the offensive line and three new running backs. They rotated quarterbacks last year but had no success. Run game produced only 3.7 yards per carry. There are a huge falloff on defense as the Midshipmen surrendered 30 points per game and 386 yards. Navy opponents rushed for 4.9 yards per rush against Navy. Midshipmen were held to seven points or fewer final three games. Play Marshall -2.5.
Central Michigan vs. Missouri Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Central Michigan vs. Missouri—College football free pick is Central Michigan Chippewas +14.5. Jim McElwain enters his third year with the school. He inherited a 1-11 team that went 8-6. Then COVID hit in 2020. This Chippewas team is experienced with eleven starters back on offense and nine to the defense. Central Michigan offense has averaged over 400 yards offensively and 30 points in McElwain’s tenure. It is a balanced attack for the Chippewas. Missouri returns fourteen starters from last year’s 5-5 team. Defense the concern for the Tigers that surrendered 32.3 points and 408 yards per game with 246 in the passing game. Tigers do lose their top running back from last year. Back seven inexperienced for the Tigers. Missouri did allow 41 points or greater final three games of 2020. Play Central Michigan +14.5.
Louisiana Tech vs. Mississippi St Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Louisiana Tech vs. Mississippi St—Free pick is Mississippi St Bulldogs -23. Mississippi St returns sixteen starters in the second year for Mike Leach as head coach. His Air Raid offense saw success early but struggled late. But things should be smoother here against a Conference USA defense. The only opponents the Mississippi St Bulldogs faced were from the SEC. Leach played a lot of young players last year so improvement should come in Year two. Louisiana Tech was too a young team last year with only six returning starters in 2020. This year they have seventeen back. But the issue for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs is a defense that surrendered 34.7 points and 427 yards per game. They struggled in their step up games losing by 29 at BYU, 18 home to Marshall, 42 at TCU and by 35 in their bowl game to Georgia Southern. The offense sputtered on the ground with a 2.9 yards per attempt average. Three starters return to the offensive line. Exiting the program is Louisiana Tech’s top two running backs and top receiver. Mississippi St size and strength will wear on Louisiana Tech in the second half. Play Mississippi St -23.
UMASS vs. Pittsburgh Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
UMASS vs. Pittsburgh—College football pick is Pittsburgh Panthers -38. Pittsburgh is an experienced offensive team returning quarterback Kenny Pickett and his playmakers. Their four top rushers and top receiver return from last year. The moved the football for 380 yards last year and should only be better. Defensively Pitt held the opponents to 24.5 points per game facing all but one ACC team. UMASS is a down program. They went 0-4 in 2020 getting outscored 161-12. That is an average of 3 points per game facing Georgia Southern, Marshall, FAU and Liberty. Minutemen break in first year starters at left and right tackle. Second half should be all Pittsburgh with huge running plays against a UMASS defense that allowed 273 rushing yards and 6.5 per attempt. Play Pittsburgh -38.
Louisiana vs. Texas Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Louisiana vs. Texas—College football free pick is Louisiana Ragin Cajuns +9 ½. This is an experienced Louisiana team that returns 20 starters back from a 10-1 team. They opened last season with a 31-14 win at Iowa St. Quarterback Levi Lewis has won 24 of the 28 games he has started with the Ragin Cajuns. This was a defense that held opponents to 22 points and only 43.5% conversion rate on third down. Louisiana held opposing quarterbacks to 5.8 yards per pass attempt third best in all of college football last year. Steve Sarkissian era begins at Texas. Fifteen starters return from a 7-3 team in 2020. Biggest shoes to fill is at quarterback as Sam Ehlinger was competing for a starting role in the NFL preseason. Longhorns defense surrendered 407 yards or greater per game that past two seasons. Other than Oklahoma and Iowa St, the Big 12 lacks the strength the past few seasons as it did in the past. The Longhorns are inexperienced in the back seven which can be an issue against this experienced and good Louisiana team. Ragin Cajuns stays within reach and can make this a one possession game. Play Louisiana +9.5.
Akron vs. Auburn Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Akron vs. Auburn—Free pick is Auburn Tigers -37. Bryan Harsin debuts as head coach for Auburn coming over from Boise St. Bo Mix returns as starting quarterback and the team has their top three rushes from last year. Akron 0-12 in 2019 and went 1-5 in 2020. Zips defense was torched for 41.3 points and 460 yards per game. What is troubling for the Zips here is their run defense that surrendered 6.3 yards per attempt. Big plays in the run game for Auburn as they pile on in the second half. Tigers will physically wear down the Zips an blow them out. Play Auburn -37.
Syracuse vs. Ohio Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Syracuse vs. Ohio—College football pick is Ohio Bobcats +1.5. Frank Solich retires, and his offensive coordinator takes over as head coach. This is an experienced Bobcats team returning seventeen starters from last year. Bobcats were a physical good defensive program under Solich. Last year the team held opponents to 16.7 points per game and 54.3% completion rate. Entire offensive line returns for the Bobcats who averaged 5.6 yards per carry on the ground. Syracuse coming off a miserable 1-10 campaign in 2020. Orange are experienced but the offense was poor posting 17.8 points per game while allowing 464 yards defensively. Opponents completed 65.4% of their throws on the Orange defense. Syracuse will go with a two quarterback rotation. They could only complete 51.3% of their passes a season ago. Play Ohio +1.5.
Baylor vs. Texas St Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
Baylor vs. Texas St—College football free pick is Baylor Bears -14. Disappointing 2-10 year for the Bobcats. Struggles on both sides of the football on third down. Defensively the team surrendered 38.2 points with 497 yards per game. Baylor returns seventeen starters from last year. Dave Aranda a former LSU defensive coordinator has ten back on his defense. Their top running back and receivers return as well. Gerry Bohanon will start at quarterback. He has been with the program since 2018 seeing sporadic work. But he finally gets his chance. Bears size and strength too much and look for Baylor to get good distance by the second half on the Bobcats. Play Baylor -14.
FAU vs. Florida Pick Prediction 9/4/2021
FAU vs. Florida—Free pick is Florida Gators -23.5. FAU was a dreadful offensive team a year ago pushing across just 18.9 points per game. Their wins came against Charlotte, UTSA, Western Kentucky, FIU and UMASS. Now they have to face an SEC heavyweight. Dan Mullen looks to reload his offense and defense and will have time before hosting Alabama on September 18th. Their top four running backs return from last year. Mullen’s defense wore out down the stretch but will be ready here facing an offensively challenge Owls team. Florida speed and strength allows for their to cover here. Play Florida -23.5.