Deke's Trusty Treble: Week 5 CFB

ND's Ian Book had a stellar game taking over the
 reins at Quarterback for Brandon Wimbush.

Week 5 in College Football is here and we have two top ten matchups to look forward to this week.  Week 4 went very well as the column went 3-0 with a bit of luck at Kinnick Stadium.  Iowa shot themselves in the foot en route to a Wisconsin road victory to cover the spread.  Western Michigan easily covered over Georgia State and Texas came through once again not only covering the spread, but also winning outright at home against TCU.  A perfect treble last week pushes the column's record to 5-1 on the season good for 83.3%.  While regression will naturally happen, the process stays the same, so let's dive into my top plays for the week.

West Virginia @ Texas Tech (+3.5)

West Virginia Heisman-hopeful QB Will Grier has been very impressive thus far.  He is averaging a modest 372.3 passing yards a game with 14 touchdowns to three interceptions.  Texas Tech has a true freshman gunslinger of their own in Alan Bowman.  A week after his record breaking performance against Houston, Bowman led the Red Raiders to an upset victory over Oklahoma State passing for 397 yards.  The big key in this game will be defense.  Texas Tech came into the year with a formidable defense that a lot of experts thought was the class of the Big 12.  They came out and laid a duck against Ole Miss, but last week against Oklahoma State was a statement to me on defense.  They held Oklahoma State to 386 total yards and only 17 points.  For a prototypical shootout type of game, those are good numbers.  Texas Tech has a bye next week and are 14-8 straight up as a home dog.  This will be the first time West Virginia is on the road this season as well.  This smells a lot like TCU/Texas last week and I have Texas Tech defeating the Mountaineers.

Arkansas (+21) @ Texas A&M

Arkansas is 0-3-1 against the spread so far this season and has looked like it doesn't belong in the SEC.  Texas A&M has covered against Clemson and Alabama this season and is a perfect 4-0 against the spread.  Last week Arkansas went into Jordan-Hare Stadium and were out-gaining Auburn 290-225 in yards at one point, yet still somehow managed to lose by 31.  This Arkansas defense is actually playing a lot better than the record and results have shown as they have allowed just 347 yards per game and 88 rushing yards per game.  This matchup will be Texas A&M's run game against Arkansas' run defense which plays to Arkansas' strength.  Arkansas DC John Chavis was Texas A&M's DC from '15-'17, so he will be familiar with the personnel.  This game will be closer than three scores and Arkansas will get the cover.

Stanford @ Notre Dame (-3)

Stanford might as well be the luck of the Irish after the miracle victory against Oregon last week.  In the third quarter, Oregon had a 99.9% chance to win up 24-7 with the ball at the Cardinal 1 yard line, before a snap went over QB Justin Herbert's head and was returned for a touchdown.  Then when Oregon could have just kneeled three times and ran around on fourth down for around six seconds, they decided to run on first ball and fumbled up 7!  Stanford of course went on to win the game in overtime.

The luck will run out here for Stanford against Notre Dame.  Notre Dame made the switch at QB to Ian Book last week and ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more against Wake Forest.  Notre Dame is the better team in this matchup and my power ratings have them as a seven point favorite.  If Notre Dame can continue the trend of stopping RB Bryce Love, I feel the secondary will keep WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside and company in check.  Notre Dame is the better team, at home, and come into this game in great form.  Stanford's luck ends at Notre Dame as the Irish add another key victory to its resume.