Georgia travels to Auburn in Week 11’s national College Football action

Last week ATS: 7-10 (6-4 National, 1-6 B1G)

Season ATS: 65-71-3 (28-29-1 National, 37-42-2 B1G)

Another ugly week for MC&J last week. Thankfully there was some success found in the national games to help offset a terrible week of Big Ten picks.

National games (All games Saturday unless otherwise noted):

No. 9 Washington (-6) v. Stanford - Friday 11/10 10:30 PM EST - FS1

Washington has a lot of pressure on them, as they are the Pac-12’s last hope at making the College Football Playoff. The Huskies have shrugged off the loss to Arizona State a few weeks ago, and has looked impressive in wins over UCLA and Oregon the past two weeks.

All Stanford really has is Bryce Love, and even the running back might not be enough to propel the Cardinal to victory. Last week Love had a 52-yard run against Washington State, but aside from the big touchdown run, he only gained 17 yards on his other 15 carries in the loss to the Cougars.

I’m just trying to figure out how Stanford is going to move the football in this one. The Huskies are stout against the run, and they’ll be able to focus on shutting down Love since the Cardinal don’t have much to offer. Washington makes a statement in a tough road game where they need to impress.

Washington 31, Stanford 20

No. 15 Oklahoma State (-7) v. No. 21 Iowa State - 12:00 PM EST - ABC/ESPN2

For once I was on the right side of a Oklahoma State game, so I’m probably pushing my luck expecting to be right two weeks in a row when it comes to the Cowboys. Imagine throwing for 448 yards and five touchdowns and still losing by 10 points. That was Mason Rudolph last Saturday.

I really do feel like Iowa State has peaked. They have put up just 30 points in the last two weeks, and last week they saw their four-game winning streak snapped in the 20-16 loss to West Virginia.

With games against Baylor and Kansas State still on tap, the Cyclones still probably got a couple wins left on their regular season schedule, but they just don’t have the firepower to keep up with Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Cowboys bounce back from their Bedlam loss quickly.

Oklahoma State 45, Iowa State 31

No. 1 Georgia (-3) v. No. 10 Auburn - 3:30 PM EST - CBS

Saturday will be the 121st edition of the “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry”. Auburn will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak to Georgia, and throw a wrench into the College Football Playoff chances.

After feasting on lesser teams for most of the season, Georgia will see the temperature turn up as the head to Auburn. Three of the last four meetings between the schools have been decided by a touchdown or less, and it looks like another close matchup is on tap.

I feel like Auburn might be the right team to hand Georgia their first loss of the season. The Tigers have a strong defense, a solid quarterback in Jarrett Stidham, and an explosive running back in Kerryon Johnson. The crowd at Jordan-Hare will also be rocking after Auburn has played their last three games on the road.

Auburn 24, Georgia 21

Florida State v. No. 4 Clemson (-16) - 3:30 PM EST - ESPN

I have no idea how Florida State is going to find points against one of the best defenses in the country. Running back Cam Akers has put together a solid season in his freshman year for the Seminoles, but there hasn’t been much more of note for Florida State since Deondre Francois went down in the season opener.

Clemson puts together their most complete game of the season, and puts the rest of the college football world on notice with an impressive win over Florida State. The pressure the Tigers create forces quarterback James Blackman into a few turnovers, which Clemson turns into easy points as the Tigers add to Jimbo Fisher’s woes.

Clemson 37, Florida State 14

No. 2 Alabama (-14) v. No. 16 Mississippi State - 7:00 PM EST - ESPN

Alabama has won nine straight games against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have scored at least 10 points in just two of those games. Don’t overthink this one. Alabama stays undefeated as their suffocating defense puts the clamps on Nick Fitzgerald and the Mississippi State offense.

Alabama 34, Mississippi State 10

No. 3 Notre Dame (-3.5) v. No. 7 Miami (FL) - 8:00 PM EST - ABC

After Notre Dame struggled through a 4-8 season last year, and numerous false starts of Miami finally being back, this rivalry finally means something again. Instead of “Catholics vs. Convicts”, this year’s edition will go a long way in determining who might be a part of the College Football Playoff.

The biggest deciding factor in this game will be who is better at stopping the run. Miami has struggled at times this year against the run, and if they aren’t at the top of their game, Notre Dame running back Josh Adams will run wild.

On the opposite side of the football, Miami will need quarterback Malik Rosier and running back Travis Homer to find first downs to keep the Miami defense off the field and fresh. After feeling like Miami was a fraud for most of the season, I have finally come around on the Hurricanes. Mark Richt’s team has been great in close games this year, and that run continues on Saturday night.

Miami (FL) 27, Notre Dame 24

No. 6 TCU v. No. 5 Oklahoma (-7) - 8:00 PM EST - FOX

It looked like all was lost earlier in the year when the Sooners lost to Iowa State. Luckily for Lincoln Riley some major chaos has already happened in the college football world, along with Oklahoma taking care of business since then. Last week Baker Mayfield put a serious jolt into his Heisman Trophy campaign with a tremendous performance in a 62-52 win over Oklahoma State.

TCU was able to rebound from a loss to Iowa State two weeks ago with a 24-7 win over Texas. The Horned Frogs have a great defense, but I’m still not completely sold on them. Mayfield won’t put up the numbers he did in Bedlam, but he’ll have a strong enough game to help Oklahoma win comfortably. Kenny Hill and company just don’t have enough to keep pace with the Sooners in Norman.

Oklahoma 38, TCU 24