Louisville (4-0) at

Clemson (4-0)

8 p.m. EST
Memorial Stadium, Clemson, S.C.
ABC
Louisville -1 — O/U 67

Before the season started, not many people put Louisville anywhere near the College Football Playoff discussion. Most publications had the Cardinals ranked in the Top 20 (barely) and yours truly completely missed on them, ranking Louisville all the way down at 29th.

What a difference a few games makes.

Now Louisville marches into Clemson as the favorite over last year’s national runner-up and it’s heavy preseason Heisman favorite. The entire Louisville team has performed greater than expectations, but one player in particular has elevated the Cardinals to a whole new level – Lamar Jackson. As the 13th-rated dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school, Jackson has elevated his game to become the top-rated player in college entering the fifth week. Through four games, Jackson has passed for 1,330 yards and 13 TDs, and rushed for another 526 yards and 12 TDs.

Clemson, meanwhile, has underwhelmed on offense. Deshaun Watson is nursing a mediocre 130.2 passer rating, with 996 yards and 9 TDs, and just 120 yards on the ground with no touchdowns. But while Watson and the Tigers have struggled to score, their defense has been very effective. Clemson ranks 5th in scoring defense, 15th in rushing defense and 3rd in passing defense. If there’s any team that can slow down Jackson and the vaunted Louisville offense, it’s Clemson.

The game should boil down to an exercise of strength-on-strength. Jackson and Watson will have an epic duel, and each one will lead their teams to numerous scores. Clemson’s defense won’t allow Jackson to run wild, but he will be able to cut loose enough to keep Louisville at or near the lead until the end of the game. Expect the best player on the better team to be the difference in the final minutes – and that’s Jackson and Louisville.

Prediction: Louisville 38, Clemson 34

Result: Clemson 42, Louisville 36

Record:
This week: SU – 47-15; ATS – 26-31-2; O/U – 27-31-1
Overall: SU – 280-69; ATS – 123-124-4; O/U – 128-117-6

Upsets are bold underlined
(Results in parentheses; wins are underlined; losses in italics)
* – Picks with extreme confidence ATS
^ – Picks with low confidence ATS

Thursday, Sept. 29
Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Coverage	Prediction
Kansas (+28.5) at Texas Tech (O/U 80)	7:30 p.m.		Texas Tech, 63-28 (Texas Tech, 55-19)
Connecticut (+27.5) at Houston (O/U 51)	8 p.m.		Houston, 45-14 (Houston, 42-14)

Friday, Sept. 30
Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Coverage	Prediction
Stanford (+3) at Washington (O/U 45)	9 p.m.		Stanford, 27-24 (Washington, 44-6)
Toledo (+4) at BYU (O/U 52)	10:15 p.m.		BYU, 24-21 (BYU, 55-53)

Saturday, Oct. 1
Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Coverage	Prediction
Alcorn State (NL) at Arkansas	Noon		Arkansas, 59-10 (Arkansas, 52-10)
Baylor (-16.5) at Iowa State (O/U 61)	Noon		Baylor, 35-20* (Baylor, 45-42)
Florida (-10) at Vanderbilt (O/U 41.5)	Noon		Florida, 31-7* (Florida, 13-6)
Georgia State (+19) at Appalachian State (O/U 52)	Noon		Appalachian State, 31-20 (Appalachian State, 31-20)
Miami (Fla.) (-7) at Georgia Tech (O/U 50)	Noon		Miami, 34-14* (Miami, 35-21)
Northwestern (+13) at Iowa (O/U 40)	Noon		Iowa, 20-10 (Northwestern, 38-31)
Notre Dame (-11) vs. Syracuse (O/U 75) (at E. Rutherford, NJ)	Noon		Notre Dame, 34-24 (Notre Dame, 50-33)
Rutgers (+38.5) at Ohio State (O/U 59)	Noon		Ohio State, 51-7* (Ohio State, 58-0)
SMU (+12.5) at Temple (O/U 50)	Noon		Temple, 31-17 (Temple, 45-20)
Texas (+2.5) at Oklahoma State (O/U 71)	Noon		Oklahoma State, 41-38^ (Oklahoma State, 49-31)
UCF (+4) at East Carolina (O/U 57.5)	Noon		East Carolina, 35-28 (UCF, 47-29)
Virginia (+3.5) at Duke (O/U 59.5)	12:30 p.m.		Duke, 34-24 (Virginia, 34-20)
Buffalo (+17.5) at Boston College (O/U 40)	1 p.m.		Boston College, 27-7 (Boston College, 35-3)
Ohio (-2.5) at Miami (Ohio) (O/U 56.5)	2:30 p.m.	BCSN	Ohio, 30-20* (Ohio, 17-7)
Oregon State (+17.5) at Colorado (O/U 61)	2:30 p.m.		Colorado, 38-17^ (Colorado, 47-6)
Eastern Michigan (+3) at Bowling Green (O/U 66)	3 p.m.		Eastern Michigan, 41-28 (Eastern Michigan, 28-25)
Akron (-7) at Kent State (O/U 54.5)	3:30 p.m.		Akron, 31-17* (Akron, 31-27)
Illinois (+21) at Nebraska (O/U 54)	3:30 p.m.		Nebraska, 38-14 (Nebraska, 31-16)
Kansas State (+3.5) at West Virginia (O/U 54.5)	3:30 p.m.		West Virginia, 31-27^ (West Virginia, 17-16)
Minnesota (+3) at Penn State (O/U 55)	3:30 p.m.		Minnesota, 34-31^ (Penn State, 29-26 OT)
Navy (+7.5) at Air Force (O/U 51)	3:30 p.m.		Air Force, 24-20 (Air Force, 28-14)
North Carolina (+11) at Florida State (O/U 69)	3:30 p.m.		Florida State, 45-31 (North Carolina, 37-35)
Northern Illinois (+4) at Ball State (O/U 58)	3:30 p.m.		Ball State, 38-28 (Northern Illinois, 31-24)
Purdue (+10) at Maryland (O/U 56)	3:30 p.m.		Maryland, 31-24 (Maryland, 50-7)
Tennessee (-3.5) at Georgia (O/U 54)	3:30 p.m.		Tennessee, 31-24 (Tennessee, 34-31)
Tulane (-2.5) at Massachusetts (O/U 45)	3:30 p.m.		Tulane, 24-20^ (Tulane, 31-24)
ULM (+33) at Auburn (O/U 56)	3:30 p.m.		Auburn, 38-14 (Auburn, 58-7)
Wake Forest (+10) at NC State (O/U 51)	3:30 p.m.	RSN	Wake Forest, 34-31 (N.C. State, 33-16)
Wisconsin (+10.5) at Michigan (O/U 44)	3:30 p.m.		Michigan, 31-24 (Michigan, 14-7)
San Jose State (+8) at New Mexico (O/U 56)	4 p.m.		New Mexico, 31-17* (New Mexico, 48-41)
Texas A&M (-17.5) at South Carolina (O/U 48.5)	4 p.m.		Texas A&M, 41-17* (Texas A&M, 24-13)
Oklahoma (-3.5) at TCU (O/U 69.5)	5 p.m.		TCU, 34-28 (Oklahoma 52-46)
Troy (-14) at Idaho (O/U 60.5)	5 p.m.		Troy, 48-17* (Troy, 34-13)
Old Dominion (-9) at Charlotte (O/U 58)	6 p.m.		Old Dominion, 31-20 (Old Dominion, 52-17)
Utah (+1.5) at California (O/U 66.5)	6 p.m.		Utah, 38-31 (California, 28-23)
FAU (-5) at FIU (O/U 53)	7 p.m.		FIU, 23-20 (FIU, 33-31)
Houston Baptist (NL) at WKU	7 p.m.	CS Live	Western Kentucky, 51-10 (Western Kentucky, 50-3)
Incarnate Word (NL) at Texas State	7 p.m.		Texas State, 38-14 (Texas State, 48-13)
Kentucky (+35) at Alabama (O/U 57.5)	7 p.m.		Alabama, 48-7* (Alabama, 34-6)
Memphis (+14.5) at Ole Miss (O/U 65.5)	7 p.m.		Ole Miss, 42-21 (Ole Miss, 48-28)
Middle Tennessee (-15) at North Texas (O/U 60)	7 p.m.	Stream	Middle Tennessee, 34-24 (Middle Tennessee, 30-13)
Rice (+24) at Southern Miss (O/U 59)	7 p.m.		Southern Miss, 45-17 (Southern Miss, 44-28)
USF (-4) at Cincinnati (O/U 59.5)	7 p.m.		USF, 31-24 (USF, 45-20)
UTEP (+19.5) at Louisiana Tech (O/U 60.5)	7 p.m.		Louisiana Tech, 44-21 (Louisiana, 28-7)
Western Michigan (-3.5) at Central Michigan (O/U 55.5)	7 p.m.		Western Michigan, 41-30* (Western Michigan, 49-10)
Marshall (+16) at Pittsburgh (O/U 68)	7:30 p.m.	RSN	Pittsburgh, 38-24 (Pittsburgh, 43-27)
Missouri (+13) at LSU (O/U 51)	7:30 p.m.		LSU, 24-17 (LSU, 42-7)
Louisville (-1) at Clemson (O/U 67)	8 p.m.		Louisville, 38-34 (Clemson, 42-26)
Michigan State (-7) at Indiana (O/U 53.5)	8 p.m.		Michigan State, 34-20 (Indiana, 24-21 OT)
San Diego State (-20) at South Alabama (O/U 52)	8 p.m.		San Diego State, 45-17 (South Alabama, 42-24)
Louisiana-Lafayette (-5) at New Mexico State (O/U 64)	8 p.m.		Louisiana-Lafayette, 41-31 (New Mexico State, 37-31 2OT)
Arizona State (+9.5) at USC (O/U 64)	8:30 p.m.		USC, 34-31 (USC, 41-20)
Oregon (-1) at Washington State (O/U 74.5)	9:30 p.m.		Washington State, 44-38 (Washington State, 51-33)
Utah State (+20) at Boise State (O/U 58)	10:15 p.m.		Boise State, 44-20 (Boise State, 21-10)
Wyoming (+6.5) at Colorado State (O/U 54.5)	10:15 p.m.		Colorado State, 27-24 (Wyoming, 38-17)
Arizona (+13) at UCLA (O/U 59)	10:30 p.m.		UCLA, 34-20 (UCLA, 45-24)
Fresno State (+10) at UNLV (O/U 61.5)	10:30 p.m.		UNLV, 41-28 (UNLV, 45-20)
Nevada (-4.5) at Hawaii (O/U 59.5)	11:59 p.m.	Oceanic PPV	Hawaii, 31-27 (Hawaii, 38-17)