Welcome to the Accountability Report! Where I get to take accountability for my bad picks and credit for my great ones.

This last Saturday was a great day of football all around. I did well overall, going 4-2 on the day. My misses this week were MISSES though. So let’s get into it and see where I was right and where I was dead wrong.

Texas Tech vs Utah

• The Pick: Utah -2.5
• Final: Texas Tech 34 – 10 Utah

My thought going into this game was Devon Dampier was the better QB and Utah’s defense was slightly better. I could not have been more wrong on either of those.

Texas Tech played two different QBs in this game and both were better than Dampier in this game. Dampier looked lost out there. When he had open guys downfield, he couldn’t hit them. When guys weren’t open, he would take a sack or, even worse, try to throw it anyway. On the other side, both Morton and Hammond for Texas Tech played good games. Texas Tech might just have themselves a guy in Will Hammond. He will definitely be someone to watch for the future.

Utah looked good on defense for most of this game but Texas Tech looked even better. They were physical and looked like they didn’t want to give up a single blade of grass to Utah. They never stopped going either. That defense has a real motor and looks like the best in the Big 12.

Maryland vs Wisconsin

• The Pick: Maryland +10.5
• Result: Maryland 27 – 10 Wisconsin

My whole logic behind this pick was that Wisconsin did not deserve to be 10.5 point favorites to anybody in the Big 10. I could not have been more right!

This was a straight up ass kicking. From start to finish, Maryland was in control of this game. That was primarily due to the play of freshman QB Malik Washington. He looks like an absolute dude.

On the other hand, Wisconsin is just completely lost. Nothing seems to be going right in Madison and all of sudden Luke Fickell’s seat is starting to get hot. I don’t think he is a bad coach, but it is starting to become crystal clear that he is not a fit at Wisconsin.

Auburn vs Oklahoma

• The Pick: Auburn +7.5
• Result: Auburn 17 – 24 Oklahoma

This one didn’t feel good. At the line I got, Auburn did cover this game. However, for many, this line was +6.5. Auburn SHOULD have covered that as well. Unfortunately, Jackson Arnold’s brain decided to stop working on the last drive of this game and he took a heartbreaking safety.

On the topic of Jackson Arnold, let’s talk about how wrong I was about him. I thought he would come out with a little bit of extra juice. Instead, we saw the worst performance of the season from Arnold. He just held onto the ball way too long and, even when he didn’t, the Auburn offense just never looked particularly effective. The only exception being Cam Coleman. That guy is a problem. Someone needs to save him from this program!

This game still doesn’t have me buying the Oklahoma hype. I will continue to monitor the situation, but I have a feeling I will be on the other side of them when they take on Ole Miss next month.

NC State vs Duke

• Spread: Duke -2.5
• Result: NC State 33 – Duke 45

This was a stressful one to watch…for a half.

Duke came out slow in the first half and it started to look like NC State might just be the better team. However, one CJ Bailey interception later at the end of the first half, and the momentum completely shifted. After that play, Duke outscored the Wolfpack 31-13.

Darien Mensah didn’t look great at points in this game. However, he did look good in flashes and showed a lot of mental toughness to comeback in the 1st half. I like this Duke team a lot of would not be surprised if they continue to cover spreads the rest of the season.

Illinois vs Indiana

• The Pick: Illinois +6.5
• Result: Illinois 10 – Indiana 63

I don’t even want to talk about this one so I am going to keep it brief.

Illinois did not come to play in this one. They had no answer for Indiana’s RPO game and Curt Cignetti’s offense was able to do what they wanted. The same goes for the defensive side of the ball. The Indiana pass rush dominated the Illinois offensive line and Luke Altemeyer never stood a chance. Indiana is legit.

As bad as they looked in this game, I still don’t think this Illinois team is bad though. They will have a big chance for a bounce back this week at home against USC.

Florida vs Miami

• The Pick: Miami -9.5
• Result: Florida 7 – 26 Miami

This was another one that was never truly in doubt.

This one was a bit slow as Miami, more or less, dominated this game the entire time. So, I will keep the breakdown of the game brief. While Florida was able to hang around for most of this game, it felt like Miami was in control of the game the entire time. Carson Beck was not very effective but the ground game was. 184 yards on the ground is as close to domination as you will see in a game like this. Miami wasn’t actually covering until the 4th quarter, but again, Florida was never really a threat in this one.

That leads me to the real discussion point of this game: DJ Lagway. It looks like Billy Napier might have broke him. That’s a real shame because I think a lot of us were hoping he would be the next great college QB. He just looks lost out there right now though. I hope he finds it but something tells me that, as long as Napier is still there, he won’t get much better.