Beat the Anglin Book, Week 6

#17 Florida State (-10.5) at North Carolina State

This week’s Thursday night match up is in no way deserving of its own post. And because it features two of the most uneven teams in all of college football, it won’t be pretty, but at least it’ll be close. It also presents an absolute nightmare for me, a prognosticator of the lowest degree.

Both teams are coming off of bye weeks and their best offensive performances of the season, which isn’t saying much. I’m not sure who wins and I’m not sure how many points will be scored, but I am sure that the Seminoles will have a lot of trouble covering more than two scores on the road.

Florida State - 14, NC State - 13



#9 Louisiana State (-2.5) at #5 Florida

Will somebody please explain to me why Florida is a home dog in this game? I mean, I realize LSU has really taken it to Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, Tulane, and Mississippi State. Maybe that’s actually more impressive to the people in Vegas than it is to me. I don’t know.

But what the Tigers have shown is that they can hang with the big boys on the road, something they’ll have to do on Saturday in the Swamp. The Gators, meanwhile, have dispatched two big time conference opponents in the last three weeks, though Deshawn Wynn does remain a big question mark. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to count the Gators out at home.

Florida - 24, LSU - 21



Arkansas (+15.5) at #2 Auburn

The Razorbacks are starting a true freshman quarterback on the road against the second-ranked team in the country. That quarterback, Mitch Mustain, completed just 7 of 22 passes for 97 yards and 3 interceptions in his last game versus Alabama. This does not bode well for Arkansas, not to mention the fact that Auburn is coming off a couple extra days of rest after beating South Carolina on Thursday night.

The good news for the Razorbacks is that Auburn has started slow in most of their games this year, and the Gamecocks were able to hang around long enough to have a chance to win it last week. If Mustain can keep the Tiger defense honest (which I don’t think he can do), McFadden and Jones can be effective enough to keep things competitive. Auburn pulls away in the fourth.

Auburn - 31, Arkansas - 14



#4 West Virginia (-25.5) at Mississippi State

Before the season started, I had this game circled on my calendar. Now, not so much. The Mountaineers have been impressive so far (with the exception of their last game at East Carolina). West Virginia showed little energy at ECU, but I doubt motivation will be a problem as they try to defeat their second consecutive SEC opponent. Mississippi State has been, let’s just say, not quite what I thought they would be.

But with Omarr Connor back under center, the Bulldog offense has finally shown some signs of life, faint as they may be. MSU still won’t be able to put many points on the board, so it will be important for them to stave off the Mountaineers’ patented first quarter explosion. I say that, and then I predict that WVU will move the ball early, but the Bulldog defense does enough to keep it under the spread.

West Virginia - 34, Mississippi State - 10


The only picture of Steve Slaton on the internet not from the Sugar Bowl.