Jim Feist – Sports Handicapper

 Iowa State was supposed to be playing Oklahoma here today, but rescheduling due to the Covid virus and the Cyclones will have to settle for a road trip to TCU. Iowa state stumbled in its opener, losing to Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 14-31. Big plays killed the ISU team as they allowed a 95-yard kickoff return for a TD, a 78-yard pass play and a 83-yard punt return. TCU saw its opener scrubbed against SMU because of the virus. Brock Purdy returns to QB at Iowa State, but he will have to improve on a lackluster performance in week 1. TCU has many questions yet to be answered. One of which is whether Purdy will return to his form from last year. I'm taking the UNDER here and we'll see what happens with Purdy on Saturday. Play UNDER.

SEC begins play today in college football as Kentucky takes on Auburn. Kentucky has won 18 games the last two seasons and could be a team to surprise a lot of people in the SEC this year. Auburn just continues to play excellent football under HC Gus Malzahn. Kentucky is led by a ground game that averages 278.8 ypg last year. Auburn returns their starting QB from last year, Bo Nix. Nix had 16 TDs and just 6 int's last year. This offense should be much better this year under Nix. The Kentucky ground game should get their share too. I'm taking the OVER here in this SEC opener.

 West Virginia and Oklahoma State both opened with wins. Not surprising for WVU as they usually start out hot, evidenced by their 7-1 spread record in their last eight September games. The Mountaineers had the week off to prepare for this game after an easy win over Eastern Kentucky, 56-10. Oklahoma State struggled in their game against intrastate rival Tulsa, eaking out the win, 16-7 as a 23 point favorite. Problem was, the Pokes lost QB Spencer Sanders early on and never really got it going after that. Sanders is questionable for this game with an ankle injury. West Virginia getting around a TD in this one and I like the Mountaineers to win this game, even if Sanders does make it back. Take West Virginia.

Florida International plays its first game of the season here on Saturday. They will face a 1-0 Liberty team. Liberty opened with a win over Western Kentucky, 30-24. Auburn transfer Malik Willis had a great day at QB for Liberty with 168 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Hard to gauge this FIU team that hasn't played yet. I know what we are getting with Liberty and that's a solid offense with a dynamic QB at the helm. Take Liberty.

It was a rough week for both of these teams last week. First, Tulane led Navy 24-0 and lost as time expired, 24-27. So Miss led the entire game, only to lose with 14 second remaining on a 4th down pass to Louisiana Tech, 30-31. Tulane continues to build its game around the run game, which had 265 yards against Navy. Freshman Tyjae Spears had 119 yards in the loss. Southern Miss is led by QB Jack Abraham. Abraham was 24-for-32 last week for 264 yards and three TD's. Southern Miss has already lost two at home and they sure don't want to make it three in a row. More motivation on the Golden Eagles side here today. I'm taking Southern Miss.

Iowa State was supposed to be playing Oklahoma here today, but rescheduling due to the Covid virus and the Cyclones will have to settle for a road trip to TCU. Iowa state stumbled in its opener, losing to Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 14-31. Big plays killed the ISU team as they allowed a 95-yard kickoff return for a TD, a 78-yard pass play and a 83-yard punt return. TCU saw its opener scrubbed against SMU because of the virus. Brock Purdy returns to QB at Iowa State, but he will have to improve on a lackluster performance in week 1. TCU has many questions yet to be answered, but I know Purdy will be looking to have a standout game here on Saturday. Take Iowa State.