We will be half way through the regular season and this weekend will clear up a few paths! It was a good week, only a NFL coach got canned but he could end up back in the college ranks if the $60 million he is due from the NFL can be figured out. Ok the real story this week is we have 2 Top 10 match ups and 3 more Top 25 battles. So let’s move ahead and see if we can clear up the CFB Playoff picture this week!!!
ZT is on the road, again. This time in NashVegas…..plenty of Hot Chicken, Meat & 3 places and enough biscuits to make the Pillsbury Dough Boy slap his momma! Oh yeah, word is you can find a goo-goo cluster and a donut. ZT loves San Antonio Taco Company off 21st Avenue near Vandy. Good food and beer by the buckets on the deck. ZT ate 10 at one sitting “back in the day”. Enough of this as ZT is just drooling to get to this weeks prognostications!!
#10 Penn State Nittany Lions @ #5 Michigan 11am cdt
Coach Khaki and the Wolverines took care of a pesky group of Hoosiers on the road last week while the Nittany Lions chilled out in Happy Valley. ZT not a fan of either coach so that helps him be objective. PSU has talent but not confident they have really not played much competition. Wolverines move ahead. Wolverines 28 Nittany Lions 21
#3 Bama @ # 6 Tennessee Volunteers 230pm cdt
Vols running roughshod over whomever they play, particularly at home, while Bama “won” its 2nd squeaker of the year. Last time UT beat Bama there were no Iphones, Ubers or Teslas on the road. NONE OF THAT MATTERS on the 3rd Saturday in October!!! Both Teams averaging 45+/- points per game with Bama defense a little stingier. Vol QB Brandon Hooker is in the Heisman talk while the question of the week for Bama is will Heisman QB Bryce Young be able to play. ZT notes if Young can’t play, hard to see a Bama win. ZT notes if Young does play, still gives the nod to the Vols ( and that hurts! ) Vols 38 Ebb Tide 34
** post script….. ZT interacted with 2 different UT fans on flights to BNA. They were not amused at a random Roll Tide and ZT nearly had to call TSA to clear it up!!
#8 Oklahoma State Cowboys @ #13 TCU Horned Frogs 230 pm cdt
ZT loves undefeated teams squaring off in mid-October! Both teams can score points with TCU averaging 46.4 PPG while the Cowboys average 45.2 PPG. Frogs QB Max Duggan to WR Quentin “Tarantino” Johnson has been the go to combo! Okie State QB Spencer “Gifts” Sanders and RB “St.” Dominic Richardson continue to make plays and no reason they won’t this week as well. ZT likes the Okie State Defense…they are men. Upset Special Cowboys 35 Slimy Frogs 31
#15 N C State Wolfpack@ #18 Syracuse Orangemen 230 pm cdt
Orangemen thriving in 2022 coming off a bye week at 5-0. Amazing noting the pre-season prediction was 5 or less wins. HC Dino Babers ( word is he was conceived while his parents were watching Flintstone’s reruns and they just couldn’t name him Bam-Bam) has the defense leading the charge with only Purdue scoring over 20 points. Ok, UConn and Wagner were 2 of the teams played but they did hold Louisville to 7. NC State key question sounds a bit like Bama. Can QB Devin “about his shoulder we are” Leary play this week? Good news, no surgery required but still day to day. Defense stepped up after his injury vs. FSU but only managed 3 FGs in the win. Upset Special Wolves 24 Citrus 21
#16 Mississippi State Bulldogs @ #22 Kentucky 630pm
Leach vs Stoops. DUH!!! Bulldogs 28 Wildcats 21
#7 USC Trojans @ #20 Utah UTES 7pm
Lincoln Riley ( remember, don’t say that name in Oklahoma ) just keeps finding a way for his Trojan horses to win. Last time USC was 6-0 was also a pre-I phone year!!! QB Caleb Williams is managing the offense nicely and the defense has led them to a +15 turnover margin. One area of concern?? Run Defense…..not good when the UTES are bringing you to Salt Lake! UTES 31 Trojans Horses at the gate 28
Nashville Hot Chicken Snack Selections
Auburn Tigers @ #9 Ole Miss Rebels 11am
Tigers had 17 fumbles over 6 games…..good news is they recovered 12 of them. Doesn’t help with 3rd down conversions as Tigers are 32 % while Rebels ( believe it is still ok to call them that? ) ae 53%. ZT still amused that Kiffin’s gang is 7th in the nation in RUSHING!!! ZT does like the potential of AU QB Robbie Ashford ” & Simpson” ( ZT with an 80’s music reference?!?) and he may be Solid, Solid as a Rock ( Oh come on ZT!! ) in the future but not this week. Grove is too much for the Tigers. Run Kiffin Run 34 Tigers 17
#19 Kansas Jayhawks @ Oklahoma Sooners 11am
OU may need more than an Angel to help this squad! QB Dillon Gabriel is set to return and this is critical if they are to recover from the gorging by the Longhorns last week. It was worse than that as the defense gave up almost 600 yds. and 49 points. Biggest shutout in OU history. Jayhawks lost its starting QB and is now led by Jason “Mr.” Bean ( he played most of 2021 season ) but will need their run game to be effective this week. ZT says OU squeaks out one in Norman. Damaged Schooner 38 Return to Basketball 35
Vandy @ #1 Georgia Bulldogs 230pm
Vandy team asked if they can skip this one and go to a Math contest. Coach considered it but they are going to Athens anyway and will watch reruns of Multiplication Rock on the bus. Dogs love to chase birds and Vandy’s QB’s name is A J Swann……. Bulldogs 49 Vandy 9
#25 James Madison Dukes @ Georgia Southern Eagles 3pm cdt
The Dukes…..They were a force to be reckoned with in Trading Places ( at least early on ) and they are hot in the CFB. They have also outperformed the Vegas oddsmakers every week as well. Ga. Southern no longer ” runs through people like S*&^ through a tin horn” as they have traded in the triple option for a passing attack. It’s actually going pretty darn well. If you think ZT is calling an upset, you are wrong!…. It is the Dukes, It is the Dukes 47 Fly like an Eagle 28
#4 Clemson Tigers @ FSU Seminoles 630pm cdt
Dabo in Four!!….. never mind, this is not a boxing match but the Tigers WILL take out the Native Americans ( less than 1 week after Indigenous People’s Day ) and will do it in 4 quarters as they continue to gel on offense. Clubber Dabo 27 Noles 24
LSU Tigers @ Florida Gators 6pm cdt
Which teams show up for this one is about as certain as the winning lottery numbers for Powerball. Expect LSU to go air attack with QB Jayden Daniels while the Gators are starting to like their running game. Did you know a gator can run up to 40 mph for short distances?? ( Thanks for the lesson on reptiles ZT…do you think you are Jack Hanna now?) Expect to see them get some targets in the pass game as well. I know LSU folks love the swampy bayou but the Swamp in Gainesville is different and so are their Gators. Gators 28 Bayou Tigers 24
ZT out and headed back to lower Broad to see what is happening and hope to get some Hattie B’s chicken in the process! Then headed back to the Johnny Cash museum to see if he has any lineage to some boy named Sue!!!
Padre is deep in the FL swamp working to get the Florida Gators ready to take on those other swamp boys!
848 am UPDATE – Padre found wifi on an airboat in the swamp….early kick pick
Penn State 27 Michigan 23
I could be wrong, but I believe Michigan is overrated. But let’s be honest here: Saying Michigan is overrated is one of the safest bets in history of bets. It’s like saying Kanye West says something crazy this week or Nick Saban will get mad at a reporter or we want have a federally balanced budget or Kansas will be terrible at football…….oh wait!
Illinois 20 Minnesota 17
I know NOTHING of these teams outside of their coaches. No Joke. Just truth. Illinois wins!
More later when Padre finds the next cell tower!!
LSU 30. UF 26
I will keep predicting Florida to lose until they actually lose again. I am superstitious as a fan. We had a pair of big recruits jimbo us to #8 in recruiting on 247. So I am going to focus on that. Now, let’s be honest, #8 in recruiting is about as far talent wise from Bama/Georgia/Ohio St. in recruiting as an impossible burger is from a REAL burger. But it’s one small gator step on a St. Simon’s Georgia golf course at a tim. We are getting there! Oh wait, the gator just jumped back in the water hazard after little uga barked and chased him away. Uga is now getting back in the golf cart with Kirby as they head to the 4th hole – and the gator watches from a distance in the water. “Just wait till 2030” says the gator in the water.
Bama 37. Tennessee 34
I have gone back and forth and back and forth on this game. My head says Tennessee should finally win at home, but my Gator heart is saying “Tennessee can kiss my moonshine ( can a pastor make that joke that you are currently trying to figure out right now?). For me, on the hatred level, its 1) FSU and 1a) Georgia. But Tennessee resurgence has made me realize that I dislike them so much I would rather pull for Bama than that ugly orange. Therefore, I hope Bama turns Neyland Stadium into fresh squeezed orange juice — maybe better image is smashed pumpkins. Yeah, I am pulling for Bama. I said it. Roll Tide! I hope Rocky Flops!!
Okie State 34 TCU 33
TCU is slightly favored, but I say the Fightin’ Mullets slightly edge the Horney Toads.
NC State 24 Syracuse 23
The Pack travel to the dome. ‘Cuse is good. I think the Pack “is gooder” today.
Miss. State. 26 Kentucky 23
Dog’s are man’s best friend. Cat’s think they are gods. A Pirate ain’t afraid of no wanna-be god. Man’s best friend wins in Lexington.
Utah 33 USC ( the real one ) 27
Hollywood comes to Utah. Hollywood goes back up a loser for the 1st time in 2022.
UPSET of the Week. FSU 26 Clemson 24
I hope this pick is wrong. Heck, I hope FSU stops playing football and picks up Quidditch. But for some reason I have a feeling Sauron’s Army wins in Mordor ( some of you will get this )
Padre back to hidden position in the Gainesville Swamp ready to eat some Tiger Meat!!!!
Pigskin Prognostications by the Piedmont Padre and Zimmern's Twin 