Miami, BYU suffer first loss? College football Week 11 bold predictions

Posted by Admin November 9, 2024 Football

Just four weeks remain in the college football season, and every Saturday the pressure ramps up on teams fighting for spots in the College Football Playoff and conference championship games.

Week 11 brings opportunities for upsets. There are important showdowns in the Power Four leagues that can dramatically change the postseason outlook for the involved teams and others. The difficult question is trying to forecast when and where those surprising results will occur across the country.

That’s why the USA TODAY Sports college football staff is here. Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus weigh in with their bold predictions for Week 1 of the college football season:

Billy Napier’s reward for not getting fired: A rout at Texas

On Saturday, the Florida Gators will travel to Austin, Texas, to play the Longhorns. If the game goes as expected (Texas is a three-touchdown favorite), Napier will remain the head coach through the end of the season, no matter if Texas wins by 1 or 50. The reasons why don’t matter, especially in the explanation via the lame press release by the school’s athletic director.

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a second and say that Florida wins its next three games, including home games against LSU and Ole Miss, two teams with serious and realistic postseason aspirations. That’s not going to happen but is not paying the buyout delaying the inevitable, or praying that Napier will turn it around sooner than later. Guess keeping $26.7 million, Napier’s buyout, for a rainy day and using it to pay players is the strategy here. — Scooby Axson

WHAT TO WATCH: The seven biggest games on the schedule in Week 11

WEEKEND FORECAST: SEC clashes top Week 11 picks for all Top 25 games

Miami suffers first loss

The Hurricanes have played dangerous football for much of the season, but they have yet to fall from the ranks of unbeatens. That will change when Miami heads to the ATL. Georgia Tech started the season playing some good football with a 5-2 record, but have stumbled with back-to-back losses. A key element in those games was quarterback Haynes King didn’t play due to an injury. Coming off a bye, the Yellow Jackets quarterback is trending toward playing, which would be a massive boost. Georgia Tech’s offense breaks out with a great game, and for once, there’s no late-game magic for Miami to avoid the upset. — Jordan Mendoza

BYU falls for first time in loss to rival Utah

Utah pulls off an enormous upset to take the rivalry with BYU. Amid a frustrating season riddled with key injuries, the Utes will have no better motivation than winning the Holy War, handing the Cougars their first loss and complicating the race for the Big 12 and playoff. Doing so would demand consistency from an offense that has been very weak in league play. But if the Utes are ever going to play a complete game, it would be on Saturday night. — Paul Myerberg

Colorado’s win streak ends at Texas Tech

It’s been a great first season in the Big 12 for the Deion Sanders’ team. The Buffaloes have won four of their first five games league games and are in the thick of the race for the conference championship game and a berth in the College Football Playoff. But playing on the road in unfamiliar locations can be a challenge, and Lubbock is one of those places that can produce surprising results. And it’s even more true when the Red Raiders are playing well. There will be a raucous environment Saturday – something Colorado hasn’t faced on the road this season. It will be a struggle and the home team will go home happy. — Erick Smith

Army’s luck ends at North Texas

I apologize for this prediction, and I actually kind of hope it’s wrong. I am a huge fan of the service academies, and I am a firm believer that it is good for the sport when those programs are good. But I’m afraid Army’s luck is about to run out at North Texas.

It’s not just that Black Knights’ quarterback Bryson Daily’s availability is in question, although that’s part of the equation. Even if he plays, though, Army is going to need a whole lot of points to win this game. North Texas features the most accomplished offense the Black Knights have faced to date. The Mean Green are putting up over 40 points a game while averaging 527.6 total yards, a shade over seven yards per snap.

Army will move the ball. The NTU defense isn’t exactly lights out, and preparing to stop the option is challenging for even the most airtight group. But getting stops will be a problem for Army, and any miscues by the offense will be magnified. I’m truly sorry, Black Knights, but I think the dream of perfection ends here. — Eddie Timanus