Can USC Top Ohio State At Home? Oregon Drops To 4 Losses? Klatt’s Week 9 Picks

Oregon is on the verge of its fourth loss and Ohio State heads west to face the USC Trojans. What’s in store for Week 9 of college football?

The Trojans’ Week 8 loss to Wisconsin raised concerns about coach Lincoln Riley and his future in Los Angeles. Hosting the second-ranked Buckeyes only adds to the pressure. Georgia’s Week 7 loss to Auburn — followed by a bye — set the stage for the annual rivalry with Florida. While Florida has defeated teams such as No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 11 Texas, do the Gators have room for another upset? What does FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt see happening in a wild Week 9?

Here are Klatt’s Week 9 picks and predictions, from the latest episode of “The Joel Klatt Show.”

Spread: Ohio State -6.5
Money line: Ohio State -245, USC +200

Klatt’s thoughts: “Ohio State at USC. Ohio State is favored by 6.5 on the road. The biggest question in college football, of all, is replacing Julian Sayins. Who will it be, first of all, and will he be an effective player? Nobody knows, and the reason it’s so important is not just because it’s quarterback, but because we’ve seen a better player for Ohio. receiver. So who’s throwing it to Jeremiah Smith? That’s the biggest question, and yet it’s not the most important element of this Ohio State team. Their defensive line is outstanding. I watch almost every play. I watch every snap that they play against Texas. different, very different.

“The biggest advantage in the overall game is Ohio State’s defensive line against USC’s offensive line. USC’s offensive line is not playing well at all. We saw that last week against Wisconsin. They couldn’t protect Jayden Maiava and they couldn’t run the football – -17 yards, rushing State’s game to plan for Ofen. When you go into this game with whatever questions you have at the quarterback position, you have to understand that you have to play the game offensively, the way your defense allows you to play the game offensively, and suddenly you create short fields for your defense.

“The breadcrumbs for USC suggest they’re not even close to what I thought they could be, or expected they could be, or even what I thought they were last week. Their running game is 103rd in the nation in yards per carry. Why is it different than Oklahoma for Lincoln Riley? The running game. It’s not the running game. I was going to watch Sloppy against Washington and now it comes into this game.

“What do I think is going to happen? Ohio State 20, USC 10. I’m saying Ohio State covers 6.5.”

Klatt’s direct choice: Ohio State
Klatt’s pick against the spread: Ohio State -6.5

Spread: Georgia -11.5
Money line: Georgia -440, Florida +340

Klatt’s thoughts: “Florida vs. Georgia. Georgia is favored by 11.5. That’s a lot, right? There’s no question they’re going to play better than they did against Auburn. All those mistakes we saw against Auburn, the turnovers, the penalties, that’s going to blow up because Kirby Smart was able to show what my Florida team is able to rely on. Is the team you know has wins against Ole Missouri and South Carolina with Georgia.

“You look at that Texas game; they had five sacks and 11 tackles for loss in that game. So they can make things a little more difficult for Georgia, which means in a game where I don’t know which team is going to show up, I have to get the points. I can’t sit there and say, ‘Yeah, Georgia’s going to be cool, you know 1st and 73 in this game.'” and get lost.”

“I have to take the points. Georgia wins the game 31-20 and I’ll take 11.5 on Florida.”

Klatt’s direct choice: Georgia
Klatt’s pick against the spread: Florida +11.5

Spread: Texas Tech -3.5
Money line: Texas Tech -166, Arizona +140

Klatt’s thoughts: “What about Arizona at Texas Tech? Arizona was ranked 22nd. Texas Tech is ranked 13th. I don’t know why Texas Tech is ranked 13th. They really haven’t done anything this year. They are actually favored in this game by 3.5. Arizona has been quietly taking care of business. Arizona is very good, very good. Since that loss to BYU, by the way, they led at halftime against BYU in Provo, and this was a BYU team that still had LJ Martin, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year from the year before. You know, how BYU without LJ Martin beat Notre Dame. So Tech, they’re looking at this Arizona team, thinking to themselves like, “This is going to be a real test.” And Noah Fafita comes in as one of the most experienced quarterbacks in all of college football. Brent Brennan is a football coach. They have momentum on their side. You know they hosted Cincinnati, who just beat Texas Tech. I think Arizona has a great chance in this game.

“The Tech defense has covered what has been an anemic offense for large stretches of the season, including last week. Texas Tech has five defensive touchdowns over the last four games. Five, and you look up; they didn’t score an offensive touchdown until the last minute against Cincy. Will Hammond hasn’t played well. It’s a great defensive stance, which was a unique style of defense for last year. They’ve been very good this year.

“I’ll take 3.5 here and say Arizona 24-20.”

Klatt’s direct choice: Arizona
Klatt’s pick against the spread: Arizona +3.5

Spread: Utah -6.5
Money line: Utah -258, Cincinnati +210

Klatt’s thoughts: “Utah at Cincinnati. Utah is favored by 6.5. Cincinnati is coming off of that emotional, blowout win over Texas Tech. This was great for them. There is no doubt. Utah has been playing with fire a bit. They were kind of close to Kansas. They were near Colorado. They had to pull out of Houston last week after being down 10-0 at halftime, and yet it comes down to the game. If you’re just watching the game, I’m watching this team in Cincinnati, and they played West Virginia a few weeks ago, which, by the way, has an offense that centers around a quarterback running the football. This is Michael Hawkins. Michael Hawkins had over 500 yards in that game, 500 yards. So will Cincy step up and stop Devin Dampier and this potent Utah offense? I don’t think they will.

“So now you have to tell me, well, now you have to get into a scoring game. You have to get into a high-flying affair. Well, they couldn’t do that against Arizona, and now they’re going to see a Utah defense, which is one of the best defenses in all of college football. Cincy has to run it well with their quarterback French, Colin, and their French, JC, Colin. for more than 250 last week, but this is a different animal because Utah is a top 10 defense in America.

“Give me Utah 35-24, and they cover 6.5.”

Klatt’s direct choice: Utah
Klatt’s pick against the spread: Utah -6.5

Spread: Oregon -3.5
Money line: Oregon -175, Northwest +145

Klatt’s thoughts: “Northwestern at Oregon. Oregon is favored by 3.5 in Eugene. Things are not going well. I was surprised to see this line. To be honest with you, Oregon just fired their offensive coordinator, Drew Mehringer. Jay Johnson, who was an analyst, is going to take over. He’s been an OC at State, Michigan before. it going to get fixed just by a coordinator? It might. It might. They’re banged up at wide receiver. They had discipline issues at wide receiver. They like Evan Stewart. Is he going to be out there? I think the game is actually more about Northwestern than it is Oregon.

“Chip Kelly has done a great job as the offensive coordinator for Northwestern. His creativity, he’s running almost a wing style of offense, almost an academy-like style of offense, which is very difficult to prepare for because of his unique nature and everything you have to stop, all the different directions the ball can go, the reads that are playing high-style football, a great option on offense. He’s been great for them in QB. He will be motivated to play well in this game.

“And then I look at Oregon, and I think how much do they have here? It’s not about their talent anymore. It’s about their acquisition. What acquisition am I going to get from the Oregon Ducks? Because it’s going to have to be important on the defensive end to stop that rushing attack and the unique nature of that rushing attack that Northwestern has to stop and commit to. A rushing attack like Northwestern, I think they’re going to have to play one of the at their best, to beat a Northwestern team that won’t beat itself all the time to win the game, you have to lose the game first.

“So I’ll go Northwestern 24-20.”

Klatt’s direct choice: Northwest
Klatt’s pick against the spread: Northwest +3.5