By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, IOWA – We are slowly but surely climbing our way into the green this season after back to back positive weeks. One thing I can confirm, Illinois and Nebraska have been put on the ban list temporarily. In the last three weeks, the bad knee’s combined record is 8-5-1, four of those five losses have come by the hands of either the Fighting Illini or Cornhuskers.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We all know the definition of insanity. Let’s get into this weeks picks.

Iowa (-6) @ UCLA: Friday night lights in LA, what’s better than that? Both of these teams are coming off of two straight wins and do not want to slow down anytime soon.

For UCLA, after an abysmal 1-5 start, they took down both Rutgers and Nebraska on the road. Be that as it may, I believe this matchup clearly favors the Hawkeyes.

Iowa comes into this game red hot offensively, scoring 40 or more points in three of their last four games. The UCLA defense gives up over 370 yards per game and 27.9 points per game (222nd in the country). While their rushing defense ranks in the top 20 in yards allowed (100.4), the Hawkeyes bring in one of the best attacks in the nation as over 220 rushing yards per game. Brendan Sullivan and the Hawkeye offense should pick up where they left off in his first start last Saturday and handle this one.

#3 Georgia @ #16 Ole Miss (O55): The SEC holds the two best matchups of this week. Before Alabama and LSU battle it out in Baton Rouge, the Rebels host the Bulldogs in Oxford. The main course in this game is the Ole Miss offense. They have been an absolute powerhouse this season, ranking second in yards per game (565.9), first in passing yards per game (375.7) and fourth in points per game (42.1).

While the Georgia Bulldogs are certainly no pushovers, this is not the unwavering Bulldog defense we are used to. They rank outside the top 40 in yards per game (316.1), passing yards per game (187.1) and third down percentage (27.8%). This game finished at 69 points in their matchup last year, look for another fun one this Saturday. Go Points!

#17 Iowa State (-3) @ Kansas: Iowa State’s season may have hit a bump in the road last week after their 23-22 loss at home to Texas Tech, but there aren’t many better teams to bounce back against in the Big 12 than Kansas. The Jayhawks have one single victory over a Power Five school this year, which was a 42-14 home victory over Houston. They tested Kansas State last week in a two point defeat, but the biggest advantage ISU has this week is the fact that this won’t be your average “road” game.

This game will take place in the Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. If you have paid attention online, you would see the abundance of Cyclone fans that have purchased tickets and plan to make their way down. We see every year at the Big 12 basketball tournament how well Iowa State travels to Kansas City and this doesn’t look to be much different. Good team versus bad team. Cyclones could very well win this one big.

#20 Colorado (-4) @ Texas Tech: Colorado is a team that greatly benefitted from Iowa State’s defeat last weekend as their path to the Big 12 title game is now right in front of them. They are currently tied with Iowa State for second place in the conference standings, while Texas Tech is just a game behind them.

Shedeur Sanders and the Buffaloes have won five of their last six games by at least a touchdown with their lone loss coming to Kansas State. Big time players show up in big time games and I trust Shedeur and Travis Hunter to make those big plays.

Washington @ #6 Penn State (-13.5): Washington stinks. Penn State bounces back from their loss to Ohio State. Nittany Lions roll.

Good luck to everyone on another full slate of college football games. I just hope everyone has fun.

Season Record: 13-15-2 (3-2 last week)