College Football Picks Week 4: Predictions for Top 25 Games on Upcoming Schedule
The College Football Playoff discussion comes into the spotlight in Week 4, with title contenders Notre Dame and Georgia facing off for the second time in three years.
The Bulldogs won the last meeting in 2017 on their way to the playoff. Notre Dame is looking to return the favor in an attempt to make a repeat Final Four appearance.
Georgia and Notre Dame have looked impressive to date, but Saturday's clash at Sanford Stadium is their first true test.
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Although Auburn is on the outside looking in at the playoff conversation, it has a chance to earn its second notable victory against Texas A&M in an SEC West clash at Kyle Field.
Week 4 Schedule
All Times ET.
Predictions in bold.
Friday, September 20
No. 10 Utah at USC (9 p.m., FS1)
Air Force at No. 20 Boise State (9 p.m., ESPN2)
Saturday, September 21
Southern Mississippi at No. 2 Alabama (Noon, ESPN2)
No. 4 LSU at Vanderbilt (Noon, SEC Network)
Tennessee at No. 9 Florida (Noon, ESPN)
No. 11 Michigan at No. 13 Wisconsin (Noon, Fox)
No. 23 California at Ole Miss (Noon, ESPNU)
Miami (Ohio) at No. 6 Ohio State (3:30 p.m., BTN)
No. 8 Auburn at No. 17 Texas A&M (3:30 p.m., CBS)
No. 15 UCF at Pittsburgh (3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2)
No. 22 Washington at BYU (3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2)
SMU at No. 25 TCU (3:30 p.m., FS1)
No. 16 Oregon at Stanford (7 p.m., ESPN)
Old Dominion at No. 21 Virginia (7 p.m., ESPN2)
Charlotte at No. 1 Clemson (7:30 p.m., ACC Network)
Oklahoma State at No. 12 Texas (7:30 p.m., ABC)
No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 3 Georgia (8 p.m., CBS)
Colorado at No. 24 Arizona State (10 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
UCLA at No. 19 Washington State (10:30 p.m., ESPN)
Predictions
Georgia 31, Notre Dame 21
Georgia and Notre Dame have outscored their opponents 249-54.
The Bulldogs have five players over 100 rushing yards to complement the 601 passing yards and five touchdowns that belong to Jake Fromm.
Ian Book enters Athens, Georgia with 680 total yards and eight scores against Louisville and New Mexico.
The significant difference comes on defense, as Georgia is ranked ninth in yards conceded per game with 243, while Notre Dame is 68th with 373.
Additionally, the Bulldogs have conceded the fifth-least rushing yards per game, so that could pose problems for Book and Tony Jones Jr.
Brian Kelly's Fighting Irish sit on the opposite end of that statistic, as they have let up 230.5 rushing yards per game.
That might spell trouble for Notre Dame going up against D'Andre Swift, who had a trio of triple-digit ground performances versus ranked foes in 2018. The junior is averaging 8.4 yards per carry and recorded at least 65 yards in the three contests to start the season.
Book could try to create an advantage in the air with Chase Claypool, but he is going up against a defense that concedes 182 passing yards per game.
Since 2017, Georgia is 7-3 against ranked foes. Notre Dame is 6-3 in the same span, but only one of its Top 25 victories occurred on the road.
Notre Dame could pull off the upset, but all of the statistics lead us to believe the Bulldogs will be triumphant.
The victory will boost the SEC East's side resume that could include victories over Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M before conference championship weekend.
If that is the case, arguments might be made in favor of a one-loss Georgia side getting into the playoff, but that discussion will be had later.
Texas A&M 20, Auburn 14
Unlike most Top 25 matchups at this juncture, we already have an idea of what Auburn and Texas A&M look like in high-profile games.
Auburn gutted out a 27-21 Week 1 win over Oregon behind freshman quarterback Bo Nix, while the Aggies dropped to Clemson by 14 points.
Saturday's game starts a gauntlet for both sides. Auburn plays Mississippi State and Florida after its visit to College Station, Texas, while A&M opposes Alabama October 12.
Jimbo Fisher's squad should have the experience at quarterback in Kellen Mond and the home-field advantage to come out on top.
Mond has 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in the last two seasons at Kyle Field. Eleven of those passing scores have come against ranked foes.
A&M is forming a nice supporting cast around the signal-caller with a pair of running backs over 120 yards and three wideouts with more than 140 yards.
Nix has Eli Stove and Will Hastings to work with as his top targets, but he is facing a team that has conceded 184.7 passing yards per game and 5.2 yards per attempt.
Texas A&M's advantage could come on the ground, as Auburn has let up 17 more yards per carry than it, and it is coming off a win over Lamar in which it ran for five scores.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com
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