College Football’s Week Nine:

DG’s “Pick Six” Begins With #8 LSU-#14 Texas A&M,
#21 Missouri-#15 Alabama, Syracuse-#19 Pitt, More


By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

Each week during college football season, we offer a “Pick Six” package of intriguing matchups — three “local” games that include one or more North Carolina-based team and three “national” contests that involve the Atlantic Coast Conference and/or the most prominent intersectional games.


Week Nine: Top “National” Games

Game One
#8 LSU (6-1) at #14 Texas A&M (6-1), Sat., 7:30 pm (ABC/ESPN+)

Latest Betting Line: Aggies a two-point favorite

The Southeastern Conference is so deep this year that 6-1 Georgia, 6-1 Texas and 6-1 Tennessee are all higher in the national rankings than either LSU or Texas A&M, yet the Tigers and the Aggies are the two teams atop the SEC standings, because neither team has lost a conference game yet.

Remember, the Tigers’ only loss so far was a season-opening defeat against Southern Cal, and the Aggies’ only loss was a season-opening defeat against Notre Dame. So, not only are both teams undefeated in the SEC, neither squad has lost a game since the first day of September, and each is on a six-game winning streak heading into this big-time matchup on Saturday night.

LSU, led by redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and fifth-year senior wide receiver Kyren Lacy, has one of the best passing offenses in the SEC. A&M, led by 215-pound junior tailback Le’Veon Moss and a powerful offensive line, has one of the best rushing offenses in the SEC.

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, in his first year as the head coach of the Aggies after his successful two-year tenure at Duke, joked at a recent press conference that “there’s $10 million in cash on the line this week,” when he was asked about the matchup between A&M’s defensive line, which has been great at getting after opposing quarterbacks, and LSU’s offensive line, which has prevented sacks this season about as well as anyone in the country.

Assumedly, Elko was joking about various players’ NFL draft status, because how they perform in these sorts of games, against high-level competition, matters a lot when it comes to how they’re evaluated as pro prospects.

However, Elko just as easily could have been joking about the many millions of dollars involved with a trip to the College Football Playoff. Heading into this game, according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor, LSU has a 40% chance of making the 12-team field, while A&M has a 33% chance.

If you’re looking for an historical trend, the home team has won seven straight contests in this rivalry. That obviously would give the Aggies an edge this time, with 100,000-plus expected to be on hand at Kyle Field.


Game Two
#21 Missouri (6-1) at #15 Alabama (5-2), Sat., 3:30 pm (ABC/ESPN+)
Latest Betting Line: Crimson Tide a 14-point favorite

This game is intriguing, in part, because former Appalachian State coach Eli Drinkwitz has Missouri playing some of the best football in the history of that program, and first-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer — who has the impossible task of succeeding perhaps the Greatest of All-Time, Nick Saban — already has lost twice in his first seven games with the Crimson Tide.

For perspective, keep in mind that during Saban’s 17 seasons at Alabama, the Tide lost more than two games in a single season only twice — in his first campaign there, way back in 2007, and in his fourth year, 2010, when Bama went 10-3 and finished the season ranked #10 in the nation.

On the Missouri side, meanwhile, Drinkwitz led the Tigers in 2023 to only their third top-10 season in the last 50-plus years — they went 11-2 and beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl — and now they’re off to a 6-1 start this season.

Although Alabama is a two-touchdown favorite, and obviously the Tide is especially tough to beat in Tuscaloosa, one thing to watch in this one is the Missouri passing game.

Although the Tigers have been a much better team on defense this year than on offense, which is Drinkwitz’s specialty, they do have a very experienced and accurate quarterback in fifth-year senior Brady Cook and a big-time wide receiver in junior Luther Burden. Meanwhile, Alabama has some injured players in the secondary, and the Tide has given up an unusual number of big plays to opposing quarterbacks downfield.

If there is a path to an upset for Mizzou, big plays in the passing game probably will have to be a significant part of that script.


Game Three
Syracuse (5-1) at #19 Pitt (6-0), Thurs., 7:30 pm (ESPN)

Latest Betting Line: Panthers a six-point favorite

This matchup should be a lot of fun for everyone, because it will showcase two of the ACC’s best quarterbacks, and two teams with outstanding records, on ESPN in the Thursday night national television spotlight, when the only high-profile football alternative will be the Vikings-Rams NFL game on Amazon Prime.

Kyle McCord, the Ohio State quarterback transfer who went 12-1 as a starter for the Buckeyes, has been absolutely brilliant for Syracuse, and he’s the #1 reason for the team’s 5-1 start under first-year head coach Fran Brown. McCord’s 360 passing yards per game virtually match the numbers of Miami QB Cam Ward, a Heisman Trophy candidate, and McCord has 19 touchdown passes against six interceptions.

Meanwhile, Pitt’s redshirt freshman quarterback, Alabama transfer Eli Holstein, has become one of the best dual-threat QBs in the ACC under new Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell, formerly of Western Carolina. Along with running back Desmond Reid, a Western Carolina transfer who’s putting up All-ACC numbers as an extremely valuable runner/receiver himself, Holstein has Pitt averaging about 41 points per game.

Regardless of who wins this one, it has a chance to be must-see TV.

NOTE: For the complete Week Nine schedule (including television/streaming options) for all ACC and state of North Carolina teams, please click HERE.