Bold Predictions for Week 7 - 2024 College Football

October 11, 2024

Brant Henson makes three bold predictions for Week 7 of the 2024 college football season. Read more about the upcoming slate and predictions here.

Despite the chaos of Week 6, last week’s bold predictions just were not bold enough. Missouri was blown out rather than securing a road win as predicted. Miami surely did not blow California out as it needed a final-minute touchdown to win by one point. Will Rogers did turn the ball over for the first time this season, but Washington still took care of business against Michigan. 0-for-3.

There is nowhere to go but up with this week’s bold predictions article after a hot start to the season was significantly cooled last weekend. The slate is full of highly anticipated matchups and if you are doing anything other than watching football all day on Saturday, you may need to rethink your priorities.

Let’s dig into this week’s bold predictions ahead of Week 7’s slate.

Ohio State Dominates Oregon In Highly Anticipated Matchup

Out of all of the fun games on the schedule this weekend, the game of the week is the undefeated matchup in Eugene between second-ranked Ohio State and third-ranked Oregon. There has been hype for this game since the schedule was announced, and now both the Buckeyes and Ducks are looking to keep their undefeated records intact.

On paper, Ohio State has the physicality to overpower Oregon at the line of scrimmage, winning in the way that it has fallen to Michigan the past three seasons. Through a sound defensive performance, a dominant run game, and forcing turnovers, I believe that this will not be a close game as everybody predicts and that Ohio State will run away on the road. Give me the Bucks by double-digits.

USC Knocks Off Fourth-Ranked Penn State

Another highly anticipated Big Ten matchup lost some juice as USC was upset by Minnesota last weekend, but it would be wrong to overlook this Trojans squad. With Penn State traveling across the country, the Nittany Lions are entering uncharted territory.

Penn State heads out west for their matchup vs USC

The last time they played it was an instant classic
(@SSN_USC / @FightOnRusty)
pic.twitter.com/B9SuRQgVrW

— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) October 10, 2024

James Franklin’s squad has looked vulnerable all season long and is ranked fourth in the nation through scraping by rather than impressing. USC has much more offensive firepower than any team that Penn State has played this year, and it will expose the largely untested defense of the Nittany Lions. I like Miller Moss to outplay Drew Allar at home, handing Penn State its first loss of the season.

Arizona Hands BYU First Loss

One of the surprises to this point in the year is that BYU remains perfect. The Cougars have handed SMU its only loss, demolished Kansas State, and last week took down Baylor en route to their perfect 5-0 start.

BYU still has a brutal schedule ahead of it and if it wants to continue its trajectory toward the Big 12 crown, a win this week over Arizona is necessary. The Cougars have been dominant at home thus far, but Arizona has much less of a travel than Kansas State had three weeks ago. 

I asked #BYU HC Kalani Sitake if he was worried about the No. 14 Cougars hosting "Big Noon Kickoff" on FOX ahead of Saturday's Big 12 game against Arizona becoming a distraction:

"I'm excited for everyone to see the excitement around BYU football." pic.twitter.com/rkrHcMejsa

— Sean Walker (@ActuallyDSW) October 7, 2024

Coming off a loss at home against Texas Tech, the Wildcats are desperate for a win. They have already shown the ability to win on the road as they toppled Utah 23-10 two weeks ago, and they are now in prime position to damper another undefeated team in Utah’s season. Give me Noah Fifita, Tetairoa McMillan, and the Wildcats to get the job done this weekend.

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