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The 2021 college football season didn’t disappoint with plenty of thrilling finishes, and it’s safe to say the mock drafts all look quite a bit different than they did at the beginning of the year as the shake-up never really stopped. The regular season has now come to an end and it’s time to look ahead to postseason play.
After several interesting finishes from last week, these postseason games are going to be something to watch as everything begins to carry more weight as teams have even more on the line moving forward.
Here’s a look into four matchups taking place on Saturday, specifically highlighting what to watch from a quarterback perspective as you place your bets ahead of gameday (all odds via PointsBet Sportsbook).
Pittsburgh (-3.5) vs Wake Forest
This will be one of the greatest quarterback matchups of the weekend as Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman both take the field Saturday. The former was listed with the third-highest odds to take home the Heisman Trophy when the closing odds were posted, following a 31-14 win over Syracuse in which he completed 28-of-38 passes for 2019 yards with four touchdowns and one interception, bringing him to a season total completion percentage of 67.7% with 4,066 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and seven interceptions. With that, he became the first quarterback in the conference since 1953 to have at least 4,000 passing yards and at least 40 touchdowns in a single season. Pickett’s rise this season has been nothing short of meteoric and he’s considered by several analysts to be the most NFL-ready quarterback in this year’s class.
On the other sideline is Hartman, another quarterback who has made a notable rise this season. Like Pickett, Hartman has generally strong accuracy at all levels of the field and has made some big-time throws that have put him on the map in 2021. The Demon Deacons signal-caller checks a lot of boxes and is a true dual-threat, with the ability to make strong plays in the air and on the ground. In his latest performance, a 41-10 win over Boston College, Hartman completed 20-of-32 passes for 236 yards with three touchdowns and one interceptions. His regular-season completion percentage finished out at 60.3% with 3,711 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
These are both solid teams that have accomplished a lot this season, but Pitt is more consistent and complete on either side of the ball and will come out on top.
Pick: Pittsburgh (-3.5)
Georgia (-6.5) vs Alabama
There’s no better team in college football than the Georgia Bulldogs. They’ve gotten the job done on both offense and defense every time, entering the the SEC Championship undefeated. There have been some appearances out of former Heisman candidate JT Daniels, but it is Stetson Bennett who has the keys to this offense. In the 45-0 shutout of Georgia Tech, Bennett completed 14-of-20 passes for 255 yards with four touchdowns and zero interception. He finished out the 2021 regular season with a completion percentage of 65%, 1,985 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The title game will be another important outing for Heisman favorite quarterback Bryce Young, who reassumed his spot in the driver’s seat as the odds-on favorite after leading his team to a 24-22 win over Alabama in quadruple overtime. In that game, Young completed 25-of-51 passes for 317 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. On the regular season, Young finished with a 68.9% completion percentage, 3,901 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and four interceptions. The sophomore still has some developing to do, but has impressed behind an Alabama offensive line that has been up and down within a team that doesn’t look quite as difficult to face as it used to.
This comes down to consistency, something Georgia has shown this year and something that Alabama has struggled to maintain. It’s hard to see a scenario in which the Bulldogs don’t come out on top in this one against one of the shakiest Alabama teams that’s come out on the field in recent history.
Pick: Georgia (-6.5)
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USC vs California (-4.5)
The winds of change have been blowing at USC between head coaching changes with Lincoln Riley recently hired after Clay Helton was fired. Jaxson Dart is at the helm at quarterback for the Trojans, though Kedon Slovis started off the season as the starter -- he now faces the choice of whether to enter the 2022 NFL Draft or transfer. Dart, who has shown to have a high ceiling to this point, completed 23-of-35 passes for 248 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown in the 35-31 loss to BYU. This season, Dart holds a completion percentage of 61.3% with 1,162 passing yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions over five games.
The California Golden Bears, who are also 4-7, will be looking for redemption in this one as well. Quarterback Chase Garbers didn’t have his best game in the team’s 42-14 loss to UCLA last week, completing 16-of-31 passes for 125 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. He did make it to the end zone once though, as he carried the ball 16 times for 20 yards with one rushing touchdown. This season, Garbers has completed 62.7% of his passes for 2,354 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Cal has a competent passing defense and has improved defensively across the board, while the team as a whole looks as healthy as it has in a while. Expect USC to get things going through the air early on, but for Cal to find its footing and finish on top in a game that could be a gritty one.
Pick: California (-4.5)
Iowa vs Michigan (-11)
What a win it was for Michigan as the Wolverines took down Ohio State, 42-27 last Saturday. Running back Hassan Haskins had a day, carrying the ball 28 times for 169 yards with five touchdowns as the Wolverines didn’t do a ton through the air this past weekend -- quarterback Cade McNamara, who has shown flashes but has mostly looked like a competent game-manager, completed 13-of-19 passes for 159 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception. In 2021, his completion percentage stands at 64.4% with 2,301 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Taking the snaps for the Iowa Hawkeyes is quarterback Spencer Petras. In last weekend’s appearance, a 28-21 win over Nebraska, Petras looked largely pedestrian as he completed 7-of-13 passes for 102 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. This season, the junior has completion percentage that leaves some to be desired at 58.1% with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.
Iowa has virtually no truly competitive offense with one of the worst units in the conference and may be the poorest 10-2 team currently out there. It’s the Hawkeyes’ defense that has helped them make it this far for the most part, and Iowa leads the Big Ten in turnover margin. It’s easy to get the sense the Hawkeyes are going to need a lot of those to stay in this one and it’s equally easy to get the season that Michigan has a large advantage coming off a huge win over one of the best teams in the country.
Pick: Michigan (-11)
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