College football picks: Penn State with a tricky road game, Temple has been money at the Linc

Here are our staff picks for this week’s top college football games., which are listed in standard Vegas rotational order.

Last week and year to date standings are at the bottom.

Great item in Temple’s game notes. This is the fifth year in a row these teams have met with a different head coaching matchup. More importantly, UCF is on a four-game losing streak against the spread. Temple has won and covered all four of its games at Lincoln Financial Field.

» Full Temple, Penn State coverage

Utah’s defense has given up 23 points total in the three games since they lost to USC. Last week, when they beat then-No. 17 Arizona State, Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Daniels completed just four of his 18 pass attempts. The Utes are 6-1 and six of their seven games have gone under. The 37.5 here is the lowest number this season.

Washington State has won four in a row in this series, a streak that followed Oregon winning eight straight. Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert has 31 touchdown passes and just one pick.

Sparty is playing its third consecutive game against a team ranked in the top 10. Michigan State was dumped by Ohio State (34-10) and drilled by Wisconsin (38-0), but this one’s at home. “We’ve got to figure it out and reset and move forward,” said Saprtans coach Mark D’Antonio, "and I think we’re capable of that.”

Sixth-ranked Penn State leads the nation allowing 1.9 yards per rushing attempt.

» READ MORE: Penn State knows Sparty’s quarterback very well

Iowa State was losing to Baylor to fall 2-2 when coach Matt Campbell realized something.

“I’ve never had a group that’s worked harder or been more close-knit, but they were putting too much pressure on themselves," Campbell told John Feinstein of the Washington Post. "We needed to figure out a way not to do that.”

The Cyclones (5-2) have won (and covered) three in a row since.

Texas gave up 48 points defense to Kansas last week -- 24 in the fourth quarter. Texas. Football, not basketball. Good thing Sam Ehlinger and the offense averages 41 per game, good for ninth in the nation. Don’t play the unders here.

Louisville freshman running back Javian Hawkins ran for 129 yards in last week’s otherwise dismal loss to Clemson. It snapped a 27-game streak where Clemson hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher. Good luck figuring out Virginia (5-2), which is 3-3-1 against the spread and tore apart Duke last week.

Perhaps Wisky was looking ahead when they were stunned by Illinois last week. The Buckeyes, who are routinely beating people by 40, have covered six in a row. Please note that five of the last six in this series have been decided by seven points or less.

LSU has won nine in a row over Auburn in Baton Rouge. Make it 10 and the “Joe Burrow for Heisman” train oughta get even more momentum. This is a tasty appetizer to the main course two weeks from now when third-ranked LSU visits No. 1 Alabama.

This line opened at Michigan -4 in some places. We picked it a -1, but FanDuel and PointsBet were just two of the houses that had the Irish favored by a point as of Friday.

Note: Luke Reasoner did not pick in Week 1.