2023 College Football Week 6 Sleeper Picks

By Hank Blaine • October 2, 2023

Now that September is in the books, do we really know that much more about the 2023 college football season than we did before it started? This writer would argue that the title field is much wider open than anyone thought. Here are three underdogs on Saturday we like around the country.

Top 2023 College Football Week 6 Sleeper Picks

Two undefeated teams go head to head this weekend

Who will get their first loss of the season this weekend when Oklahoma and Texas face off Saturday in the Red River Showdown? pic.twitter.com/okZ1Nx8itY
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 3, 2023

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Louisville Cardinals

When: Saturday, October 7th, 2023. 7:30pm EST.
Where: Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY
College Football Odds: Notre Dame (-6.5) // Louisville (+7)

The Irish might be on fumes after back-to-back grueling games against ranked Ohio State and Duke. The Irish beat Duke 24-17 on Saturday. Trailing 14-13, the Notre Dame offense took the field from its own 5-yard line. And faced with a fourth-and-16 at Duke’s 47-yard line with just over a minute to play, QB Sam Hartman could not find an open receiver downfield. Instead, he took off and dove for the first down. Hartman then spiked the football to stop the clock. On the next play, back Audric Estime ran 30 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 31 seconds left. The win extended Notre Dame’s regular-season winning streak against ACC foes to 30 games. The Notre Dame defense kept the Irish in the game, slowing down Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard for long stretches. Duke had the ball with 2:46 left with a chance to put the game away, but Jordan Waters lost 2 yards on third down, forcing a pooch punt down to the 5 to give Notre Dame its last shot.

Louisville overcame a double-digit halftime deficit for the second time this season, defeating NC State 13-10 on Friday night. The victory moved Louisville to 5-0 overall for the first time since 2013 and 3-0 in ACC play for the first time since joining the league in 2014. Despite struggling much of the night offensively, the Louisville defense held NC State to 201 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers while keeping the Wolfpack off the scoreboard in the second half. The Cardinals also recorded a pair of sacks and eight tackles for loss while holding the NC State offense to a 3-15 conversion rate on third downs. Louisville held its opponent scoreless in the first quarter for the sixth straight game, the longest streak since doing so for seven straight games in 1973.

2023 College Football Week 6 Pick: Louisville

TCU Horned Frogs vs. Iowa State Cyclones

When: Saturday, October 7th, 2023. 8:00pm EST
Where: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA
College Football Odds: TCU (-1) // Iowa State (+5.5))

Big 12 matchup, with both at 1-1 in league play. The Frogs were upset 24-21 at home by West Virginia on Saturday to see their 10-game regular-season Big 12 winning streak snapped. A 49-yard field by West Virginia’s Michael Hayes with 9:31 to play provided the winning score. The Horned Frogs’ final two series went into West Virginia territory but did not produce points. The Horned Frogs led 21-14 at the half and did not win for the first time in 14 games under Sonny Dykes when ahead at the break. TCU also lost for the first time in 17 games under Dykes when ahead or even in turnover margin. Neither team committed a turnover. Chandler Morris totaled 349 yards of offense and three touchdowns. He has completed 23-of-41 passes for 298 yards and two scores while adding 51 yards rushing on 11 carries and a touchdown.

Iowa State was beaten 50-20 by No. 14 Oklahoma. Freshman quarterback Rocco Becht finished with just 188 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. On Iowa State’s third offensive play, Oklahoma’s Billy Bowman intercepted Becht’s pass and took it 44 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring 57 seconds in. Becht’s nine passing touchdowns this season are the third-most by a freshman in school history. His 67-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins was the longest of his career. The Cyclones tossed two touchdown passes of 50-plus yards for the first time since beating ULM in 2019. Iowa State’s streak of holding 19-straight opponents under 300 yards passing, the second longest in the nation, was snapped by Oklahoma. Coach Matt Campbell is now 33-32 against league opponents, the most league wins by an ISU coach in school history.

2023 College Football Week 6 Pick: Purdue

South Florida Bulls vs. UAB Blazers

When: Saturday, October 7th, 2023. 4:00pm EST
Where: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, AL
College Football Odds: Oregon (-27) // Stanford (+27)

American Athletic Conference matchup with USF atop it at 2-0 in league play. The Bulls were 44-30 upset winners at Navy on Saturday to end a 19-game road losing streak, 13 in AAC play, marking its first road win since a 45-20 victory at ECU on Oct. 26, 2019. USF committed three turnovers in the game that resulted in 14 Navy points and kept the game closer than it may otherwise have been. Snapping a 19-game road skid. The Bulls out-gained Navy 435-330 on the day and forced the Midshipmen to go a combined 4-of-16 on third and fourth downs. Quarterback Byrum Brown passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns, while Sean Atkins recorded his second career 100-yard game, getting there in the second quarter, posting four catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, one of those an 88-yarder. USF scored 44 points a week after posting 42 in a win over Rice, scoring 40-plus points for two-straight games for the first time since doing so in the 2017 season with three straight games in late September on their way to a 10-2 record. Alex Golesh is only the fourth USF head coach to start their career 2-0 in conference play.

UAB lost its fourth in a row Saturday, 35-23 at Tulane. With UAB trailing by five with less than a minute remaining in the contest, Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt found Lawrence Keys III on 4th-and-9 for a 32-yard touchdown to ice the game. The Blazers gained 434 yards of total offense, including a season-high 170 rushing yards, but Tulane had 448 yards, including 264 on the ground, to lead the Green Wave to victory. UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno was 27-of-35 for 236 yards, and his top target was freshman Amare Thomas, who finished with eight catches for 99 yards. Running back Isaiah Jacobs had career highs in carries (18), yards (95) and touchdowns (2), while Matt Quinn accounted for the rest of the scoring as he was 3-for-3 on field goals from 31, 48 and 36 yards. Cameras caught first-year UAB coach Trent Dilfer going nuclear on his assistants after a crucial mistake during the loss but we like the Blazers here.

2023 College Football Week 6 Pick: UAB

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