Week 8! Damn it's flying by isn't it. Thursday night game is sort of an elimination game in the Pac12 Stanford vs ASU ...Stanford with 1 loss could still win the Pac12 North. ASU already has 2 losses and on the brink. So both teams need this badly. Cardinal played 2 tough road games vs Oregon and Notre Dame and had nothing left for the Utes last week (also a tough team). Maybe they can get it done vs ASU . Friday has some entertaining games. Col.State at Boise State a big game for the Mountain West, both have 1 loss and can't afford a 2nd loss. Air Force at UNLV. Flyboys always fun to watch, neither team going anywhere though. Sat: Lots of good games. Michigan at Mich State ...Big Brother vs Little Brother. That upset of Penn State by MSU last weekend and the big win vs Wisc by UM makes this game a pretty damn big game. UM undefeated in B1G and Sparty with 1 loss. Sparty has won something like 8 out of the last 10. It would seem like Harbaugh really needs to beat MSU after the loss to ND. OU at TCU ...OU needs the win badly, TCU season spinning out of control since the loss to Ohio State. OU must win out, and Ruffin McNeil needs to get the OU defense playing defense. Alabama at Tenn ... Will Saban start Tua or rest his knee and let Jalen do the job. Tenn did get a big win last week vs Auburn, maybe they'll be ready for the Tide....nah. Mac Jones might get some playing time here. NCState at Clemson ...last 2 unbeaten teams in the ACC, NCState not getting any respect for it's record though. It's the last game that Clemson will be challenged. Clemson probably gets up for this game and rolls. Col at Washington ...another big Pac12 game. Washington can still win the North and Colorado can still win the South, but neither can afford the loss. At Washington...got to roll with the Huskies..err puppies. Minn at Neb ...the Huskers are getting close and could have beaten Northwestern last week. This might be their week. Miss State at LSU...LSU coming off that big win over UGA are they due for a let down? Miss State got a win over Auburn, but then Auburn is a sinking ship right now. LSU must get this win to have a chance of winning the SEC West by beating Alabama in Baton Rouge Nov 3rd. Ohio State at Purdue...on paper there is no way Purdue can keep up with the Buckeyes. But Herby said that Purdue can put up a lot of points on the Buckeyes with their offense given how the Ohio State defense has been playing. Said watch out Purdue is better than you think. Ohio State can't overlook the Boilers. Is Stu in a quandary here :?: Oregon at Wash State ...Gameday will be there, it's a big big game. Both teams with 1 conference loss and can't afford another loss. Oregon has a path to the CFP if they win out as do the Coogs. USC at Utah ...another Big Pac 12 game, this time the South. USC right now in the drivers seat but can't afford a loss at Utah, and the Utes already have 2 losses. Neither team is ranked though. Arizona at UCLA ...not really a big game, but interesting to see if Chip Kelly has turned a corner at UCLA. They won big last week at CAL. Can they get 2 in a row? UCF at East Carolina ...every game a big game for UCF, they got jumped by a bunch of 1 loss teams this week in the standings. What ever slim chance they have relies on them continuing to be undefeated and teams ahead of them picking up losses and teams below them not jumping over them with Power5 wins. Virgina at Duke ...not really a big game both are chasing Va.Tech in the ACC Coastal, Duke is 5-1 their only loss is to Va.Tech and Virginia is coming off the upset of Miami. Bronco Mendenhall is in his 2nd year at UVA seems to be getting things turned a little bit for the Cavs. Cincinnati at Temple...Bearcats are undefeated, not likely to go anywhere big even if they run the table. But Luke Finkel seems to be doing a good job and might be a coach to keep an eye on when another Big job comes open. On the CFP, heard a discussion about it on ESPNU radio this morning and the thought is that the Pac12 playing 9 conference games is hurting them right now. That Larry Scott either needs to get them back to 8 like the SEC and ACC or somehow get the CFP to expand to 6 or 8 teams. If they don't make it this year it will mean they have only had a team in 2 of the 5 years. The SEC has had a team every year and 2 last year. The ACC has had a team every year.
He hasn't played since the injury in the TCU game. He probably isn't going to be 100% for the season and I can understand him saying he can't go and bowing out. I'll bet we see even more of that after the season when teams with good players who have draft hopes and whose teams are out of the playoffs decline to play in a meaningless bowl game.
Oh yeah and I'm wishing the media would stop with all the ND is a lock if they win out and they have easy games to go...Rat Poison...I tell you it's Rat Poison next thing the players will start buying that and we'll have the Pitt game every weekend!! :shock:
Also how is it already week 8 of college football and Maryland still has DJ Durkin in limbo as the coach. Matt Canada has the Terrapins at 4-2. It seems like by now they would have decided to either continue his suspension (with or without pay) for the year and make it public as punishment for the way the program was being run. Or he should be fired/bought out so the program can move on and hire a perm HC (Matt Canada) and start healing.
With Nick Bosa's decision to leave the Ohio State Football team following surgery, (a no-brainer) and prepare for the 2019 draft, we have our work cut out for us to finish the season with a very weakened defense. Hopefully, we will be able to have some current players step up and hold down the fort.
Don, it's the same guys who have been holding the fort down since half way through the TCU game. So it's business as usual for the Buckeyes. No doubt a 100% Bosa makes you guys a lot better though. It doesn't seem like that was going to happen anyway. I wonder if that Michigan kid, Rashan Gary will be back. Harbaugh didn't want to talk about him or really any players who have injuries in the press conference the other day. Gary is projected to be a high draft choice as well.
Well Khalil Tate is out as the Arizona QB this week (injury) and RichRod's son is going to get the start at QB. Interesting that Dad was fired and son hangs on and plays for the new guy (Sumlin). I wonder what RR is up to these days. I don't think I've seen his name come up as a TV analyst. Obviously the way his firing went down, he might have a hard time ever coaching again at least in college.
Big game for the Buckeyes Saturday night at Purdue in Prime Time TV. Purdue has frequently been a tough game for us in West Lafayette. This game will be no different and a real challenge for the Buckeyes on the road. We are listed as 12 point favorites which I think is extremely generous. I think this will be a close game and the 4th quarter is probably going to be the difference maker GO BUCKS!
Don, I know how you feel. Up until this year Alabama's offense was steady but far from explosive. Our security was our defense. This year our defense is reliable and our offense is explosive. I have a different attitude this year. Someone will have to score a lot of points to beat Alabama this year. Every week is a challenge especially within the conference.
kp has the decision been made on Tua, I know I read that he "could" play and has practiced this week...but will he play?
N'Kosi Perry of Miami to the bench and Malik Rosier back to starter this weekend according to Mark Richt. He benched Perry in the UVA loss so I guess this isn't a big surprise. Did anybody see that Lane Kiffin offered the 11 y/o son of former USC QB Matt Leinart? Last time he offered a QB in grade school it was David Sills now an AA WR at West Virginia.
I don't know if this is the most famous play in the MSU/UM rivalry history but it has to be in the top 10. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dqv48MwEbaQ" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media"></iframe> The kid who did the scoop and score was severely injured in the celebration and never played football again. He did graduate and then joined the Air Force.
Terry, I have not heard any discussion of that either way, so I assume he starts. Saban and Tagavolua have both said he is "fine".
Lot's of talk about Gameday being at Washington State. Ryan Leaf is going to be the guest picker. They talked about the history of the WSU flag being at all the game day sites for the last 18 years, it's a pretty cool story. I hadn't kept up with the Ryan Leaf saga, I know he's had a rough time and has been in Prison, but since he's on GameDay I imagine he's somehow turning his life around. Who is the most likely to pull off the upset on Sat. Michigan State North Carolina State Mississippi State Tenn Purdue. One of the guys said Purdue is ether going to win by 1 or lose by 50! :?