For teams with a shot at the CFP another week that they can't afford to lose! Clemson at FSU ...once the nemesis of Clemson, FSU struggling this season. Tigers should roll. But being at home, FSU could put up a big fight that could scare Clemson. Notre Dame at Navy ...this one being played at San Diego. It's a home game for Navy but they choose not to play it at home and always have us play somewhere like San Diego or Jacksonville or Baltimore, etc where there is a significant Naval presence. Navy always gives us a hard time, their offense is quirky and tends to hog possession of the ball and your offense doesn't get many chances. Also of concern to teams that play them is their blocking scheme really goes at your DL's legs. Talent wise it's not a contest, but on the field they have given the Irish fits ever since Paul Johnson changed their offense to the Triple option. We could really use an easy victory, but that's not likely to happen. Fla vs UGA ...don't know what to expect here, neither team seems to be great offensive teams, but both have excellent defenses. I guess a low scoring game is on tap, but a big party before and after! Loser is eliminaed from any chance at the CFP. Even if weird things happen and the loser ends up SEC champion. KState at OU ...OU of course has to win out, and KState is one of Bill Snyder's worse teams. So Kyler Murray and company probably can lay 50 or more on them. Wash State at Stanford. Wazzu is the last 1 loss team in the Pac12, if they lose to the Cardinal that means the best record the Pac12 Champion can have is a 2 loss season. So this is an elimination game not just for the Cougars but for the Pac12 in general. If there were ever going to be 2 completely different offensive styles on display this will be the game. Cardinal are the bully, run, multiple TE's, power football. Cougars are throw it over and under you and run enough to keep you honest. Texas at Oklahoma State ...like OU, Texas has to win out and likely beat OU again. The starter at qB Sam Ehlinger is dinged up from the Baylor game, not sure if he'll start or play. Shane Buchelle who has been a starter would get the call, he's a completely different QB than Sam though. Sam is a big part of the running game, Shane wouldn't survive running as much as Sam does. Fortunately OSU is having one of their worst teams in awhile so Longhorns should be OK no matter who plays at QB. Michigan, Ohio State, LSU and Alabama have the weekend off. Other games Baylor goes to W.Va. ...Mountaineers technically are still in it, they have some big games left that could boost them into the conversation if they run the table. That would require them to beat OU and or Texas twice. Do that and win the B12 would put them in position to compete for the 4th slot should Clemson/Bama/ND continue undefeated. Baylor just playing to get better. They had no pulse last year, this year #2 under Matt Rhule is looking better and it's not impossible they could make a bowl game...a huge improvement and a validation of Matt Rhule as a coach. Ga.Tech at Va.Tech. Hokies still have a lot to play for, they are in the drivers seat for the ACC Championship game vs Clemson. Ga.Tech just trying to get enough wins to get a bowl bid. Tech running that service academy option is always a tough out. Hokies probably win. Miami at BC ...Ralph's boys need a bounce back win after that bad loss to UVa, they still have a shot at the ACC Coastal Div but can't lose anymore. BC is having a pretty good season and being at home in the weather vs the sunshine state Hurricanes they will be a tough out for Miami. Wisconsin at Northwestern. This a big game for the B1G West. Northwestern leads with a 4-1 record, Wisconsin pre-season was thought to be playoff calibre. Wisconsin likes to run the damn ball and Northwestern can't run the damn ball. Should be interesting. Utah at UCLA ...Utes are leading the Pac12 South, having the tie breaker over USC now. UCLA on a 2 game winning streak. Pretty important game for the Pac12 South. Utes beat USC handily, and are always a well coached team. Has UCLA gotten untracked. I noticed that the kid whose dad went after Chip Kelly on Twitter is on the bench and Michigan transfer Wilson Speight played last weekend. Purdue at Michigan State ...kinda a big game, Purdue is in the race for the West and needs to validate that big upset over Ohio State by beating another good opponent in MSU. So often after huge emotional wins like Purdue had last week, there is a let down. Brohm I'm sure will do everything he can to prevent that, MSU on the other hand has to have a bad taste in their mouth after that UM loss and need some bounce back revenge on somebody. Iowa at Penn State. Hawkeyes like Purdue are in the race for the B1G West, while Penn State is just looking to win and get back on track. With 2 losses already they are out of the Conference Championship picture and just playing for a good season finish. Penn State really could have lost a 3rd game last week at IU, only IU's ability to fumble at critical times saved them. Hawkeyes looking pretty solid. USF at Houston. USF one of the remaining undefeated teams headed for a collison with UCF, but first they have to beat a pretty good Houston team who has a dynamic dual threat kid at QB and Ed Oliver on defense. Cougars offense this year with Art Briles son at the OCoord position has been very good. I'm sure Charlie Strong would love to come back to the State of Texas and get a win. Texas A&M at Mississippi State....Aggies coming off a bye week and State coming off a big loss to LSU. Both teams need the win. Aggies rested and ready for this one. Road win in the SEC, Jimbo will have a statue soon! Lot of other games of course many of which have impact on who will win a division race in their conference or position themselves for a good bowl game.
FSU is pretty bad. Clemson should win easily. Navy is down this year. Notre Dame should win easily. Florida and Georgia. Georgia wins if Smart gets out of the way. Miami and BC should be a good one I wonder if Purdue will be back down to earth by Saturday A&M & MIss State should be good also. I like the A&M qb. Edge to the Aggies.
I see that Jim Harbaugh has doubled down on calling out MSU and Dantonio as Bush League for the kerfluffle at East Lansing last weekend. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2018/10/22/michigan-football-jim-harbaugh-rips-michigan-state-mark-dantonio/1729914002/
T - Up until last year, "bully" and "run" would aptly describe the Stanford offense. Although they still line up with double-tight and try to smash the ball, their rush offense has completely failed them this year: - Washington St. is #129 in the country in rushing yards with 72.6 ypg. They average 3.4 yards/attempt, with 150 attempts on the books. - Stanford, the run-focused bully boys have 209 attempts on the books. They average 3.1 yards/attempt. They are #127 in the country with 91.6 ypg. Right now I hesitate to look too deep into the stats because the Sagarin SOS attributed to WSU is #71, whereas Stanford is #11. So, typically, the statistics that WSU is racking up have come against much easier competition than the rocky road Stanford has had to survive. Basically, the difference comes from Stanford playing 6-1 SDSU (vs. 2-6 Wyoming), 6-1 UC Davis (vs. 5-2 EWU), 7-0 ND (vs. 0-7 SJSU), and 3-4 ASU (vs. 1-6 Oregon St.). So far, Stanford's rushing games are: 50 (SDSU), 159 (USC), 71 (Oregon), 55 (ND), 42 (Utah), and 127 (ASU). Not especially daunting. There are three common opponents: Stanford and WSU have both played USC, Oregon, and Utah. USC Stanford allowed 114 yds rushing and 218 yds passing, while rushing for 159 yds and passing for 183 yds, and logged the 17-3 win. WSU allowed 113 yds rushing and 241 yds passing, while rushing for 91 yds and passing for 344 yds, and were awarded a BS 36-39 loss. Oregon Stanford allowed 178 yds rushing and 346 yds passing, while rushing for 71 yds and passing for 327 yds, and achieved a comeback, OT 38-31 win. WSU allowed 58 yds rushing and 270 yds passing, while rushing for 77 yds and passing for 323 yds, and earned a dominant 34-20 victory. Utah Stanford allowed 222 yds rushing and 199 yds passing, while rushing for 42 yds and passing for 381 yds, for a thorough 40-21 beat down. WSU allowed 204 yds rushing and 118 yds passing, while rushing for 0 yds and passing for 445 yds, while barely surviving for a 28-24 victory. The key to this one is going to be the possibility of an emotional letdown after last week's game against the Ducks. There is no reason WSU can't put Stanford down, especially since they are arguably less physical than WSU at this point. We'll see Saturday since you gotta play to get the W.
MSU has won 8 of the last 11 vs M. Harbaugh should really shut his mouth and be happy Dantonio didn’t bitch slap him AGAIN.
lol...didn't forget anybody AJ, but I do leave out scrimmages! Good luck though, do you think SCOFRO will play an all walkon team in the 2nd half? Kes...you da man!
Doc, Wilton Speight came in for UCLA because their starting QB was injured in the 1st quarter. The offense clearly isn't a fit for Speight but the kid did a good job. Still, Kelly is just throwing kids into the fire and hoping they come out better on the other end.
Jalen Hurts has a " procedure" on his ankle after the game with Tenn this past Saturday. Saban doesn't seem too concerned, but with Tua having a tender knee the last few weeks and Hurts probably not available for a few weeks at least that brings Mac Jones into the picture should Tua need some help. It's a long season, we're getting to the area where teams depth is going to get tested. Not many teams have Alabama's quality depth though.
Terry, Saban is saying Hurts should be ready for the LSU game and they are still saying Tua is fine. Jones looks ok but he has mostly just been handing the ball off. It's good we have the bye this week, hopefully Alabama can get everyone back to full speed. You can never tell what can happen though, injuries are part of the game and at this point in the season you just need to have a plan B or C or D! :lol:
So far Mullen and his staff have been excellent "in game" coaches and in preparing game strategy and in being prepared to call the right plays on both offense and defense at the right times. With two weeks to prepare I'm going with that as an edge for the Gators.... a winning edge as Mullen will prove to be smarter than Smart.... UF 24 - 20
QB Talk... I always listen to ESPNU and yesterday there was talk that Smart may start Justin Fields in the Florida game, and that Gus needs to bench Jarrett Stidham because he's not a threat to run the ball and Auburn right now needs a QB to run the ball as they have a mediocre group of RB's and an average OL. The shock is that just last year Jake Fromm was the frosh wunderkind at QB leading his team to the Nat'l Title game and almost pulling it off with a great 1st half vs Bama...now he's not good enough. And Jarrett Stidham, man that guy had a great run at the end of last season, in the games where Auburn beat both Alabama and Georgia. In the pre-season he was talked about as one of the best QB's in college and potentially a 1st rounder. He does have a great arm and is accurate, but not a running threat, same for Fromm.
A little surprised that Haskins is still in the top 3, but I guess throwing for almost 500 yds on 73 attempts is pretty damn good stat. I see Ed Oliver still hanging on that list and the Wazzu QB is there as well, I'll have to go back I'm not sure if this is his first appearance or what.
More reported fallout from the Ohio State/Purdue loss. Although this article claims friction between Meyer and Gene Smith, not sure how that impacts the play on the field though. https://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/report_friction_exists_within_ohio_state_football_program/s1_127_27581627
Sorta like he did durning the 2009 SEC Title game loss to Alabama? Hmmmmmm.... a resignation/retirement or a sabbatical could be in the offing.... especially if Michigan finally does beat the Buckeyes this year.
I see that the B1G fined Mich State for the incident at E.Lansing last Saturday. Also last night I listened to Buck Belue who has a new show on ESPNU, it was all about Fla/Ga and a lot about his pass to Lindsey Scott to win the game back in his day. Can't help but note the incessant analysis of Ohio State after their loss to Purdue. You'd think from some of the articles that Ohio State is a .500 football team and that Urban Meyer is on the hot seat. Miami heard from Al Golden again...he filed a 3M $ lawsuit claiming they still owe him money. Miami denies it does...game on. Too late for Kes and the Cougars but I see the Pac12 is making some changes to their replay deal so that the non-football general counsel can't over rule people on replays. I'm surprised when I made my picks to find that Wash State is an underdog this weekend as is Texas A&M.
My thoughts exactly, Terry, re: Ohio State. I'm used to the fans here being spoiled but this stuff is on a national level. Couldn't be that Purdue played a great game...naw.