It's October now! As they say on the PGA Tour about Saturday, it's moving day (month), October will have some big games and some team's seasons will be bolstered, and some will crash and burn. Friday Night Stanford @ Arizona State. Stanford pulled off the upset of Oregon and seems to have found a QB in Tanner McKee, and ASU has a very good QB in Jayden Daniels. ASU fresh off the upset of UCLA themselves. They sit on top of the Pac12 South while Stanford is right in the mix for the North. Very important game for both teams. Saturday Several big games. Penn State @ Iowa As Bobda pointed out this is the first time since 1962 that a top 5 Big 10 matchup did not involve either Michigan or Ohio State, who were those teams? Penn State being in the East where there are the resurgant Buckeyes, Mich, and Michigan State probably needs this win more than Iowa. That's not to say Iowa doesn't care, but that a loss won't hurt them in winning the Big 10 West like it will hurt Penn State. Atmosphere will be through the roof in Iowa City. Texas vs Oklahoma Always a big game no matter what, but really is beyong that this year with the Sooners ranked highly and thought to be a playoff team but struggling on offense with offensive guru Lincoln Riley. Spencer Rattler has gone from Heisman front runner to also ran and from #1 overall draft pick on Mel Kipers big board to #25. Texas seems to have found it's mojo with the insertion of Casey Thompson at QB, and can't forget Bijan Robinson having a great year (except for that trip to the Hills). Big crowd will be back at the Cotton Bowl as well as deep fried everything at the State Fair. Must win game for the Sooners, and a Texas win will no doubt cause Longhorn fans to holler the "We're Back" that Sam Ehlinger hollered after beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. I think the game turns on the QB play and whose defense plays the best. Georgia @ Auburn. This is big, Auburn just went to Death Valley on a Sat Night and beat LSU something they haven't done in 20 years. Georgia just got through whupping up on Arkansas. If Bo Nix tries that Johnny Manziel stuff again against this Georgia defense the Dawgs will feast on him. Alabama @ Texas A&M The Tide are growing into a team maybe not quite as good as last years team, but close. Aggies are in trouble with a young OL and a QB who is struggling. It's going to put undue pressure on the A&M defense and then there is the claim this past summer that Jimbo made that he's going to beat Saban's ass (sometime in the future). The future isn't now. Ole Miss @ Arkansas Can we call this the hurt butt bowl? Both teams got their butts beat last weekend. Which one recovers and is ready to go this Saturday. One of the axioms in sports is don't let the last loss beat you the next week as well. Maryland @ Ohio State I might have put this down as a big test for the Buckeyes till Tua's little brother threw a ton of picks vs Iowa. Bad news for the turtles is that Ohio State seems to have found it's mojo. I predict more pain for Tuilia. CAL vs Oregon CAL not a good team, will be a much needed rest for the Ducks. Michigan @ Nebraska Could be an interesting game. Wolverines are in the top 10 after a great Sept. Huskers seem to be trending in the right direction, but this will be a big test for them. Harbaugh is fired up about this Michigan team, that dismantling of Wisconsin in Madison probably has them in a really good place. Running game numbers have come back to earth for them, but Cade McNamara has found his juice in the passing game. Adrian Martinez has found his juice as well, what he has to do is not turn the ball! Boise State vs BYU BYU also new to the top 10, gets a pretty good Boise State team in Provo. BYU a team that has a tough schedule going forward including Baylor, USC, Wash State and Virginia. Run that table and they will challenge Cincy for the top Group of 5 team. Michigan State @ Rutgers Before the destruction by Ohio State I would have looked at how they played tough in Ann Arbor and said this might be a toss up game. But Michigan State is a real solid football team. Rutgers just got destroyed at home so might be one of those games where they are still suffering PTSD from Ohio State and Michigan State is the benefactor. Notre Dame @ Va.Tech Irish at a low point right now, OL problems, indecision at QB, running game going nowhere. Defense mostly good but prone to giving up the big play to keep teams in the game. Va.Tech at home at night always tough, they have had the week to get healthy and prepare for the Irish. Kelly and the team will need to dig deep and change the trajectory of the season. Vanderbilt @ Florida Gators will be glad to the Commadores come to the Swamp. They (Vanderbilt) might be one of the 2 or 3 worst teams in football right now. Just what the doctor ordered for the Gators. I was listening to ESPNU and those guys said that Gator fans have turned on Dan McMullen really fast. Team and coaches need the rest that a big victory over Vandy will give them. South Carolina @ Tenn The Vols might have found a spark in QB Hendon Hooker the transfer from Va.Tech. South Carolina not as bad as Vandy but not very good. Vols could use a nice win here. Wake Forrest @ Syracuse. Wake Forrest is unbeaten, Syracuse is good as long as they don't play a Power 5 team. The lost to a woeful FSU team. Wake has to win these games to keep their hopes alive for an ACC Championship game, and hope that Clemson slips up again and gets a 2nd ACC loss. LSU @ Kentucky Dangerous game for the Wildcats. LSU is not without talent and if they sleep on Eddie O and team they will get beat. Got to put that big win over Fla in the rearview and get ready to do it again. SMU @ Navy SMU off to another good start, Navy struggling but they still have that confounding triple option game that sometimes keeps them in games that they shouldn't be in. Utah @ USC If you can believe it this will be USC's 5th Pac 12 game and only the 2nd for Utah. USC already has 2 losses in conference and can't afford another one, Interim coach or not.
Terry, the 62 game was the Battle for the Ax with the winner going to the Rose Bowl. The 63 Rose Bowl game between USC and Wisconsin probably is the greatest game played there between PAC 12/B10 teams. TWO GOOFS KILL THE GOPHERS https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-01-sp-1114-story.html?_amp=true
Thanks for the article Bobda. I found the last paragraph an interesting time capsule. 1. 34 points a game isn't a really big deal these days with the wide open Spread 2. Nobody would tout a "light" but quick DL 3. The description of the Wisconsin practice wouldn't even be tolerated by many high schools these days. The Badgers had college football's leading offense, with a 34-points-per-game average. Minnesota's light but quick line had limited opponents to a national low of 48 yards along the ground per game. At its last full-scale scrimmage on a bitingly chill Thanksgiving eve, Wisconsin, superficially at least, scarcely looked like a potential national champion. The players, wearing faded red practice jerseys, muddied stretch pants and a battered assortment of yellow and white helmets, sputtered through their offensive and defensive assignments on the worn, uneven practice field against the white-jerseyed reserves.
Oh yeah, Gameday will be at Texas/OU. Many Twitter followers are upset that it's not at a big Top 5 matchup between Iowa and Penn State. I kind of agree. Not sure what is so compelling nationally about a struggling OU team and a Texas team that looks like they might be good but then so far the only good team that they have played woodshedded them. Big Noon Kickoff will be in Iowa City though, and personally I like the Big Noon group better than the Game Day crew.
IU QB Michael Penix was one of the early stars last season due to his incredible dive for the pylon and a TD vs Penn State in the upset win that propelled the Hoosiers to a very good season. Then he had an excellent game vs Ohio State in a loss at Columbus. He was injured after that and missed the rest of the season. He came back this year and no doubt a lot was hoped and expected from him, but IU has not been able to duplicate that great season so far and Penix now is injured again and out indefinitely. ______________ Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had his first three seasons end early because of injuries. The Hoosiers remain hopeful Penix won't make it four in a row. Coach Tom Allen said Monday that the redshirt junior suffered a separated throwing shoulder during Saturday's loss at Penn State. He is out indefinitely and is being listed as week to week.
Terry, a traditional showdown with 2 of the biggest teams in college football history. Also Dallas in October ain't half bad.
Tough choice, Dallas or Iowa City.....Dallas or Iowa City.....Dallas or....what the hell, it's no contest, BIG D!!!
kp, I wish I could talk some smack this week, but Terry was actually being kind in reference to our offensive woes. The QB has zero pocket sense and reads way too slowly. That is a very bad thing when your OL only occasionally plays as a unit. I expect the defense to put up decent resistance for a half but they will inevitably see the futility of their task and wear down.
Speculation is that since the Iowa/PSU game will be on Fox and Big Noon will be there that Gamedy risks being 2nd fiddle so they go to Dallas.
Scott, I think what A&M needs to do is play their own game and hope it is enough. Ole Miss got out of their normal game plan and it hurt them. Alabama's offense has gone from a quick strike, long-ball team to a short and medium pass, running team that is putting together longer, time-eating drives. Our defense is inconsistent, vulnerable to the run and the short passing game. Alabama is very good. Our quarterback is very accurate and our running backs are good, not great. Our wide receivers are good, not great. A&M has a good chance to win this game but they must do what they do very well and probably get lucky with some turnovers.
It's funny how people are taking that one wild play and extrapolating it to Bo Nix being some sort of magician. It was only last week that more than a few Auburn fans were calling for T J Finley the LSU transfer to be the starter after his performance vs Georgia State. My prediction is that all that running around and escaping the rush to make big plays will back fire against that Georgia defense and he'll take some really bad sacks where he loses 10 or 15 yard or turns the ball over. Auburn is a 14-15 underdog at home. So Vegas doesn't think he's a magician. The thing that might keep this game closer will be the health of JT Daniels. I don't think their backup is in his league so the offense could suffer. Stetson Bennett only threw the ball 11 times for 71 yards against Arkansas. I have to assume that part of that was they didn't need to throw it, but also they didn't really trust him to throw it 25-30 times, last year he was prone to the Int and that was why he lost the job as soon as Daniels was healthy enough to play.
Yeah they do if the Alabama bus breaks down and they are late to the game and have to forfeit!! I can't see the Aggies even being in this game unless Alabama just sleepwalks through the game. Granted the Tide is not a great as that team last year, you guys might not see a team like that in a while. But still, Fla 2nd half aside, you guys are the best team in college football. You will be able to exploit that young A&M OL and the struggles that the QB has had vs lesser defenses. A&M's defense might keep you in check for a while but they will wear down with no help from the offense.
kp, you haven't seen us. The problem is we don't do anything well on offense right now. The OL can't get on the same page for more than 2 plays in a row, which means we are usually behind the chains and with a mostly immobile QB who takes way too long on his progressions, that is not a good recipe for success. I have to hope Nick orders the defense to be completely vanilla, and not disguise anything for us to pass. Even tho we have two of the best RB's in the country, it doesn't mean much against 8 or 9 in the box.