Week 7’s top games
College football is at the halfway point, and it has been a really fun ride thus far. I’ve had a lot of fun watching games and dissecting what’s going on. This week, my intention is to present to you the top game from each conference, and why I picked it, plus my prediction for the game. Let’s get rolling:
ACC: GT @ Miami: originally scheduled for a Thursday night game, this one is set to kick off at 3:30 on Saturday. The reason for this choice should be obvious, this is for 1st place in the Coastal division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami comes in at 4-0 with a defense that gives up only 17 points per game, which is good for 17th nationally in that category. That defense will have the tough task of defending one of the most dominant rushing attacks in college football. GT runs for an average of 396 yards per game, which is good enough for 2nd nationally! Their primary weapon on offense is the signal caller, Marshall. He leads the team in both rushing and passing, which is not uncommon in a Paul Johnson style attack. If you like option football, watch this ball game. Defensively GT is giving up less than 20 points per game good for 27th nationally. They’ll have a tough assignment to stop Miami’s Mike Rosier Jr. He leads the Canes with 1074 yards passing. His primary target is Braxton Berrios who has caught 282 yards worth of passes. 5 of those catches are a part of Rosier’s 11 TD tosses. Big news out of Miami is that their leading rusher Walton is out with a season ending injury.
The toughest test for Miami thus far was a 24-20 win against a depleted Florida State squad who is missing their leader. GT hasn’t played anyone noteworthy and lost to a Tennessee team that looks like it’s imploding. GT did have a dominant road win in Chapel Hill just a few weeks ago. Both teams have a sizeable margin of victory average, GT with 23 points per game, and Miami with 20. One hundred and one years ago this weekend GT beat Cumberland College 220-0, that will not be the case this weekend, but Tech comes away winners, 27-20.
Big 10: Purdue vs. Wisconsin: Jeff Brohm’s Boilermakers are currently 3rd in the West but, with an upset win at Camp Randall they could put a huge wedge in the Big 10 west division. Brohm is a former Louisville QB, one would think his team would be focused on offense. Think again, as the Boilermakers have been playing exceptionally well, giving up only 21 points per game. They lost a tough battle against reigning Heisman trophy winner Lamar Jackson and Louisville, and hung in with Michigan for 3 ½ quarters. Offensively Purdue will not wow you, but defensively they’ve played really stingy, stout defense. They will have to keep that up, because the next great Wisconsin running back hit the scene last week, Jonathan Taylor ran for 249 yards at Nebraska! He has 9 TD’s and is averaging 8 yards per carry. That massive Badger offensive line continues to mash, and it’s a thing of beauty. Unlike GT, Wisconsin lines up and says, you know exactly what’s coming, and you still can’t stop us! Behind that line, Taylor became the FIRST true freshman in Wisconsin football history to rush for 200 yards in a game, earlier this season against Florida Atlantic. He rushed for over 4,600 yards and over 50 TD’s in high school. This young man is big time! They don’t just pound the rock, the QB, Hornibrook has tossed it around for over a thousand yards and 10 TD’s. They don’t turn it over, so they don’t beat themselves and they run the ball to set up the downfield passing game. It’s a thing of beauty. Purdue has played well, but Wisconsin wins this one going away, 38-17.
Big 12: 3 Words: Red River Rivalry. I shouldn’t have to type anything else...but I am. OU vs. Texas. I know, I know, OU lost to a 30 point dog, Iowa State last week, in Norman. But, isn’t that just like Oklahoma? Don’t they lose to a team, every year, that they have no business losing to? Of course they do! At any rate, they got it out of their system, and they’ll roll over Texas. But, not without a fight. Texas has gotten markedly better since Maryland, yep, Maryland ran all over them in week 1. They played Southern Cal to the wire and lost by 3, and are averaging giving up less than 24 points per game. In the Big 12, that’s not too bad. Offensively they’re putting up decent numbers, 34 points per game. They just haven’t quite found their identity. Ehliger has thrown for 900 yards and 5 TD’s, but hasn’t quite settled in. Oklahoma’s problem isn’t offense, it’s defense, they’re 46th in scoring defense, just slightly better than Texas. This is the week to fix that! I know, there’s blood in the water, after the trip up game, but, this is still the same team that hung 31 on Ohio St in the Horseshoe. This team is solid, and they’ll prove it again this week. Boomer Sooner 30, Hook Em Horns 14.
Pac 12: Upset Alert! Upset Alert! The 8th ranked Fighting Mike Leach’s travel to Berkeley to take on the fighting snowflakes of Cal, er, I mean Golden Bears. Washington St is tied for 1st place in the PAC 12 North with its neighbor Washington. As with any Mike Leach offense their QB has put up some gaudy numbers so far, Falk has thrown for over 2,000 yards with 19 TD’s and only 2 pics. He has spread it around this year connecting with 13 different pass catchers, but his favorite target is Martin Jr., with 34 catches for 464 yards and 7 touchdowns. They’re coming off a big win over Southern Cal and are averaging just under 400 yards passing per game. Cal’s defense is improved from last year, but are still giving up right at 30 points per game. Offensively the Golden Bears like to throw it around as well, their leading passer has thrown for just over 1400 yards for 9 touchdowns. However, their offensive line has struggled at times, and will have a difficult time with the cougar defensive front. Going into Berkeley will be boring and there probably won’t be a big crowd for 8th ranked cougars, and that alone could make for a sub par performance. As Corso would say, “not so fast my friend”. Leach will “swing his sword” and the Cougars will roll, big day for Falk! 52-24 WSU!
SEC: I wanted so badly to break down the Carolina/Tennessee game, but everyone who reads this will know I’ll pick the Cocks, so I’m going with the Auburn/LSU game. Lucky for Auburn, they’re playing during the day, those cajuns know how to get down on a saturday night. This game is important, if you want to know who will finish 2nd in the West behind Bama. The winner will wear that crown. Auburn has one loss to defending national champion Clemson (still makes me nauseas to type). LSU has two bad losses to both Troy and a Miss State (beat down). But, they beat Florida in the Swamp last weekend. Who knows which LSU team will show up. Probably the one who likes their home grown Orgeron, and will fight tooth (if they have any) and nail. Auburn has a 22% win percentage in Baton Rouge, that will improve slightly this weekend with a win over the Bayou Bengals. They’ve finally settled on a QB in Stidham. He’s thrown for over 1300 and 7 TD’s, but everyone knows what makes Malzahn’s offense tick is the running game. They’ve found the spark with a HUGE back, Kerryon Johnson. This young man is super talented and massive. He’s listed as 6 feet 212 lbs., HA. That guy is every bit of 6’2 and 225. He runs like a deer and is just so fluid. Mr. Football in Alabama as a senior in 2015, he’ll put his stamp on this season with a big day in Death Valley. Enough about the offense, this Auburn defense has come a LONG way in two years. Remember when they couldn’t stop a nosebleed? Me too! Now, they’re giving up only 13 points per game. That’s good enough for 6th in the country! LSU doesn’t have enough firepower on offense to keep the ball out of the hands of the Auburn offense and they don’t have enough depth and stamina on defense to stop the running game consistently. Tigers 28, Bayou Bengals 10
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