A few quick thoughts on this weekend’s games:
1. Oklahoma State at Texas: Neither of these teams played well against West Virginia (which is currently 4-6). The Mountaineers handed the Cowboys their only loss of the season and took the Longhorns to overtime just last week. Oklahoma has a top thirty defense against the run and the Texas just lost Jonathon Gray. Unless Brown or Bergeron step up, the Cowboys can force Case McCoy to throw the ball and I don’t think he can sling it with the Cowboys. OK. State wins.
2. Georgia at Auburn: If this game were played in Week 2 or 3, with Auburn coming off a very close win against a Washington State team that is now 4-5, or in place of the close win against a now 4-5 Mississippi State, and a healthy Georgia squad, I’d go with the Bulldogs. As it sits, I think the only reason the Bulldogs are ranked #25 is to give the Tigers either a win or a loss to a ranked opponent. All that being said, unless Aaron Murray found some receivers in the woods somewhere and can get up on the Tigers early to force Nick Marshall into a passing game (he’s thrown 16 times in the last two games), I don’t see the Bulldogs having a chance. Auburn will head into the Iron Bowl with one loss.
3. Texas Tech at Baylor: A few weeks ago, I thought this game could trip the Bears up, but now the Red Raiders are coming off three straight losses and the Bears off a big win versus Oklahoma. Baylor lost their top wide receiver this week for the season, but Art Briles’ scheme can make up for that. They run the spread different than everyone else in that their wide receivers go all the way to the sidelines, which opens up the field for both the passing and running games. TTU’s only hope is that Baylor is looking ahead to Oklahoma State next week. Sorry, Baylor wins again folks.
4. Utah at Oregon: Who gave Oregon their only loss? Stanford. Who gave Stanford their only loss? Utah. The difference, however, was that Stanford at to travel to the Utes whereas in this case the Utes have to head to Autzen Stadium. Additionally, Oregon will be reeling from their loss last week to the Cardinal, most likely dashing their national title hopes, so the Ducks will be ready. I don’t expect Helfrich, Mariota, and company to take the foot off the gas at all this week. Keep in mind also that the Ducks got two extra days of rest since they played on Thursday last week. Aflac wins big!
5. Stanford at USC: This is my upset special of the week. The Trojans have only lost once since Ed Orgeron has taken over and that was a four-point loss to Notre Dame, which was a game they probably should have won. The Trojans’ defense is still very good (17th in the nation in total defense) and they can stretch the field with their two wide receivers (Lee and Agholor) and tight end (Cajuste). The Cardinal have the best offensive line in the country and they’ll use that to kill the clock like they did against the Ducks last week (66 rushes and 43 minutes Time of Possession). However, I think USC will score early and force Stanford to throw earlier than they want. USC squeaks out the upset and turns the Top Ten on its head again!
P.S. I’d have mentioned the Alabama/MSU game, but why? Yes, MSU only has losses against Top 20 teams, but they beat Bowling Green and Kentucky by a combined 7 points. Let’s not get crazy, people! Alabama wins and Dan Mullen may be looking for a job soon enough.
Leave a Reply