Thursday night has #16 South Florida at Pittsburgh. Pitt's coming off two close, tough losses at Iowa and vs Notre Dame. The conference opener will put the winner in pretty good shape for the conference race, and both teams play West Virginia late in the year. South Florida has been playing really well on offense, and racked up 745 yards and 70 points against Florida A&M. USF QB B.J. Daniels has completed 66.1% of his passes for 1,071 yards and thrown 8 TDs to 1 INT. Pittsburgh has struggled a lot on defense against the pass, ranking 115th allowing 306.3 yards per game, including 399 against Iowa who scored the final 21 points (all passing TDs) in the final 10 minutes to steal the game. Daniels might have a big day and Pitt could drop 3 in a row for the first time since 2007, which is also the last time they didn't go to a bowl game.
#3 Alabama likely gets their last big test before their November 5 date at home with #1 LSU. This week they play at #12 Florida, who has been looking pretty good so far this year. Both teams are 4-0 and riding 5 game win streaks. This game features two great defenses. Alabama is ranked in the top 3 in the major defensive categories: rushing - 3rd (45.8 YPG), passing - 3rd (138.3 YPG), pass efficiency - 2nd (74.7 QB rating), total - 2nd (184 YPG), and scoring - 2nd (8 PPG). Alabama has played tougher competition, and Florida's stats are just a little worse. They rank 5th in rush defense (56.5 YPG), 20th in pass defense (175.3 YPG), pass efficiency defense (95.3 QB rating), 5th in total defense (231.8 YPG), and 4th in scoring defense (9 PPG). Alabama might be able to exploit the Florida pass defense, as A.J. McCarron has played very well since the opener against Kent State. In the last 3 games, he's 49/72 (68%) for 553 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. In the last 3 games, Alabama has not turned the ball over and has 7 takeaways. They've been very impressive the last few games and rank 10th in punt returns and 31st in kick returns. Florida is 102nd in net punting, so we might see Marquis Maze returning another punt for a touchdown. I think this game comes down to whoever plays better defense and who is more opportunistic with field position and turnovers. It won't be easy for Alabama, playing in The Swamp late on a Saturday night, but I think they're the best team in the country and they can do it.
#13 Clemson is coming off two big home wins over Auburn and Florida State, and this week they travel to #11 Virginia Tech for their first road game of the season. Clemson has been tested quite a bit more, especially defensively. They did struggle a little bit with Troy and Wofford, but played well against Auburn and Florida State. They've played well on offense, averaging 502.8 yards per game which is 13th in the nation. QB Tajh Boyd is ranked 11th in pass efficiency (173.8 QB rating) and he ripped apart the tough Florida State defense. Virginia Tech does have a great defense, ranking 2nd in rush defense (43 YPG), 6th in pass efficiency defense (88.6 YPG), 4th in total offense (231.3 YPG), and 6th in scoring defense (10 PPG). They have let up some yards through the air, though, ranking 32nd in pass defense (188.3 YPG). The best QB VT has faced so far is East Carolina's Dominique Davis, who they held to 127 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT. Boyd is quite a bit better than Davis, and is a much better runner. VT also forced 5 sacks in that game, and they are tied for 10th in sacks, averaging 3.5 per game. Clemson ranks 80th in sacks allowed, allowing 2.3 per game. That could be an area where Clemson will struggle, protecting Boyd. But if he can avoid the pass rush and either scramble or get the ball to WR Sammy Watkins quickly, they might have a chance to knock off Virginia Tech in the night game at Lane Stadium, which is always a tough environment.
The Southwest Classic at Cowboys Stadium features two teams coming off tough losses to top-5 teams, #14 Texas A&M and #18 Arkansas. Texas A&M blew a 20-3 halftime lead against #5 Oklahoma State to lose 30-29. Arkansas gave a couple of defensive and special teams touchdowns late in the second quarter and early in the third on the way to a 38-14 loss at #3 Alabama. There should be a lot of passing in this game. TAMU throws for 310.7 YPG (19th) and Arkansas throws for 312.3 YPG (18th). Both teams play decent on defense, allowing 17 and 19 points per game. Texas A&M has struggled more against the pass, but they've also only played 3 games and 1 of those was against Oklahoma State and their QB Brandon Weeden. This game will probably be a lot of back and forth and could come down to whoever has the last chance to score.
Some other quick hits this week:
- Northwestern QB Dan Persa is expected to play for the first time this year as they travel to #24 Illinois.
- #19 Michigan plays their conference opener against Minnesota. They're just 6-18 in the conference over the last 3 years.
- Utah State has a true freshman QB and is 1-2 but should've been 3-0 with wins over Auburn and Colorado State. They play at struggling BYU on Friday night.
- Mississippi State plays at Georgia where they're 2-11 and haven't won since 1956. Each team needs a win.
- Toledo beat Syracuse (but it's recorded as a loss), and had a chance to beat Ohio State in the shoe. Temple blew out Maryland and had a chance to win vs Penn State. This week could be a preview of the MAC championship.
- Auburn forced four straight turnovers to end the game against #10 South Carolina last year. Can they pull off they upset this week or do they start a 4-game losing streak?
- Kansas State is 3-0 and coming off a big win over Miami. They'll have their hands full against Baylor QB Robert Griffin III.
- Arizona needs a win at The Coliseum to save their Pac-12 South hopes and avoid a 1-4 start.
- #17 Texas needs to avoid a trap game at Iowa State, as they have #1 Oklahoma and #5 Oklahoma State coming up.
Utah has a home game this week, so I won't get to watch much football besides the morning games and the beginning of the afternoon games. But here are the games I want to watch or would want to watch if I could:
Thursday 6:00 - #16 South Florida at Pittsburgh (ESPN, ESPN3)
Friday 6:00 - Utah State at BYU (ESPN, ESPN3)
10:00 - #14 Texas A&M vs #18 Arkansas (ESPN, ESPN3)
10:00 - Minnesota at #19 Michigan (BTN)
10:00 - Northwestern at #24 Illinois (ESPN2, ESPN3)
10:00 - Toledo at Temple (ESPN3)
1:30 - Auburn at #10 South Carolina (CBS)
1:30 - #15 Baylor at Kansas State (ABC/ESPN, ESPN3)
1:30 - Arizona at USC (ROOT)
1:40 - Washington State at Colorado (FCS Pacific)
4:00 - #13 Clemson at #11 Virginia Tech (ESPN2, ESPN3)
5:00 - Washington at Utah (ROOT)
6:00 - #3 Alabama at #12 Florida (CBS)
6:00 - #8 Nebraska at #7 Wisconsin (ABC)
8:30 - UCLA at #6 Stanford (ROOT)
No comments:
Post a Comment