UCLA (+10) at Stanford

David Shaw should win coach of the year.  He lost Andrew Luck and a bunch of great linemen and is now probably going to win the conference.  He’s had Stanford playing their best football when it matters most, in November.

A huge storyline is that both quarterbacks are redshirt freshmen.  Brett Hundley didn’t play last year for some stupid reason Rick Neuheisel came up with and Kevin Hogan took over as the starter halfway through the season.

The Stanford front seven completely demolished the Bruins’ offensive line.  It will be huge to see how the Bruins have adjusted in the six days since they last played.  Yeah, that’s right, these two teams played six days ago.

The proximity of the two games is a reason why I like UCLA to at least cover.  Stanford doesn’t have as much of an incentive as UCLA does to alter their game plan and I suspect UCLA will be much better prepared.  However, UCLA has not performed well against northern teams and the home advantage is enough to make sure Stanford wins.

Oklahoma (-6) at TCU

Oklahoma has been on fire the past two weeks.  They’ve had two consecutive games of over 500 yards passing and a total of 9 touchdown passes.  The lone losses have been to top 10 teams in Kansas State and Notre Dame.  Oklahoma won’t lose three games in a season.

Against top teams this year, read that as Kansas State, the Horned Frogs have struggled to score points.  They kept it real close, but at the same time it seemed sure that they were doing just enough to hold on.

Alabama (-7.5) at Georgia

The highlight of the weekend.  Georgia is probably the only team that has the same level of talent that Alabama has.  However, they don’t have Nick Saban.  Mark Richt is fine, but Nick Saban is next level.  You do not fuck with Nick Saban.

Alabama somehow squirmed back in to the national title game with a win over the Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs, even after getting torched by South Carolina, are also in the run for the national title with a win.  SEC!  SEC!  SEC!

Seriously though, it’s tough to see a Bama squad is not immortal when all you hear is “Roll Tide!” and see their fans dominating the message boards.  If you say anything enough times it eventually becomes held as truth.  However, I’ve seen them lose to Texas A&M.

Bama doesn’t make the same mistakes twice.  That’s why I like them to win.  Georgia has shown its ability to not show up for a game and totally blow it.  Alabama doesn’t do that, and they won’t lose two games in a regular season.

Texas at Kansas State (-11)

Texas is starting Case McCoy at quarterback, which is fine, he’s good, but he’s not going to top Optimus Klein.  The man who is so likeable that his wife didn’t kiss him until marriage, and they never even went on a date.  That info was released four weeks ago and it is still amazing.

The thing about Texas is they never rise to the occasion.  They were beat by West Virginia, demolished by Oklahoma, and lost to TCU.  Their lone quality win on the year was over Texas Tech on the road.

Florida State (-14) at Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech is not good.  They are 6-6 heading in to this game and were just approved for bowl eligibility if they finish 6-7.  Fresh off getting wrecked against Georgia to the tune of 42-10, they have to somehow pick themselves off the floor and beat a top-15 team.

Florida State played Florida incredibly close last week.  Their lone loss to North Carolina State though looks more comical every week that passes.

Nebraska (-3) at Wisconsin

This is a real clash of styles. Nebraska is a running spread offense while the Wisconsin Badgers are a two yards and a cloud of dust offense.  Led by Montee Ball, the now record holder of most career rushing touchdowns, the Badgers are a plodding offense that works best when playing with a lead.

Rex Burkhead and Taylor Martinez make up one of the scariest, and whitest, backfields in the nation.  They are really only outdone by what Colt Lyerla called “The Trailer Park Package” when he’s matched up with Bryan Bennett.

Both defenses are 4-3 fronts that are very physical.  This one will probably be low scoring. Actually, there is a 100% chance of a low scoring game.  I don’t see the 57-point game that happened in week 5 happening again.  Nebraska has taken care of business against everyone not named Ohio State or UCLA.

Michigan takes on Ohio State in the Horseshoe after snapping a 7-game losing streak last year.

Michigan at Ohio State (-4.5)

Michigan broke a 7-game losing streak to the Buckeyes last year.  The Wolverines barely won against a weakened Ohio State squad, still reeling from the horrors of exchanging football items for tattoos.  (Sarcasm)

Brady Hoke’s defense has been sneaky good but practically forgotten after they were romped by Alabama in week 1 of the college football season.  Since then they’ve replaced Denard Robinson at quarterback with Devin Gardner, a converted wide receiver.

A converted wide receiver though is not going to shred this Ohio State defense.  Braxton Miller will put up stats against the Michigan defense.  I like the Buckeyes to outscore the Michigan Wolverines by two scores.  I bet Ohio State would have much rather taken a bowl ban last year, because otherwise they would be in the national title race right now.

Wisconsin at Penn State (-2)

I’ll take Penn State at home in this game.  Not enough credit can be given to Bill O’Brien for turning around this offense.  This offense looked awful in years past but now they can function at a high level.

The Nittany Lions have the conclusion to this awful year and the team is going to really want to win this game.  Wisconsin does not have to win this game in order to move on.  They are set to go to Indianapolis and play Nebraska for the Big-10 title game.

I just don’t believe in the Badgers.  They have gotten better the last few weeks in a big way.  This team did lose though to Michigan State but played Ohio State very closely.  I’m giving the tie to the home team.

Auburn at Alabama (-33.5)

There are no circumstances I see where Auburn even keeps this close.  This is Gene Chizik’s last stand and is probably going against one of the top ten most recognizable people in southern history, Bear Bryant.

AJ McCarron will run play action with Eddie Lacy and sling it all over the field.  The Tide defense will suffocate the Auburn offense and this one will get out of hand early.

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (-6)

I’m just not a huge Oklahoma State fan.  They lost a lot and just never seemed to reach last season’s prime.

Oklahoma has the better defense and a solid offense that can run and throw.  I like Oklahoma’s defense to slow down the Cowboy passing attack and win by a touchdown.

Florida (+7) at Florida State

To me it is pretty crazy that Florida State is favored in this matchup, but for whatever reason, Bovada has Florida as the underdog.  Jeff Driskell goes against EJ Manuel, a battle between quarterbacks who haven’t reached their potentials but have limitations.

My main concern with picking Florida State is that they haven’t played that many good teams.  Their only quality win is over Clemson.  Florida has played the top teams in the conference, but also struggled against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

I like Florida State to win, but Florida to cover in a close one.

Oregon (-10) at Oregon State

Oregon State is not a sexy team.  They are fundamental, disciplined, and seem prepared for whatever the other teams throw at them.  Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks are probably the greatest tandem in the conference, because Robert Woods has really fallen off the map in terms of production.

Oregon is going to come out angry.  I can’t imagine a world in which Oregon’s offense struggles twice in consecutive weeks.  I think Oregon matches up really well against Oregon State and if the Ducks continually get the ball in space the Ducks will score a lot of points.  The Beavers just can’t outscore Oregon.

Stanford at UCLA (+3)

These two teams are really similar.  They have playmaking linebackers, solid defenses, good rushing attacks and mobile quarterbacks who have been outstanding in their first year.

This is a totally biased pick.  Oregon needs UCLA to win in order to host the PAC-12 title game and make it to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl.

Stanford will probably squash the Bruin rushing attack and force Hundley to make plays, which he might.  This will be a close one down to the wire and I hope that the home field advantage holds true for the Bruins.

Notre Dame at USC (+6)

Even though Matt Barkley is not starting I’m still expecting this game to be close.  Notre Dame is like the 2002 Buckeyes in which they score only as many points as they need to, regardless of the constitution.  I’m eager to see the Notre Dame secondary try and take down the two amazing receivers that USC has.

LaMichael James had a breakout performance in 2010 that solidified Oregon’s run to the national title game. Will we see something similar from Kenjon Barner?

This is a rough weekend of games on the outset.  Not a ton of drama to be found anywhere.  Notre Dame plays at Wake Forest, which means that they’ll win by 10 and Lou Holtz will once again talk about how Notre Dame is national title worthy because they beat bad teams while looking awful.

These are the weekends though when stuff goes down.  Things go wrong.  This weekend gives me the feeling that chaos will ensue!

Florida State (-31) at Maryland

I love that Maryland has a freshman, converted linebacker at quarterback, and he throws better than Tim Tebow.  This pick is to balance out any other losses I have this week.  The Seminoles are a dangerous team and the defense should take advantage of a few mistakes by the greenhorn quarterback.

Arkansas at Mississippi State (-6)

Arkansas is really bad.

Mississippi State is a darling.  There’s something about their old south leanings and constant stream of mediocrity that is endearing to me.  Mississippi State is one of those teams that can’t perform against top level content but can handle their business against lesser opponents.  They were beaten easily by Alabama and Texas A&M, but dominated teams that are worse than tem.  Arkansas is worse than the Bulldogs and I like the Bulldogs to pull away late.

Iowa at Michigan (-17)

Michigan minus everything!

Texas Tech (+10) at Oklahoma State

The Cowboys are fresh off a big win over a stone-cold West Virginia squad.  Texas Tech has the best defense in the Big-12.  These two teams now square off in Stillwater.  While both teams are very different, they are similar in success.  With a toss-up like game I’ll take the points.  The Red Raiders have a good shot at pulling the upset and they’ve done it before this year.

Washington (-21) at Colorado

Colorado sucks

Ohio State (+2.5) at Wisconsin

It is pretty crazy how well Wisconsin has rebounded since the beginning of the year.  In rough games against UTEP, Utah State, and a very good Oregon State, the Badgers have seemingly turned this season around after making some personnel switches in the coaching ranks.

Ohio State has struggled on the road.  They had a close win over a questionable Michigan State squad

USC at UCLA (+4)

The USC defense made the Oregon offense look like it was playing air.  I don’t remember a single play where Oregon got stopped and I said, “well that didn’t work.”  The Bruins spread has a great running back and quarterback.

The UCLA defense though will struggle immensely against the USC passing attack.  For UCLA to win the Bruin linebackers need to ball real, real hard.  Silas Redd cannot get loose and pressure has to get put on Matt Barkley.  At worst I see a backdoor cover scenario.

I’ll be pulling big time though for UCLA to win this game because I do not want to play USC in the PAC-12 title game.

Oklahoma (-12) at West Virginia

Can you believe that West Virginia was once atop of the Top 25 rankings?  They were easily in the top 5 and were BCS dreaming with the Heisman being Geno Smith to lose.  A lot of things can happen in four weeks.  The Mountaineers have lost four straight, including a 55-34 loss at Oklahoma State.  Yikes.

The difference in this game for me is the Oklahoma defense, which is fast and solid.  They won’t give up tons of yards and points to West Virginia, and will probably create a few short fields.  I also don’t see how West Virginia will slow down Oklahoma and the Belldozer.

California at Oregon State (-14)

Word on the street is if Oregon State wins, Corvallis will be one of two landing spots for College Gameday next week.  Don’t blow it Beavers, this time they could actually be coming to talk about how great you are instead of sending off the Ducks to the national title game like two years ago!

Cal’s rush defense did well against Oregon but let the secondary out to dry, getting absolutely shredded by Marcus Mariota.  The Bears did a good job of taking advantage of Oregon’s weakened defensive line.

Oregon State is not a sexy team, but they are fundamental, disciplined, and are synergistic.

Stanford at Oregon (-21)

This is just a mismatch.  Oregon is way faster than Stanford’s defense.  I wrote a whole preview at Addicted to Quack so check that out for sure.  Basically, if Andrew Luck couldn’t beat Oregon, Kevin Hogan isn’t going to.

Kansas State (-13) at Baylor

If Collin Klein needed a defense to rebound from last week’s average performance, there isn’t a much better option than the Baylor defense.  Baylor has gotten torched multiple times this year.

Kansas State is staring the BCS national title game in the face and all they need to do is win out.  The Wildcats play the slowest brand of football in the conference and go up against the fastest opponent in the conference.  Kansas State thrives off of a positive turnover margin and Optimus Klein doing his thing and not kissing his wife.

This actually happened! Alabama Lost!

Texas A&M Curses Demons and Beats Alabama

The Aggies last year were a punch line for second half destruction.  No lead was safe, no matter what size, when Ryan Tannehill was at the helm of the Aggie offense.  Those demons were exorcised when Texas A&M didn’t blow a 20-0 win in what is probably the biggest win in team history.

Led by Johnny Manziel, the Aggies played near perfect.  They limited mistakes and jumped out to a big lead, forcing Alabama to deviate from their formula that has led them all year: get a lead and pound the ball between the tackles.

The result was a very un-Saban performance.  AJ McCarron threw his first interceptions of the year, with the second being at an incredibly critical moment.  There were fumbles, which are incredibly rare.  The game ended with Alabama jumping offside.  This did not look like the Alabama team we’ve been watching all year.

The SEC is Out of Luck

Alabama has a lost and the SEC’s streak of national championships is at risk.  There are three undefeated teams so the SEC needs a minimum of two teams to lose in order for Alabama or Georgia to make it to the national title game.

It is relieving to me that a one-loss SEC-champion isn’t getting in automatically over other undefeated teams.  All the SEC-hype was starting to make me worried if the SEC should secede and just form its own league.

What’s hilarious is that Lane Kiffin, sworn enemy of the SEC is what the conference needs most.  He’s the Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean of college football, a necessary evil that is the last option that you have to go through to get what you need.  USC plays Oregon and Notre Dame, two undefeated teams.

The Heisman Race Thickens

Johnny Manziel has to get an invitation to New York for the Ceremony.  He’s one of the leading rushers in the SEC and easily the most amazing quarterback to watch.  He has over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns, on the ground.  His completion rate is 68% and has thrown 18 touchdowns to only 6 interceptions to go with 2,780 yards.

Kenjon Barner of Oregon was held under 100 yards and that was partially due to a wrist injury that held him out for about a quarter.  This does not outshine his 5 touchdown, 300+ yard performance though at USC.  Barner was overshadowed by Marcus Mariota, who tied a school record 6 touchdowns and is 6^th in the latest Heisman polls.

Collin Klein continues him Optimus Prime run.  Although he had only two touchdowns in the win over TCU, the rest of the season has been so spectacular he’s earned an off game.  However, people remember what you do in November a lot more than September.

Then There Were Three

With Alabama’s loss the lone undefeated teams in the title hunt are Oregon, Kansas State, and Notre Dame.  It is a win and you’re in situation for Kansas State and Oregon.  Notre Dame needs one of those teams to lose to make it to Miami.

Kansas State’s toughest test is against Texas.  Notre Dame still has to travel to USC but that is the lone tough game.  Oregon however, has to play Stanford, Oregon State, and USC or UCLA, but most likely USC.  That’s two top-15 teams and a dangerous USC squad.

Half the Big-10 Title Game is Set

Wisconsin will represent the Leaders division in the Big-10 title game.  The conference has been a joke for most of the season but Ohio State is undefeated and Wisconsin has bounced back since their beginning of the year slump.

Whoever wins the conference title game will probably be decimated by whichever PAC-12 team they play, but hey, Pasadena is a lot better than anywhere in Big-10 country come New Years Day.

Players of the Week

Johnny Manziel went 24/31 for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns, adding 92 yards on the ground through 18 carries.  His performance was amazing.  He scrambled for extra yards and hit receivers downfield through small windows.

Marcus Mariota picked up the slack when Cal sold out to stop the run.  In return, he threw 27/34 for 377 yards and 6 touchdowns.  He also added 42 yards on the ground with only six carries.  He has the touch on the deep ball Oregon has been missing since Dennis Dixon graduated.

Highlights of the Week

Brandin Cooks is opposite of Markus Wheaton, making one of the most dangerous receiver duo’s in the country as the Beavers take on Stanford.

Miami (+1) at Virginia

The Hurricanes are in line to make it to the ACC Championship game for the first time since joining the conference.  Three of the Hurricanes’ four losses are to top-15 teams.  Sean Morris has been an adequate passer with solid running backs behind him.

Virginia dropped six in a row after beating Penn State and before beating a hopeless NC State squad.  Miami is still playing for a lot and that urgency will probably show this game.  It would be unfortunate, but probably the smart move though, for Miami to self-impose another postseason ban.

Arkansas at South Carolina (-14)

Arkansas is a train-wreck.

Oregon State (+4.5) at Stanford

Both of these teams are not sexy.  Oregon State is orange and black and wins ugly.  Their lone loss was to Washington after committing four turnovers.  Stanford lost on a questionable call at Notre Dame and to Washington on a weird Thursday night game.

The Cardinal are now starting Kevin Hogan at quarterback and the offense has improved with the new direction.  All roads still go through Stepfan Taylor in the offense and playing at Palo Alto will be an advantage, because Reser is kind of a weird place.

Cody Vaz remains the starting quarterback at Oregon State.  Storm Woods provides a solid rushing attack.  I like the Beavers here though because they are solid on defense.  They have a good run defense and will force Stanford to go to their second option on offense frequently.  This one will be close the whole way through.

Texas A&M (+15) at Alabama

I don’t want to say the Alabama Crimson Tide are on upset alert, but this is going to be an exciting game. Manziel is playing, so that makes it an automatic tune-in.

When the Aggies played LSU at home they probably should have won if they hadn’t turned the ball over so much.  Even then it was a close game.  I think Texas A&M is going to be able to keep it close with a defense that is sneaky good and often overlooked because of their poor performance against Louisiana Tech.

Alabama probably has a really good plan though for how to handle a freshman quarterback who runs around a lot.  The win over LSU was draining and probably left a lot of bruises.  There is a lot of room for the Tide to be underwhelming this week.

Arizona State at USC (-9)

This is the ultimate do or die game for the USC Trojans.  USC can still make the Rose Bowl by winning out and beating Oregon in the PAC-12 championship game.

Arizona State is a good team, but they are not USC level good.  USC is on another level offensively, and the fact that they scored over fifty points against Oregon and still lost only shows how good the Trojans offense is even when going against a really good defense.

I think the Sun Devils may struggle offensively on the road.  The Sparky defense got torched by Oregon and will get torched again by USC when the Sun Devil offense just can’t keep up.

Georgia (-15) at Auburn

The Bulldogs lock up the SEC East with a win over the Auburn Tigers.  This is a play against the Tigers as much as it is for the Bulldogs.  Any analysis will come down to how bad Auburn is.

Oregon (-29) at Cal

I don’t see how Oregon doesn’t blow out Cal.  The Bears are without Zach Maynard and Keenan Allen.  They are without hope of making a bowl game this season.

Cal does have a history of being in games they shouldn’t with Oregon.  It is a weird trap game since the game is in between USC and Stanford.  Mix that in with knowing that Berkeley is a weird f-ing place and you end up with a 2% chance of Cal covering.

UCLA (-16) at Washington State

The Bruins are in sole possession of the PAC-12 South driver’s seat.  With only two losses, a win over USC pretty much seals the deal for UCLA to make it to the PAC-12 championship game for a second straight year.

Brett Hundley and Jonathan Franklin make up a dangerous duo in the Bruin backfield.  Jim Mora has used both effectively so far this season.  It is a great matchup for the Bruins as the Cougar run defense is weak.

The Cougars also seem to be at a breaking point.  Mike Leach is an eccentric coach but he might have gone overboard on publicly embarrassing players.  The best player, Marquess Wilson, has allegedly left the team, and that is never a good thing.

Kenjon Barner had a day leading Oregon over USC.

Oregon jumped Notre Dame in the polls with the top four now reading Alabama as number one, Kansas State second, Oregon third, and Notre Dame fourth.  Many college football experts predict the Ducks will jump the Wildcats if Oregon wins out, setting the stage for the biggest culture clash ever in Miami should the Tide face the Ducks.

Alabama Continues Its Drive Through Time, Remains Number 1

Everyone knew what was going to happen in this game.  There would be suffocating defense against ultra-conservative offenses and something weird would happen resulting in a winner.

Down 17-14 with less than a minute to go, the Crimson Tide marched down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown on a screen pass.  Eddie Lacy and Yeldon, the Alabama running backs, went for 159 yards on 22 caries.

Surprisingly, Mettenberger was the biggest surprise.  When the Tigers were averaging 2.8 yards a carry, Zach Mettenberger showed up and completed 69% of his passes and 298 yards through the air.

Oregon Outguns USC at the Coliseum

While LSU and Alabama were locked in to a defensive slugfest, the Ducks were victorious in a shootout against the USC Trojans.  Oregon only had to punt once the whole game when they were trying to ice the final outcome.  Otherwise the only things that slowed Oregon were a missed field goal and a fumble.

Barner was the man of the night, rushing for 321 yards on 38 carries to go with 5 touchdowns.  Statistically impressive, Marcus Mariota outshone Matt Barkley, barely making any mistakes.  Mariota went 20 for 23 and 4 touchdowns with 96 yards rushing.

Matt Barkley went 35/54 for 484 yards and 5 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.  Silas Redd rushed for 92 yards.  Marqise Lee blew up and had 12 receptions for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The Trojans early touchdowns came off long bombs to receivers when the Oregon defensive backs broke down.

USC was -2 in turnover margin and is much better than the score indicates. It was a very Lane Kiffin-USC Trojan performance.  All the talent with none of the execution.

Notre Dame Lucks Out, Again

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish continue to make Lou Holtz look smart.

The Fighting Irish are destined to make it to a BCS bowl game.  Somehow the Irish escaped another overtime game, squeaking by on a score of 29-26 in triple overtime over a then 4-4 Pitt team.

Due to a lack of execution by the Panthers and a series of misfortunate events, the Golden Domers were able to outdo the Panther field goal with a touchdown.  The final score may be misleading because the Domers committed 3 turnovers while outgaining Pitt 522-308 in terms of yards.

Everett Golson threw the ball a lot, 23/42 for 227 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception.  Golson also rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown in 15 carries.

The Notre Dame team is characterized by its stingy defense, led by Manti Te’o.  The offense continues to be just good enough to get a win, often playing down to the quality of opponent.

The only challenging team left on the schedule is a trip to USC in the last week of college football.

Texas A&M Takes it to Bulldogs

With the win, Aggie head coach Sumlin now has as many SEC wins as Derek Dooley.  The Aggies beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs by the score of 38-13.

The elite SEC defense could not hold up to the Big-12 offense.  Johnny Manziel threw 30/36 for 311 yards.  He rushed for 129 yards on 21 carries and added two touchdowns.

Johnny “Football” Manziel will lead the Texas A&M Aggies when they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa next week.  The Aggies have maybe the one threat that has hurt the Tide in the past.  They have an offense that can score a lot of points, a defense that just might be good enough, and a quarterback that can run and throw.

Player of the Week

The no-brainer here is Kenjon Barner.  He was an absolute workhorse against USC carrying the ball 38 times.  It is baffling to me how he had to convince his own fan base that he should have been the Heisman frontrunner all along.  Barner rushed for 321 yards and 5 touchdowns, averaging 8.4 yards a carry.

Highlights of the Week

Oregon takes a trip to USC where they beat USC last, looking to revenge last year’s loss.

Washington (+4) at Cal

The Friday night game to wrap up an entertaining Thursday night game.  Washington goes on the road a week after topping their second top-10 opponent of their season.  Keith Price has been hit or miss, and when he’s forced to throw the ball all the time because the rushing attack is lagging, he struggles.

Cal on the other hand hasn’t really looked good at any point this season outside of their stomping of UCLA at home a month ago.  Zach Maynard has been average and the Bears were held to only 3 points against Stanford in the big game before getting rocked by Utah.  The seat must be hot under Tedford.  This is a pick against the Bears.

Texas A&M at Mississippi State (+7)

Texas A&M makes their first road trip in the SEC to the land of a thousand cowbells.  Johnny Manziel looks to continue his magical run through the SEC season as a freshman.  Manziel ran through Auburn last week like everybody else in the conference.

Mississippi State’s only loss was on the road at Alabama.  The Bulldogs have had a pretty easy schedule thus far sans Alabama, and it is a little crazy to think that we are in week 10 of the college football season and we don’t know how good Mississippi State is.

I don’t think the 38-7 loss to Bama is as bad as the score indicates.  There were some bright spots.  I like the Bulldogs as the underdog at home.

Stanford (-28) at Colorado

Colorado is awful.  Stanford, no matter who their quarterback is, will score points, and a lot of them.

TCU at West Virginia (-4)

TCU expects to have their quarterback, Trevone Boykin, back, but he will be dealing with a slight knee injury.  The horned frogs also surrender 22.4 points a game and bleed points to teams with good offenses.  The running game has also been struggling so far this season.

On the flip side, I’m interested to see how West Virginia responds. They got bum rushed by Texas Tech and then blown out by Kansas State.  I think West Virginia is much better than a 4-point favorite against TCU.

Arizona (+3.5) at UCLA

UCLA controls their own destiny to the Rose Bowl.  If Oregon beats USC, then both of these teams control their own destiny to the Rose Bowl.  It is crazy.  The two up-start teams in the PAC-12 South square off.

The lone blemish for UCLA is their loss at Cal, which was pretty embarrassing.  They scraped by against Arizona State and beat Utah by a score.

I like how Arizona can score a ton of points.  They kept it close with Oregon State, beat USC, rolled over Washington, and I like the odds of them continuing their streak against UCLA.

Nebraska (-1.5) at Michigan State

Yuck.  Nebraska is probably going to make the Big-10 championship game, and that makes Jim Delaney cry.

Nebraska can score a lot of points, but Michigan State has probably the best defense in the conference.  The real tiebreaker is that Michigan State lost to Iowa.  I had to put in a Big-10 team at some point.

Illinois at Ohio State (-28)

Illinois is almost the Colorado of the Big-10.  They lost to Michigan by 45, lost by 18 to Indiana, 28 against Penn State, and 31 to Arizona State.  How does Ohio State not win by more than 28?

Oregon (-9) at USC

I already wrote my keys to victory for each team over at Addicted To Quack.  The truth is, I see a pretty good chance of Oregon winning by two touchdowns.

USC has faded in the second half of almost every game.  They faded against Arizona, couldn’t pull away from Washington, and got rocked by Stanford.  USC has all the tools to be amazing.  Their biggest issue is depth.

Largely, USC just isn’t well coached.  They look underprepared for their games and in close games and situations that teams practice tirelessly, they look totally lost.

Oregon on the other hand hasn’t every really looked lost under Chip Kelly except for his first game as head coach.  The defense for Oregon has been stellar, forcing turnovers and not giving up big plays.  Oregon’s starting lineup hasn’t even played a full game yet this season.

Eddie Lacy and AJ McCarron head to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers. Roll Tide!

Alabama at LSU (+9)

For some reason the home team in this season has struggled.  Especially with the stadiums that Alabama and LSU have, it is mind bottling that the home teams don’t have a significant advantage.

This year, LSU gets the Crimson Tide at home.  A few months removed from the most embarrassing loss in recent memory, the Tigers want blood.  The loss in the national title game was so overwhelming it unfortunately takes a little of the magic away from one of the most impressive regular seasons in college football history.

Alabama clearly has the advantage.  Their defense is the best in the country and love to stop the run.  The Tide secondary is the best at defending the pass in the country.  Pair that with a balanced offense, and the Tide are tough to stop.

There is something eating at me thinking that LSU can pull this off.  It could be because I love chaos and a Tide loss with the Tigers running the table means a SEC team won’t make the national title, or it could be I secretly love Baton Rouge.  Weird stuff happens in Death Valley, and I expect the Tigers to at least keep it close.

Oklahoma State (+9) at Kansas State

There’s something sneaky about this matchup.  9 points is a lot to give to a conference game between teams that are dangerous.

The Cowboys can score points.  They are averaging 44.3 points a game, but surrender 23.1  Maybe I’m giving too much credit to a team that has only looked good compared to the last few years of greatness.

Collin Klein though leads the Wildcats, a married man who finally kissed his wife and never went on a first date.  It takes a special guy to pull that one off.  The Heisman frontrunner continues to lead the Wildcats on a march of destiny.  Can they continue their winning streak at home?  They’ve already played West Virginia, the rich man’s Okie State.  I like the Cats to win, but not cover.

Arizona State at Oregon State (-4)

Cody Vaz takes the reigns as the starting quarterback for the Oregon State Beavers, replacing Sean Mannion.  The magical run for the Beavers came to an end but could still make it to a BCS game and finish in the top 10.  If the Beavers win every game except for Oregon, they could be selected over the Trojans or the PAC-12 runner up for the Rose Bowl.

Taylor Kelly, the quarterback for Arizona State, has performed well against every team not named Oregon.  However, they travel on the road to a team whose defense has been pretty solid so far this season.  Does Mike Riley have enough magic left in the tank to get to the Civil War game in three weeks?  What gives me hope is that Oregon State gave four interceptions to Washington and almost came back to win.

Freshman Everett Golson looked sharper than ever after a week out.

Notre Dame Wins Big, Tightens Title Race

For years people have been waiting for Notre Dame to return to power.  Even though it was a close game until the end, the Fighting Irish tacked on enough points in the final few minutes to win 30-13 at a top-ten ranked Oklahoma squad.

Manti Te’o solidified himself as a Heisman candidate with over ten tackles and a turnover that sealed the game.  The defense for the Irish held Oklahoma to only 15 yards on the ground.

Now Notre Dame, Kansas State, Alabama, and Oregon are all the contenders for a title.  Alabama if it wins out will most surely be in.  People have crunched the numbers and if Oregon wins out they will also probably get in.  If there was ever a time for a playoff, it would have been this year.

Georgia Controls It’s Own Destiny in the East

Mark Richt shows he’s still got it.  Georgia took on the Gators as touchdown underdogs.  They left having won 17-9 and knocking off the #2 team in the nation.  The game was a story of inopportune mistakes by the Gators, such as fumbling it on the three-yard line, and the Bulldogs making big plays.

The Bulldogs now only have to beat Auburn and Ole Miss to play in the SEC title game.  Georgia is an imperfect team that manages to show up at the right time during games.  Maybe they can pull out the win over the Crimson Tide.  If I had to pick an SEC team for Oregon to play in the national title game, it would be the Bulldogs.

USC Falls

The unfinished business that Matt Barkley and the other Trojans spoke of is now unattainable.  The Trojans have two losses on the season, surely knocking them out of the title race.

On the road in Tuscon, Arizona, the Trojans made mistakes in the second half as they were wearing down.  In the second half USC was outscored 26-15.  Barkley continued to be unimpressive, tossing two interceptions and blundering away seconds in the final seconds of the last drive.

The Trojans were a lot of talk this year and a win against Oregon this upcoming Saturday seems unlikely.  USC probably will have to travel to Eugene anyways to play in the PAC-12 title game even if they beat Oregon in Los Angeles.

Beavers Undefeated Streak Comes to an End

Oregon State went 6-0 for the first time in school history and their dream of an undefeated season fell at Washington.  I was really pulling for the Beavers to win this game.  A Civil War matchup of top ten teams would have been amazing.

Sean Mannion had his first mortal day of the season, throwing four interceptions before being replaced by Cody Vaz.  Oregon State even outgained the Huskies by 130 yards, rushing for 109 yards.

Oregon State still controls its own destiny and if they go undefeated will play in the PAC-12 title game against USC, most likely.

Blunders for Everyone!

Nebraska is playing Wisconsin in the BIG-10 title game.  It’s pretty much set based on the schedule left to be played.  Michigan lost Denard Robinson in the Husker-Wolverine showdown and the backup Russell Bellomy couldn’t get the job done.  Unless the Wolverines beat Ohio State on the road Nebraska will play Wisconsin.

Marcus Lattimore, while not a blunder, had a horrific injury that made me yell for a solid minute.  It sounds like what looked like a gruesome break is merely a dislocated knee.  He has a redshirt year to burn and could return in 2014 for the Gamecocks.

Kansas almost beat Texas.  Yep, almost happened.

Gene Chizik’s Auburn team gave up 63 points, the most since the Tigers lost to Georgia Tech 68-7 in 1917.  The Tigers are freefalling and this is just an awful team.  Normally I don’t advocate for coaching changes, especially when the coach won a national championship two years ago, but this is more than just a bad season, this is a colossal mistake.

Player of the Week

Marqise Lee, who set a PAC-12 record for most receiving yards.  He had 16 catches for 345 yards and two touchdowns.

Highlights of the Week

Herbstreit hates Corso’s picks every week.

Georgia takes on Florida in game formerly known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

This is one of those weeks where the spreads are far apart and the people who are really looking forward to this week are the college football nuts.  There are a few things to like about Mississippi State against Alabama other than seeing if Alabama can continue to roll, but only college football freaks are really fired up for it.

Mark my words though, there will be upsets.  Massive, massive upsets.  I’m talking, “Wow, the whole season has now changed.”  I don’t know where or when, but it isn’t a matter of if.

Tennessee at South Carolina (-14)

South Carolina is still without a 100% Marcus Lattimore and is going to a rotation at running back.  The Gamecocks return to their home field after losing two in a row to LSU and Florida.

This pick is really more of a pick against Tennessee.  I don’t see Derek Dooley remaining at Tennessee much longer, especially with the whole sitting on a stool thing he pulled last week.

Most importantly, the Volunteers are winless against SEC teams.  Their wins are over North Carolina State, Georgia State, and Akron.  There isn’t that much to prove that this team is that good.

UCLA at Arizona State (-7)

This is a total overreaction to Arizona State getting rocked by Oregon.  Against teams not named Oregon, the Sun Devils have excelled.  Taylor Kelly had a pretty bad day against the Oregon defense, but then again, no one so far this season has had a great game against the Oregon defense.

UCLA is a good team.  The lone conference game they’ve played on a road is when they dropped a big loss to Cal in Berkeley.  Arizona State is also pretty good at home.  This is a pure gut call but I like Arizona State to cover and rebound from their game against Oregon.

Florida (-7) v. Georgia

The Game Formerly Known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party kicks off again for another amazing year.  The winner of this game will most likely go to the SEC championship game representing the eastern division.

Georgia’s “Gurshall” has slowed down in recent weeks, and as Todd McShay pointed out, it was due to inconsistent running.  Hopefully these freshmen get it figured out because they are going to be needed to churn up yards against the Gators.

Florida had an amazing 183 yards of offense last week on the way to a 44-11 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks last week.  The Gator’s defense is so solid the offense barely has to perform.

The offense for Florida is based off wearing down the other team over time.  It seems that Muschamp is fine with three and outs as long as they punish the opponent and hope to break a few big runs later in the game.

I like the idea of Florida being up a touchdown most of the game and then at the end doing something to ice the game and cover the spread. However, if Georgia wins this game they are easily going undefeated the rest of the season.

USC at Arizona (+7)

This is a sneaky game.  USC has struggled against spread teams as of late, and Arizona is a true spread ‘em and shred  ‘em.  Getting the Trojans at home is the best thing that could’ve happened for the Wildcats.

Matt Scott continues to impress at the quarterback position.  Against teams not named Oregon, Scott has put together at least two touchdowns a game and a quarterback rating of no less than 133.5.

One thing Arizona does really well is get to the quarterback.  They already have 12 sacks and 8 turnovers on the season, more than the last three years combined.  USC could make a few small mistakes and get themselves in serious problems.

If Arizona wins this game and USC drops the game against Oregon then the Trojans may lose out on even making the PAC-12 title game.  The Trojans have been more effective but have not been impressive really at all this season.  They are coming off a big win over Colorado, but then who doesn’t have great games over Colorado.

Texas Tech (+7.5) at Kansas State

Battle of the blowout titans.  Kansas State and Texas Tech both tore apart West Virginia in surprising games.  Texas Tech ripped out the Mountaineer’s hearts, and the Wildcats kicked the coffin off a cliff.  It was ugly in both games and the sheer flexing of dominance was impressive by both squads.

There’s something very interesting about this Wildcats squad.  They don’t play defense in a way that makes you say, “Wow, they are really good.”  They just get the job done and let Heisman frontrunner Collin Klein get touchdowns.

Now the Red Raiders make the trip to the little apple, Manhattan, Kansas.  Tommy Tuberville’s bread and butter though is upsets.  He’s 6-2 against top-5 teams.  He’s got the magic and the Red Raiders are just crazy enough to not care this is their fourth, tough game on the road.

Ohio State (Pick) at Penn State

Braxton Miller and Ohio State are on their way to State College.  Two new head coaches at the most traditional programs in the sport is kind of a crazy idea when you think about it.

Penn State is on fire as of late, winning their last five after starting 0-2.  Wins over Navy, Temple, Illinois, Northwestern, and Iowa aren’t amazing but it’s a really good sign.  Matt McGloin looks a lot better with the new coaches and he should be able to take some advantage of the Buckeyes.  Mix in the home crowd and the porous defense of Ohio State, it’s a recipe to maybe win a game they shouldn’t.

I expect Penn State to come out fast but Ohio State to finish better.  Maybe Penn State goes up one score entering half time, but the Buckeyes will finish a couple scores over the Nittany Lions.  The speed and strategy of Ohio State’s offense just creates matchup issues for Penn state.

Notre Dame (+12) at Oklahoma

This spread is way too high.  This is a matchup of Top 25 teams and I don’t see any way how Notre Dame’s defense is going to let its offense get blown up by more than a 12-point differential.

Sure, Oklahoma matches up well against Notre Dame, but Notre Dame is physical and good at tackling in space.  The red zone defense for the Fighting Irish has been top notch so far this season and Oklahoma’s has been near perfect.

For some reason though, Everett Golson will be starting this game for the Irish.  He has been inconsistent and a turnover waiting to happen, but Brian Kelly loves him.  Mike Stoops’ revamped defense may feast on Golson.  I like Oklahoma to win but Notre Dame to cover.

Oregon State (-3.5) at Washington

The Beavers run continues!  Sean Mannion is back as the starting quarterback as the Beavers head north to play Washington.  A knee surgery and a couple weeks later Mannion’s back, with Adrian Peterson-esque recovery speed.  Here’s a key fact: no In-N-Out in Seattle, Washington.

Some Husky fans are asking for Keith Price to be benched as 3 of his last 4 games have had him under a 100 quarterback rating.  The offensive line for the Huskies has just been frustrating.  They make ever a four-yard gain look tough to make.

Oregon State’s defense has just been impressive though this whole season.  Markus Wheaton remains opposite Brandin Cooks at receiver, forming one of the best duos in the conference at receiver that is not at USC.  Storm Woods leads a rushing attack that has been Oregon State’s best since 2009, and Riley’s got everything good going.

I like Oregon State to continue their undefeated record

Greenbeard!

Kansas State Will Break You

The Wildcats absolutely throttled West Virginia in Morgantown, 55-14.  This game was never close.  It was an Oregon-esque explosion.  It was 31-7 at halftime and 52-7 by the end of the third.  Geno Smith was made mortal for the second week in a row, but this time he threw his first interceptions of the season.

Kansas State has now demolished West Virginia at the Mountaineers’ home and has beaten Oklahoma on the road.  They have one of the more impressive resumes and should go undefeated.  West Virginia successfully showed they have never worked on tackling and went from America’s darlings to a punch line.

Collin Klein in Heisman Driver’s Seat

Klein had a field day against the Mountaineers.  He threw a Geno Smith-caliber 19/21 for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He rushed for 41 yards and 4 touchdowns also.  That’s right, he accounted for 7 total touchdowns against West Virginia.  He outgained West Virginia by himself in terms of yards and points.

On the season he has a 70.5% completion rate for 1397 yards and 10 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions.  He’s also rushed for 14 touchdowns on top of that.  He is an unstoppable force and the clear frontrunner for the Heisman.

Stephen Garcia graduated?

Florida Continues Its Resurgence

The Gators manhandled the South Carolina Gamecocks.  Sure, the Cocks might have been missing their best player in Marcus Lattimore with Lattimore not being 100%.  However, the Gators were still incredibly impressive, winning 44-11.  It was like in MMA when one fighter has the other one held down and calmly picks spots to punch, connecting often, and slowly wearing the guy down.

Florida only had 183 yards of offense.  The Gamecocks continually surrendered great field position from turnovers and special teams.  The Gators had 3 drives that started inside South Carolina’s 11-yard line.

Florida needs to beat Georgia to get the SEC-East spot in the SEC championship game, most likely against Alabama.  If they win out then they are in the national championship.

Bad choices. College kids are awful.

Texas Tech and Notre Dame Pull Off Close Ones

A tale of two games, Notre Dame won with solid defense, while Texas Tech won when there was no defense to be found.

Notre Dame pulled off a really close win over BYU.  At home the Golden Domers squeaked by a 17-14 win over a challenging Cougar team.  This is one of those games where Notre Dame was probably just happy to get out with a win, no need to worry about not getting style points.

Texas Tech on the other hand won in triple overtime over TCU with a final score of 53-50.  It was a back-and-forth that last for the whole game.  TTU had a very un-Tommy Tuberville game with only 71 rushing yards.  They did benefit from 3 turnovers though, which helps in close game.

Duke Blue Devils are Bowl Eligible and Lead ACC Coastal

This was too big to just put in a notes column.  The Blue Devils are going bowling for the first time since the 1994 season.

They also lead the coastal division in the ACC.  Way to go ACC, you’re awesome.

Michigan Beats Michigan State… Finally

The Michigan seniors finally got a win over Michigan State.  In the most surprising statistic, if Denard Robinson doesn’t make horrific decisions his team tends to do much better.  Michigan is most likely the favorite to win the Big-10 and go on to play in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan also now becomes the first FBS school to win 900 games.

Player of the Week

Seth Doege who went 30/42 passing and had 318 yards and 7 touchdowns in Texas Tech’s win over TCU.

Highlights of the Week