College Football Week 9

College Football Week 9: Big Pack-10 Showdown

Greetings College Football Fans,

Pardon my absence last week but I had to take a bye week. Work load and travel got the best of me.
Great to be back this week! Let’s dive into the big games.

Big Games

SEC

Mississippi @ Auburn
Ole Miss has seemed too fallen of the hype wagon. They are dealing with two losses this season, one to South Carolina and the other against Alabama. Not bad company, particularly Alabama. Ole Miss was in both of these games and made a strong effort to come back in both losses. Ole Miss could possibly be the third best team in the SEC by the time we reach bowl season. Ole Miss could still actually play in a New Year’s Day bowl. Surprisingly, Ole Miss hammered new and improved Arkansas last week and it seems things are looking up for the Rebels. We know Auburn likes to pass the football and Ole Miss is 3rd in the nation is pass efficiency defense.

Auburn also likes to run the football with Senior RB Ben Tate. He was on a roll in the first five games rushing for 100 plus yards until Auburn faced Arkansas. Against the Razorbacks Tate only rushed for 67 yards. Auburn’s passing game has slowed down significantly as well during their loss of momentum. It will be imperative to get Ben Tate back on track with an efficient passing game. We all know offensive football is about creating space and to beat Ole Miss and they will have to get Ben Tate in space. Ole Miss finally generated strong production from their multipurpose back Dexter McCluster against Arkansas. My hunch is that the Ole Miss defensive front will dominate Auburn’s o-line from the start. Auburns offense will continue to struggle. I like Ole Miss winning 17-16 in a close game on the road.

Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville
A bit of a downer this year at “The Cocktail Party” with Georgia falling below their teams typical expectations. If Florida beats Georgia this weekend, they will be positioned nicely to win the SEC East, particularly if Tennessee beats South Carolina. As the Florida fans yawn at that last sentence, their expectations of course are winning another national championship and going down as maybe the best college football team of all time. This game could a dangerous one for the Gators. They haven’t been their sharp explosive selves lately.

Florida has been struggling to close the deal against teams they would have beaten by forty points last year. The Gators passing game is unproductive with Tim Tebow seemingly still not at full speed from the concussion. Their receivers haven’t been effective either particularly when you compare this group to the receiving corps of the recent past. Their expectations and everyone else’s are so high that regardless of the Gators output their performance just seems average. We must not forget this football team is still pretty good with enough team speed to compete with the NFL in a track meet. Florida’s defense has been banged up, but they are getting healthier and the timing couldn’t be better. Georgia will need to be inventive this weekend, because any traditional play calling will doom any hopes of the Dawgs moving the football against this Florida defense.

The Heisman race seems to now be favoring Ingram (Alabama Running Back), so it Tim Tebow wants to win it again “The Cocktail Party” is the stage to make up for lost momentum. It appears that he is trying to do too much, but I suppose that’s how he plays football. These two teams clearly don’t like each other. If there were a week for Florida to make a statement it would be in this love fest against Georgia. Georgia has had two weeks to rest for this game. Maybe we will see some new looks from the Dawgs, but it won’t matter. Florida star linebacker Brandon Spikes is back this week and Florida’s offense will just do what it needs to do to beat Georgia. Have a martini for me Gators; you continue to roll against the Dawgs to the tune of 32-10.

Big-12

Texas @ Oklahoma State
What the chances of Texas rolling through the rest of their schedule without contention? Great odds! The Big-12 is very average this year and the Longhorns are in a class by themselves in this conference. What about Oklahoma State? It’s interesting to consider that they are doing as well as they are with the loss of All American wide receiver Dez Bryant (Who lied to the NCAA for something that wasn’t illegal, only to be suspended for lie) and All Big-12 running back Kendal Hunter to a knee injury. Without these two the Cowboys are starting to resemble the Oklahoma State that everyone expected at the beginning of the year. The Cowboys are currently ranked 14th in the nation with only one loss. The national championship is not out of reach for this team yet. It they can beat Texas and win the remainder of their games anything’s possible for this team. Sound crazy? Let’s pretend for a moment that the Cowboys win the rest of their games. They would have beaten Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Texas Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma at home. Not bad!! If this happens, the loss to Houston will be almost be expunged. I’d rather lose to Houston than Washington (as USC did). Back to reality…Oklahoma State needs to beat Texas first. Get this statistic; Oklahoma State has only beaten Texas twice since 1944! Texas currently holds an 11 game winning streak against the Cowboys. Texas’s last two wins over Oklahoma State have only been for a combined seven points and this game should be no different.

It’s tough to respect a five game winning streak when three of those win were against Baylor, Grambling and Rice. This is who Oklahoma State has battled against three of the last five weeks of the season. The other two games where against Texas A&M and Missouri. Oh well. The Cowboys defense has never been stellar, with a below average pass rush and a secondary that allows points. Oklahoma State will have a very hard time running against that great Texas defense. Only one team has rushed for more than 100 yards and only one team has scored a rushing touchdown against the Longhorns. This happens to be the same team, any guesses? Louisiana-Monroe! But it was the first game of the season and no one has come close since.

You may recall that Colt McCoy has been starting since his freshman year. Early on he used to run with the football instead of stay in the pocket (as many young QBs do). Defenses forced McCoy in the pocket the following year and he developed into a great passer. Now he can effectively run and throw and is a significant threat. McCoy let Texas in rushing and passing last year. This year McCoy’s numbers have been a little down, but that’s okay, because all he has to do is control the game, protect the ball and make good decisions. Oklahoma State will be fired up for this game. The first half will be close 17-14ish with Oklahoma State winning at half time. QB Zac Robinson will do his best, but it won’t be good enough against the Longhorns. Look for the second half to resemble a scrimmage as Texas pulls away with a crushing victory. Texas wins 35-17.

PAC-10
USC @ Oregon: The Game of the Week!!
Here is a good old heavy weight match up. The stakes can’t get any higher in the PAC-10. The winner of this game is almost destined to play in the Rose Bowl. Arizona is statistically in the mix as well, but I can’t see Arizona going to Pasadena before USC or Oregon. USC has won the PAC-10 seven years in a row. It appears that Pete Carroll has the best job in the country. However, Oregon , looking like they will be a big disappointment with their opening loss to Boise State (and the punch) has been rolling over opponents ever since. The Ducks have won six games in a row while battling injuries along the way. The BSC collateral damage will be extensive in the college football world with the outcome of this game. Both teams are ranked in the BCS top 10.

USC fans don’t sleep on this Oregon team. Last week against Oregon State, USC gave up 482 yards total offense. The week before against Notre Dame, The Irish passed for 285 yards against the Trojans. What’s up with that mighty USC defense? The Oregon Ducks run the football almost better than anyone in the country averaging over 193 yards per game in their last six games. Oregon running back LaMichael James has gone over 150 yards in thereof his last five games. The Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli seems to be back in full strength after his knee injury. The big question for Oregon will be, can they beat USC with a one dimensional offense? The answer is other teams have. Case in point, Oregon State last year, shocking the Trojans defense by running the football down their throat. The Oregon Ducks have a better passing game than their cross state rival. I like Oregon’s chances at home. Oregon wins a tight one over the Trojans 20-14.


Quick Picks for the other games of interest:

SEC

Mississippi State @ Kentucky
35 27

South Carolina @ Tennessee
28 33

Big-12

Nebraska @ Baylor
29 12

Kansas State @ Oklahoma
7 36

Iowa State @ Texas A&M
19 16

Kansas @ Texas Tech
28 35

Mountain West

UNLV @ TCU
6 50

Wyoming @ Utah
23 41

Big-10

Michigan @ Illinois
32 20

Indiana @ Iowa
7 32

Michigan State @ Minnesota
17 14

Penn State @ Northwestern
20 0

Purdue @ Wisconsin
23 30

WAC

San Jose State @ Boise State
9 51

PAC-10

California @ Arizona State
33 18

UCLA @ Oregon State
29 39

Big East

Rutgers @ Connecticut
16 18

Cincinnati @ Syracuse
27 9

ACC

Central Michigan @ Boston College
31 35

Georgia Tech @ Vanderbilt
31 3

Miami @ Wake Forest
20 7

Conference USA

Southern Miss @ Houston
35 45

Independents

Temple @ Navy
9 20

Enjoy the games this weekend!!