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College Football Week 5
Huge week of key matchups with playoff implications.
Oklahoma QB John Mateer needs hand surgery and will miss a month. He will certainly miss the game vs Texas and possibly the one vs Ole Miss. If they lose both, they're in trouble for the playoffs.
Oklahoma State fired Mike Gundy. So long to legendary mullet.
Oregon will be staying in Altoona rather than State College. Is Altoons pizza gross? It kind of looks gross.
Whiteout at night and Steelers at 9:30 AM. I probably won't get much sleep. I'll either be really happy or really pissed off.
6 Oregon at 3 Penn State 7:30 NBC PSU -3.5
WHITEOUT!! The game of the week. A lot has been made of Penn State's weak opening schedule, but Oregon hasn't played anybody either. On paper, they played decent names Oklahoma State and Oregon State, but they have 1 win between them and Ok State just fired their coach after losing at home to Tulsa.
Penn State concentrated on basics and playing lots of players. Oregon put a lot on film and opened things up. The bottom line though is this is the first real opponent for each.
New Oregon QB Dante Moore has been great but he hasn't played any game nearly as big as this.
Lots of attention will be on Allar and Moore but the key could be the run game for each. Most people don't realize that Penn State ran for 297 yards last year vs Oregon. Oregon ran for 186. That's what opened up the passing games for each.
Northwestern ran pretty well against Oregon a few weeks ago.
Penn State's defense is untested. They have excellent DEs but their DTs are undersized. The LBs are very fast but also undersized. New DC Jim Knowles faced Oregon twice last year as DC at Ohio State.
Is this a must win for Penn State? Yes and No. No, they do not have to win this game to make the playoffs. If Oregon loses, nobody will question their path to the playoff the rest of the way and it's the same for Penn State.
But this game means more for Penn State due to perception. They haven't won the big game. They always play close as they did last year with Ohio State, Oregon and Notre Dame, but they come up short. They just haven't had the clutch play you need to win big games.
Ohio State had the defensive stands at the goal. Oregon had multiple plays made by TE and WR. And Notre Dame had God make a Penn State DB fall down.
Somebody for Penn State needs to step up. Including the OC.
A few years ago, Penn State was in a similar spot. They were playing Michigan and up to that point PSU had kept the offense simple. I assumed they'd have new wrinkles to unleash on Michigan. They didn't and the OC was fired later that year.
I have fingers crossed for current OC Andy Kotalnicki. I suspect there's more. I hope I don't have another moment where there's all this excitement and the OC says - Remember to drink your Ovaltine.
21 USC at 23 Illinois 12:00 FOX USC -6.5
Illinois was blown out by Indiana last week so now everybody thinks they stink. Maybe they do. Or maybe Indiana's offense is the exact counter punch to Illinois style of defense. This is the first real test for USC.
22 Notre Dame at Arkansas 12:00 ABC ND -4.5
ND has 2 close losses. Arkasas has also lost a pair of heartbreakers. Reports are that ND's QB was tippin run/pass with his stance and the internet looked and said it was true. Tex A&M may not have known that. ND's problem has not been offense though. Their defense has been shredded under new DC Chris Ash. With 2 losses each, you would think it's an elimination game for each.
Louisville at Pitt 12:00 ESPN2 Lou -4.5
The steelers are out of town so Pitt has the place to themselves. Picture Narduzzi sliding across the floor in socks and underwear while putting together another great gameplan. Everyone still upset over losing the backyard brawl but at least that wasn't an ACC loss.
1 Ohio State at Washington 3:30 CBS OSU -7.5
OSU survived the clunky week 1 game vs Texas then looked good vs 2 cupcakes. Wash is known as a tough place to play. First road game for OSU QB Julian Sayin. Wash QB Desmond Williams has been great so far, completing 73% with 0 INT. Wash also has s strong run game. Ohio State's defense is a big step up in competition.
4 LSU at 13 Ole Miss 3:30 ABC Miss -1.5
It's a joke that LSU is 4 and Oregon 6. LSU still dining out on that Clemson win which now looks bad that they struggled so much against them. The LSU offense has been bad. LSU star LB WHit Weeks is banging Lane Kiffin's daughter. Maybe that will be the only scoring LSU gets.
Auburn at 9 Texas A&M 3:30 ESPN TAM -6.5
The SEC admitted that Oklahoma scored a TD on an illegal play vs Auburn last week. They had a WR pretend to be leaving the field as a substitution but stayed just barely on the field, then ran a route. Auburn still loses though. They better get their heads back in the game to face Tex A&M. Hard to tell how good the TAM offense is since Notre Dame's offense has been suspect. Auburn shut down Oklahoma aside from that illegal trick play. It wouldn't be a college football season unless TAM got ranked top 10 early only to finish with like 4 losses.
11 Indiana at Iowa 3:30 Peackock Ind -8.5
Indiana destroyed Illinois last week. Illinois is an aggressive defense and Iowa is the opposite. Iowa frustrates offenses and baits them into mistakes. Iowa scored 38 vs Rutgers last week which is big news because Iowa hasn't been able to score on anybody the last few years. Indiana gets Oregon next week. Maybe they believe their hype and look past Iowa.
15 Tennessee at Miss State 4:15 SEC Network Ten -7.5
Tenn offense vs Miss State defense. Miss State has to try to muddy this game up like they did against Arizona State.
17 Alabama at 5 Georgia 7:30 ABC UGA -3.5
Both teams coming off Byes. Bama last beat Wisconsin and things looked better. But then Wisconsin was blown out by Maryland last week so they're pretty bad. Georgia is coming off their battle with Tennessee where they gutted out a comeback win. This will be a big step up for Bama. Bama needs a win here. It would be loss 2 with remaining games vs Missouri, Tenn, Oklahoma, and Auburn. They'd probably have to run the table to guarantee a playoff spot.
Huge week of key matchups with playoff implications.
Oklahoma QB John Mateer needs hand surgery and will miss a month. He will certainly miss the game vs Texas and possibly the one vs Ole Miss. If they lose both, they're in trouble for the playoffs.
Oklahoma State fired Mike Gundy. So long to legendary mullet.
Oregon will be staying in Altoona rather than State College. Is Altoons pizza gross? It kind of looks gross.
Whiteout at night and Steelers at 9:30 AM. I probably won't get much sleep. I'll either be really happy or really pissed off.
6 Oregon at 3 Penn State 7:30 NBC PSU -3.5
WHITEOUT!! The game of the week. A lot has been made of Penn State's weak opening schedule, but Oregon hasn't played anybody either. On paper, they played decent names Oklahoma State and Oregon State, but they have 1 win between them and Ok State just fired their coach after losing at home to Tulsa.
Penn State concentrated on basics and playing lots of players. Oregon put a lot on film and opened things up. The bottom line though is this is the first real opponent for each.
New Oregon QB Dante Moore has been great but he hasn't played any game nearly as big as this.
Lots of attention will be on Allar and Moore but the key could be the run game for each. Most people don't realize that Penn State ran for 297 yards last year vs Oregon. Oregon ran for 186. That's what opened up the passing games for each.
Northwestern ran pretty well against Oregon a few weeks ago.
Penn State's defense is untested. They have excellent DEs but their DTs are undersized. The LBs are very fast but also undersized. New DC Jim Knowles faced Oregon twice last year as DC at Ohio State.
Is this a must win for Penn State? Yes and No. No, they do not have to win this game to make the playoffs. If Oregon loses, nobody will question their path to the playoff the rest of the way and it's the same for Penn State.
But this game means more for Penn State due to perception. They haven't won the big game. They always play close as they did last year with Ohio State, Oregon and Notre Dame, but they come up short. They just haven't had the clutch play you need to win big games.
Ohio State had the defensive stands at the goal. Oregon had multiple plays made by TE and WR. And Notre Dame had God make a Penn State DB fall down.
Somebody for Penn State needs to step up. Including the OC.
A few years ago, Penn State was in a similar spot. They were playing Michigan and up to that point PSU had kept the offense simple. I assumed they'd have new wrinkles to unleash on Michigan. They didn't and the OC was fired later that year.
I have fingers crossed for current OC Andy Kotalnicki. I suspect there's more. I hope I don't have another moment where there's all this excitement and the OC says - Remember to drink your Ovaltine.
21 USC at 23 Illinois 12:00 FOX USC -6.5
Illinois was blown out by Indiana last week so now everybody thinks they stink. Maybe they do. Or maybe Indiana's offense is the exact counter punch to Illinois style of defense. This is the first real test for USC.
22 Notre Dame at Arkansas 12:00 ABC ND -4.5
ND has 2 close losses. Arkasas has also lost a pair of heartbreakers. Reports are that ND's QB was tippin run/pass with his stance and the internet looked and said it was true. Tex A&M may not have known that. ND's problem has not been offense though. Their defense has been shredded under new DC Chris Ash. With 2 losses each, you would think it's an elimination game for each.
Louisville at Pitt 12:00 ESPN2 Lou -4.5
The steelers are out of town so Pitt has the place to themselves. Picture Narduzzi sliding across the floor in socks and underwear while putting together another great gameplan. Everyone still upset over losing the backyard brawl but at least that wasn't an ACC loss.
1 Ohio State at Washington 3:30 CBS OSU -7.5
OSU survived the clunky week 1 game vs Texas then looked good vs 2 cupcakes. Wash is known as a tough place to play. First road game for OSU QB Julian Sayin. Wash QB Desmond Williams has been great so far, completing 73% with 0 INT. Wash also has s strong run game. Ohio State's defense is a big step up in competition.
4 LSU at 13 Ole Miss 3:30 ABC Miss -1.5
It's a joke that LSU is 4 and Oregon 6. LSU still dining out on that Clemson win which now looks bad that they struggled so much against them. The LSU offense has been bad. LSU star LB WHit Weeks is banging Lane Kiffin's daughter. Maybe that will be the only scoring LSU gets.
Auburn at 9 Texas A&M 3:30 ESPN TAM -6.5
The SEC admitted that Oklahoma scored a TD on an illegal play vs Auburn last week. They had a WR pretend to be leaving the field as a substitution but stayed just barely on the field, then ran a route. Auburn still loses though. They better get their heads back in the game to face Tex A&M. Hard to tell how good the TAM offense is since Notre Dame's offense has been suspect. Auburn shut down Oklahoma aside from that illegal trick play. It wouldn't be a college football season unless TAM got ranked top 10 early only to finish with like 4 losses.
11 Indiana at Iowa 3:30 Peackock Ind -8.5
Indiana destroyed Illinois last week. Illinois is an aggressive defense and Iowa is the opposite. Iowa frustrates offenses and baits them into mistakes. Iowa scored 38 vs Rutgers last week which is big news because Iowa hasn't been able to score on anybody the last few years. Indiana gets Oregon next week. Maybe they believe their hype and look past Iowa.
15 Tennessee at Miss State 4:15 SEC Network Ten -7.5
Tenn offense vs Miss State defense. Miss State has to try to muddy this game up like they did against Arizona State.
17 Alabama at 5 Georgia 7:30 ABC UGA -3.5
Both teams coming off Byes. Bama last beat Wisconsin and things looked better. But then Wisconsin was blown out by Maryland last week so they're pretty bad. Georgia is coming off their battle with Tennessee where they gutted out a comeback win. This will be a big step up for Bama. Bama needs a win here. It would be loss 2 with remaining games vs Missouri, Tenn, Oklahoma, and Auburn. They'd probably have to run the table to guarantee a playoff spot.
