FAU at UCF

Analysis:

This game received a lot of hype in the preseason as a matchup of two G5 titans. This game is still a pretty big game for both teams. FAU will want to make their mark on the state of Florida (and Lane Kiffin will want a big win like this to help him get a better job). UCF would love to roll into conference play undefeated. FAU boasts a pretty solid offense led by running back Devin Singletary. Chris Robison didn’t play the best at quarterback last game, but has been solid besides that. FAU will need to step up on defense if they want to win this game. Their defense has struggled to stop anyone. UCF has a very high powered offense that won’t be easy to stop. FAU will need to win this game in a shootout if they do plan on winning. UCF didn’t play last week as their game against North Carolina was cancelled. McKenzie Milton struggled in their last game against South Carolina State but I still believe he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Their offense hasn’t slowed down this year and it’s doubtful they will this week. Their defense has also done well against poor competition. This’ll be a very fun game to watch Friday night.

Prediction:

UCF wins 55-38 as FAU hangs around for a bit but eventually fades.

Georgia at Missouri

Analysis:

This may not look like too tough of a game for Georgia but this is the best quarterback they’ve played so far. Missouri is 3-0 I’m the season and they owe most of that to Drew Lock and their offense. Lock has one trait that can always make it easier for a quarterback to play well against elite defenses, and that trait is fearlessness (or also having a dumb touchdown celebration that got deservedly made fun of by Tom Herman). He won’t be afraid to take shots at this defense, and while they may not work, Georgia’s defense will have be ready. For Missouri’s offense, Larry Rountree is another threat who put up 168 yards on the ground last week against Purdue. Adam Sparks and Cam Hilton did very well out of Missouri’s defensive backfield last week, but their run defense will need to do well also in order to pull off a win. Georgia has won all three of their games this year by wide margins. Their offense will definitely put up points in this game. I expect Georgia to try and ground and pound their way down the field and attack Missouri’s defensive line. Because of this, D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield need solid games. All they need to do defensively is slow down Lock and not let him win the game for Missouri.

Prediction:

Georgia wins 38-17. Their offense doesn’t slow down, and their defense holds Missouri back enough to get the win.

Notre Dame at Wake Forest

Analysis:

Notre Dame has looked about as ugly as a team who’s 3-0 can look. They’ve slogged our wins against Michigan, Ball State, and Vanderbilt by eight points are less and of those, only Michigan is a good team. Brandon Wimbush has looked sloppy throwing the ball at quarterback (I don’t want to hear they’ve been forcing him to play in the pocket, he’s played sloppy). Thankfully Tony Jones Jr, and Wimbush can run it well and that’s helped the Fighting Irish piece together wins. Their defense has also done well and given the offense ample opportunity to score. Wake Forest lost last week against a pretty good Boston College team. Freshman quarterback Sam Hartman made mistakes every true freshman quarterback makes at some point and their defense couldn’t slow down AJ Dillon and the Eagles offense. Matt Holburn and Cade Carney both had 100 yards rushing, and hopefully can keep that performance up against Notre Dame. Wake Forest needs to be ready for Notre Dame to try and stuff it down their throat.

Prediction:

Notre Dame wins it again in a slug fest 20-16. Brandon Wimbush does just enough running the ball to keep his job at quarterback.

Mississippi State at Kentucky

Analysis:

This game feature two 3-0 teams that are a bit overlooked. Mississippi State hasn’t really been tested in their first three games. The best team they’ve played is an average Kansas State team. Nick Fitzgerald has been dicing up defenses. He’s made himself known as one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Aeris Williams will be a big part of the game plan, and he should be as a very underrated running back (he also compared the Bulldogs offense to the Golden State Warriors). The key to the game for the Bulldogs will be causing disruption with their defensive line led by Jeffrey Simmons and Montez Sweat against Kentucky’s solid offensive line. For Kentucky, Terry Wilson has improved at quarterback each week and Benny Snell has made a name for himself at running back. The Wildcats boast an undefeated record but also aren’t really battle tested besides an average Florida team (did you know they haven’t beaten Florida since 1986 because it’s not like the announcers mentioned it all the time or anything). This game will be a statement for whoever comes out on top.

Prediction:

Mississippi State, behind the arm of Fitzgerald wins 34-27.

Texas A&M at Alabama

Analysis:

Alabama is just as scary as they always are except this year, it’s on offense. Now obviously they’ve faced some pretty poor competition, but 170 points in three games is no joke (I know not all points were scored by the offense, but I don’t want to hear it nerds). Tua Tagovailoa is a very talented quarterback, and he’s still far from their best offensive player (I bet you thought I was about to say quarterback). Damien Harris and Najee Harris are a great duo in the backfield. Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, and Henry Ruggs make up a solid receiving core, and their offensive line is among the nation’s best. Alabama is really good on offense, and that’s new for them. Their defense also held a very good Ole Miss offense to just seven points last week. With all that said, they’re beatable (I stand by picking Georgia to win the National Title). Texas A&M needs a near perfect game from their defense. Slowing down the freight train that is Alabama’s offense won’t be easy, but Texas A&M is by far the best defense Alabama has played to date. Trayveon Williams needs a good day running the ball, their offensive line needs to do as well as they did against Clemson (and get away with holding as many times). Kellen Mond can be trusted as he passed the big game test against Clemson.

Prediction:

Jimbo Fisher will have the Aggies prepared, but they just don’t have the talent to compete in this game. Alabama wins 48-21.

TCU at Texas

Analysis:

TCU is coming off of a hard fought loss against Ohio State where they just couldn’t contain the Buckeyes offense. Shawn Robinson showed flashes at quarterback, but made a couple of costly errors as well. TCU will come into this game needing a good offensive performance. Robinson can’t make the same mistakes that USC quarterback JT Daniels did against the Longhorns last week. Darius Anderson had 154 yards rushing against Ohio State last week and those yards should come easier against Texas.Defensively, the Horned Frogs need to try and force Sam Ehlinger to make throws on the run and into tight spots. Texas comes off a big win against USC last week where they outshined the Trojans in just about every way. Texas ran through USC’s offensive line and completely stuffed their run game allowing negative rushing yards. Texas has an all around good offensive performance (somehow making Tim Beck look like a good coordinator). Judging from both teams in this game, I think points will be pretty hard to come by.

Prediction:

Texas wins 24-20 in a close game where both quarterbacks shoot themselves in the foot at some point (I’m so ready to be disappointed).

Florida at Tennessee

Analysis:

This game will be pretty high stakes as it features two new coaches who would love to get a win in a rivalry game in their first year. Florida obliterated Colorado State last week (the game was called the Jim McElwain Bowl). The Gators defense held Colorado State’s offense in check and their offense capitalized. Feleipe Franks wasn’t amazing at quarterback, but he did enough to get job done. If Florida’s defense can play as well as they did last week, this win can come a lot easier. Tennessee came out with a win last week against UTEP. Their offense was led by Ty Chandler who had 158 yards rushing. Their defense stepped up as well only allowing 39 yards passing and 134 yards in total. Florida’s offense is also definitely a stoppable force. Jarrett Guarantano three for over 10 yards per attempt and a 75% completion percentage last week as well. If he can keep that up against Florida, it’ll be a huge benefit for the Volunteers. Tennessee’s home crowd should also play a factor.

Prediction:

Tennessee wins 28-27 in a crazy ending.

Stanford at Oregon

Analysis:

Oregon did not look very good last week. Oregon won 35-22 against a pretty bad San Jose State team. Justin Herbert threw two interceptions and had a completion percentage under 50%. Their running game never really got going, and they just ended up winning because of an overwhelming talent advantage. That will not work this week as a very talented Stanford team comes into Eugene. One good thing about how the Ducks played last week is that they stuffed San Jose State’s rushing attack. They’re going to need to do this again this week as they play against the best running back in the country. Jalen Jelks and Troy Dye will be relied upon a lot to slow down Bryce Love. All in all, their offense just needs to play better than it did last week. Stanford also struggled a bit last week to take down a much inferior opponent. Unlike Oregon, they have a bit of an excuse as Bryce Love didn’t play. KJ Costello didn’t have the best day throwing the ball, and Love’s absence was felt in the run game. The key to the game for Stanford will be to put pressure on Justin Herbert and not let the Ducks win the game with his arm.

Prediction:

Stanford wins 31-21 as Bryce Love has a field day.

Wisconsin at Iowa

This game very well may determine the winner of the Big 10 West. Wisconsin is coming off a loss against BYU where a late missed field goal sealed a poor performance by the Badgers. Alex Hornibrook made some crucial mistakes for the Badgers, and Jonathan Taylor couldn’t do enough to bail him out. Wisconsin will need to defend the pass this game or Nate Stanley will punish them for it. The Badgers stellar offensive line will need to continue to be stellar in blocking for Taylor and giving Hornibrook time to throw. Jim Leonhard needs to make sure the defense is ready to play, and do better defending the run than they did against BYU. Iowa comes into this game undefeated and wanting another big win. Iowa, who’s been a primarily running team now has a new wrinkle, a very good passing game with Nate Stanley at quarterback, Nick Easley at receiver and Noah Fant at tight end. Their run defense has yet to allow more than 100 yards rushing in a game, but that task will be much harder this week. If they can find a way to lessen Jonathan Taylor’s impact, this win will come a lot easier. Also it should be noted that this is a night game at Iowa, where crazy things always happen.

Prediction:

Wisconsin wins 20-17 in an all out slugfest.

Arizona State at Washington

Analysis:

Washington will be featured on Pac 12 after dark for the second week in a row after coming out on top against Utah last week. Jake Browning hasn’t quite taken over games at quarterback (it’s harder when Dante Pettis and John Ross aren’t on the team). Myles Gaskin won the game for them last week by grinding through the Utes defense. Their secondary will have a big task at hand this week having to slow down N’Keal Harry. They did well last week in stopping the Utes offense but Arizona State will be a step up. If their defense plays well, this should be an easy win for the Huskies. Arizona State is coming off of a close loss against San Diego State that had a slightly controversial ending (I still don’t get it, once a play goes to replay, can the refs just review whatever they want?). Arizona State struggled quite a bit in stopping the Aztecs offense, and it’ll be even more challenging to stop Myles Gaskin and the Huskies rushing attack. Eno Benjamin will also need to put up more than just 21 yards on the ground. This game is definitely winnable for the Sun Devils as they beat Washington last year, but they’ll need a very good all around game and you never know what will happen when it’s Pac 12 after dark.

Prediction:

Washington wins 41-27. Arizona State hangs around for a bit but ultimately falls short.

One Man Shows

There are a lot of teams, and more specifically units on a team that are dominated by one person. Here, I will talk about some units in college football that are one man shows.

Benny Snell/Kentucky

Snell has done a lot for the Wildcats this year (watch the Florida game if you disagree with me). Him lining up at wildcat (just realized that they ran wildcat and their name is the wildcats, cool) quarterback was awesome to watch. Kentucky has a solid offensive line, by Snell does well at making them look very good. 375 rushing yards in three games is impressive, and I expect that to continue to rise quickly with SEC play starting.

Khalil Tate/Arizona

Khalil Tate has had a rough start to the season, and thus Arizona has as well. Tate has a lions share of the work for the Wildcats. Once Kevin Sumlin finally (if ever) learns how to use him, the whole team will bring it up multiple notches. He seemed to pick up his play in a tune up game against Southern Utah, although they aren’t top quality. I’m afraid his potential will be wasted, but even when he’s being used wrong, (I guess Tate deserves this by threatening to transfer if they hired Ken Niumatalolo and run the triple option which Tate would’ve thrived in) he’s still deadly. Pac 12 defenses will be having fits trying to slow him down for the rest of the year for sure.

N’Keal Harry/Arizona State

Arizona State has been in the spotlight recently by hiring Herm Edwards (still crazy to say). This spotlight grew when they took down Michigan State in week two. When Michigan State slowed Harry down, in the first half things looked bad for the Sun Devils. When Harry seized his opportunity when Michigan State had poor coverage on him, he made two clutch grabs and sealed a win. 315 receiving yards in three games is an impressive feat, especially being the center of attention for opposing defenses. Harry has also opened things up for other Sun Devils receivers. It’ll be interesting to see how he does against an elite Washington secondary.

Joe Dineen/Kansas

Kansas has a surprisingly good recent history with defensive players. They have gone from from Ben Heeney, to Dornace Armstrong (who I love because he’s been doing well for my beloved Dallas Cowboys) to Joe Dineen as the leaders of the defense. Dineen has been a standout at Linebacker on the Jayhawks defense. Dineen has 40 total tackles on the season. Second place on the team is 24. Add a fumble recovery and an interception and you have a player who more than carries his weight on the defensive side of the ball. He will help keep Kansas in games as the season continues.

AJ Dillon/Boston College

While Anthony Brown has improved at quarterback for the Eagles, AJ Dillon is what propels their offense. With an average of 167 yards per game on the ground and five total touchdowns, Dillon can keep their offense afloat. Dillon also deals with a high usage rate, carrying the ball with 33 carries against Wake Forest last week. This high workload doesn’t seem to faze him, nor did it last year. I expect some big games for Dillon in the future as I also think Boston College is the likely second best team in the ACC Atlantic.

Ed Oliver/Houston

Ed Oliver is possibly the best player in all of college football and will get a big paycheck in the draft next year. The fact that he plays for a G5 school (a good one but still G5) just makes things even harder on him. The only thing opposing offenses have to worry about is slowing him down. The thing is, all that planning still doesn’t always work as he has 24 tackles and five tackles for loss through three games. He will constantly face double and triple teams, but I still believe he will get big numbers, he will put the entire Houston defense on his back and has helped them win a number of games because of it.

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