Last week was a signature week in college football. The Big 10 finally got a signature win. Stunningly, it was with Indiana shocking a top 20 Missouri team on the road. Dan Mullen and his Mississippi State team got a signature SEC win on the road over top 10 LSU. Michigan and Brady Hoke got a signature message. Mother Nature interrupted their home game against Utah with a 2+ hour massive storm. Hoke clearly didn’t understand the message because he allowed the Wolverine’s to come out for the second half and get a beat down at the hands of the Utes. Florida coach Will Muschamp had to stick around and witness Bama ripping apart his Gators with no such Hoke-like interruption. A signature game for the new, fast paced Gators offense which ran a “whopping” 53 plays last week.
Week 5 College Football Preview
Now on to week five which takes us west for some of the bigger games.
Arizona State (3-0) vs. UCLA (3-0); The Thursday night game and the only game of week five featuring two ranked teams, both of whom were expected to contend for the Pac 12 South title at the beginning of the season. The Sun Devils will be without starting QB Taylor Kelly who is out with a foot injury, suffered in a win at Colorado. UCLA’s Brett Hundley missed the come-from-behind win against Texas 10 days ago when he hyperextended his left elbow early on. Bruins Head Coach Jim Mora has done his best Nick Saban impersonation, refusing to speculate on whether Hundley will start or whether it will be the hero of the Texas win, Jerry Neuheisel. ASU’s defense blitzes more than almost any other team in the country and is number two in the nation in sacks. UCLA’s offensive line has given up 12 sacks already this season. The Pac 12 South is 17-3 so far this season, mostly against non-conference opponents. Now it is almost entirely conference games the rest of the way.
Washington (4-0) vs. Stanford (2-1); Let’s start by apologizing to Washington. Last week I mocked you for playing Georgia State. I didn’t realize you could actually be losing to them by two touchdowns at halftime! The Huskies are 4-0 and have scored a ton of points, but have played only one game against a Power 5 conference team, and it was the Big 10’s Illinois, so take it with a grain of salt. Stanford has a conference loss already, making each Pac 12 North game all the bigger now, and they have to travel to one of the noisiest stadiums in the country for their first true road test of the season. The Cardinal have won five of the last six meetings.
North Carolina State (4-0) vs. Florida State (3-0); Florida State is still undefeated because Clemson, well, played like Clemson does in big games last week and missed several opportunities for the upset. Jameis Winston has been very low key since “accidentally” dressing out for a game he was suspended from. He will get an earful this weekend as the crowd is virtually right on top of the field in Raleigh. Florida State’s defense has pulled off only two sacks all season so expect Tar Hell QB Jacoby Brissett to have a lot of room to maneuver. North Carolina State is undefeated and untested thus far, but has won five of the last seven home games against ranked FSU teams.
South Carolina (3-1) vs. Missouri (3-1); Just another week in Spurrier land. His Gamecocks come from behind to beat Vanderbilt on the road, but he wants to talk big picture. This week he took a shot at SEC teams running up big margins of victory over lesser opponents, (looking at you Texas A&M and your 52 point win over SMU and 70 point win over Lamar). Spurrier left out the part about A&M running up 52 points against the Gamecocks in week one. This week’s matchup is a tough call. Missouri was embarrassed at home by Indiana last week, but Tigers QB Maty Mauk is mobile and likes to throw on the run. That would seem to work against South Carolina, whose defense has been porous, particularly in the secondary. South Carolina’s offense is scoring in bunches with Dylan Thompson completing nearly 63% of his passes.
USC (2-1) vs. Oregon State (3-0); The Beavers opened up against three mediocre non-conference opponents. Still, Sean Mannion is one of the better quarterbacks in a conference rich with quality QB’s. Mannion and is third on the all-time conference passing list. He needs a little more than 900 yards to pass Matt Barkley for the top spot and, as he is averaging 300 yards per game and completing 67% of his passes per game, that will come soon enough. USC got a much needed rest last weekend after an embarrassing loss to Boston College two weeks ago. The offensive line has struggled a little bit, but with three new starters, that was to be expected. What was stunning was how BC ran for more than 450 yards against a Trojans front seven that was supposed to be the strength of the team. OSU wants to throw the ball. Southern Cal’s run defense is ranked #116 in the country. Go ahead…try to figure this one out.
Texas A&M (4-0) vs. Arkansas (3-1); Expect tons of offense. Texas A&M is averaging 55 points per game, albeit, as previously noted, against the likes of Lamar and Rice and South Carolina’s secondary. Arkansas is averaging nearly 49 points per game, and when you are Arkansas, there are no subpar opponents on your schedule right now.
Utah (3-0) vs. Washington State (1-3); Why would we include a game with a team that is 1-3? Because Cougars QB Connor Halliday is throwing 60+ passes per game and completing more than 60% of them. WSU has the top passing attack in the country. The fact that they are 1-3 tells you everything other than the air attack is a problem. Utah was not tested in the first two weeks but came away with a significant win last week against a highly questionable Michigan team in Ann Arbor.
Michigan State (2-1) vs. Wyoming (3-1); The only real opponent Michigan State has played thus far is Oregon, and the Spartans lost. That makes MSU like a speculative stock. They are a top 10 team based on a “quality” loss and the thought of what they might be down the road in an otherwise suspect Big 10 conference, so we keep our collective eyes on them. Wyoming has one thing in common with Sparty; a mugging in Eugene.
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