Going top to bottom requires some precise work and big execution and never letting your foot off the accelerator or you wind up stumbling and finding yourself in the middle. Enough mixed metaphors for you? Of course we are talking about week six of the college football season where many of the top ranked teams in the various conferences are playing teams in the bottom half. That doesn’t mean it’s a week off. Ask Ohio State or Michigan State who had to squeak by last week. Losses for some of these teams are going to drop them from the top to the middle, so there is a lot on the line.
Top to Bottom: College Football Week 6 Preview
Washington at USC; Thursday, 9pm EDT ESPN: When the Trojans lost to Stanford a few weeks back, the faithful were bemoaning the end of any conference title hopes. Then SC manhandled Arizona State and they get a low-end Washington team and all of a sudden the Southern Cal loyalists are feeling top shelf again. The Huskies are barely averaging 100 yards per game rushing, so it is going to be to quarterback Jake Browning to win it through the air. Not asking much of the first true freshman to start at quarterback in Seattle in 18 years. Conversely, SC’s pass defense is at the top of its game, allowing only three touchdown passes all season. Forget all the Sarkisian-Washington storylines. The Trojans have a should-win, which, since they have a conference loss already makes it a must-win to stay in the race for the top spot in the Pac 12 South.
South Carolina at LSU; Saturday TBD; As of the time of this column, the game time is up in the air because it has been moved from South Carolina to LSU. Clearly, with what the state of South Carolina has gone through with the storms and flooding of the last week, a football game is low on the priority level. The stress on resources of having 85,000 at a football game in Columbia necessitated the game being moved to Baton Rouge. There is a lot going on with how badly South Carolina has played this season, and the fact they have to face the top running back in the country in Leonard Fournette, and the loss of money because this was the second biggest revenue home game for South Carolina this season. But instead of worrying about that, Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier had his players out Wednesday helping flood victims at shelters throughout the area. That’s a top notch idea.
Oklahoma vs. Texas; Saturday, noon EDT ABC; Yeah I know…Texas…but it’s hard to ignore the Red River Showdown. Besides, I told you this week was about teams at the top avoiding playing down to the competition and winding up stuck in the middle. Oklahoma is a legit contender for the Big XII title thanks to quarterback Baker Mayfield who has thrown for 13 touchdowns already this season. And he is from Austin, TX. Yes, Longhorn fans, he could have been your top quarterback. This is a neutral site game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, with the state fairgrounds as the backdrop. Good news for Longhorns fans; the Cotton Bowl did not do a cell service upgrade during the offseason, so your players will likely be unable to access their twitter accounts to discuss transferring at halftime like they did last week. Hey, when you are on the bottom, you can’t fall off the floor.
Georgia Tech at Clemson; Saturday, 3:30pm EDT ABC/ESPN 2; The ups and downs, highs and lows of a season are right here. Clemson nearly gave away a big lead last week to Notre Dame, but the Tigers held on in the final seven seconds for one of their biggest national wins in a long time. It would be easy for people to expect this to be a hangover game but the Clemson defense is going to actually have to be better than it was last week, as they face GA Tech’s triple option offense. The Yellow Jackets were thought to be a contender in the ACC when this season started, but starting with a loss last month to Notre Dame, they have now dropped three in a row and are fighting to save any upward mobility for a bowl game. Clemson is one of only two ACC teams still undefeated overall, so the Tigers have to avoid letting up against the Yellow Jackets, lest they find themselves back in the middle of the pack for another season.
Northwestern at Michigan; Saturday, 3:30pm EDT BTN; Now here is a pleasant twist on the day. Two teams that were not expected to be on the upswing to the top of the conference this season. But there they are; the Wildcats at 5-0 including a defensive shutdown of a very good Stanford team in week one, and Michigan….the grind it out, win it in the trenches, tough defense Michigan of days past, at 4-1 and on a four game winning streak. Now while it is exciting to see two good teams actually play against each other don’t pass on your in-game bathroom breaks. It’s OK to leave. You won’t miss offensive fireworks. Northwestern is the top defense in the country in points per game allowed. The second best? Michigan. But hey, let’s just enjoy the moment for two teams on the elevator ride to the top playing each other.
TCU at Kansas State; Saturday, 7:30pm EDT Fox; TCU looks like a team on the fast elevator up the last two weeks with a miracle win against Texas Tech and an obvious blowout over Texas. Quarterback Trevone Boykin is very much back in the Heisman conversation. The defense is still full of holes but it won’t matter this week. The challenge for the Horned Frogs is to keep their focus over several weeks of playing the bottom rung of the Big XII. I mean, no offense to Kansas State, but you know you have hit bottom when you are running out of quarterbacks because of injuries and you are looking at using Will Geary as a quarterback this weekend. No offense to Will Geary, but we missed him at the Elite 11 quarterback camps. Don’t know who Will Geary is? Look up a Kansas State roster and skip past the quarterbacks and go to the defensive linemen…there you will find the aforementioned 6-ft, 300 pound Mr. Geary, who very well may see some quarterback time this weekend.
Cal at Utah; Saturday, 10pm EDT ESPN; Rub your eyes. Go ahead. We’ll wait. You read correctly. One of the top games of the weekend is a nationally televised game between the Cal Bears and the Utah Utes. Cal, at 5-0 is on top of the Pac 12 North. Now before we go all Berkeley wacky, the Bears have played Grambling, San Diego State, Texas, Washington and Washington State. This is their first game against a top level team. They do bring the top quarterback in the conference into the game in Jared Goff, a likely top 15 NFL pick next year. Utah is 4-0 and on top of the Pac 12 South. The Utes still have their top level tough games ahead of them, but they clearly hold their own destiny in the race for the conference title and a playoff bid. I know it will be late but this game is a great way to top off the day.
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