Okay, so we have had a week to come up for air following last weekend’s insanity in college football. We spent some time with the family, helped the kids with their homework, maybe tried to concentrate a little bit at work. After spending Sunday sifting through the fallout, we have realized that most teams are flawed, very few teams have realistic chances of going undefeated and nearly every team is living on a week-to-week basis. With that in mind, let’s head to some great week seven showdowns.
Mississippi State (5-0) vs. Auburn (5-0): All that stuff we said about spending time with family,working and helping kids with homework does not apply in Mississippi. The Magnolia State has been on a high since Saturday and the unprecedented ranking results for Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Like everyone else though, every week becomes step up or step off. The Bulldogs put a beatdown on one-time playoff favorite Texas A&M last week with an impressive ground game. They are averaging eight yards per rush when they run on first down. A lot of that is coming from big, athletic quarterback Dak Prescott who has had three straight 100-yard rushing games in addition to his 200 yards per game through the air.
Auburn’s defense is top three in the SEC in scoring, run and total defense. Auburn’s quarterback Nick Marshall is also running the ball well, although he is more of a sprint out threat than Prescott. While The Tigers don’t throw often, they are efficient when they do. Marshall is averaging eight yards per completion, has eight passing touchdowns and only one interception. The quarterbacks seem like the obvious stars here, so fully expect the game to go off-script and have someone else step up.
Texas A&M (5-1) vs. Ole Miss (5-0): Ole Miss plays only four road games this entire season and the biggest one takes place on Saturday. The Rebels are 5-0 for the first time since Kennedy and Khrushchev were squaring off over missiles in Cuba. Last week Ole Miss upset Alabama and then celebrated like they had already won the national title. Do they have enough composure to regroup for the Aggies? Quarterback Bo Wallace has been sporadic much of the season, but stepped up last week when the lights were bright with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
The Rebels defense is giving up only ten points per game which is second in the nation. That puts them up against an Aggies team that is third in the nation in scoring at 48 points per game. A&M got hammered last week by a strong, agile MSU quarterback in Prescott. Wallace is not that. A win puts A&M back up in the fight for the SEC West. A loss all but eliminates them.
Baylor (5-0) vs. TCU (4-0): Baylor is undefeated. Quarterback Bryce Petty has had moments of looking like an elite player. But those wins, and those moments, have come against the likes of Buffalo (the college, not the Bills), Northwestern State and SMU. The only thing remotely resembling a challenge was last week’s game against a poor Texas team and Petty was only 7/22 passing for 111 yards.
TCU had a losing record last year, but all of a sudden they are averaging more than 500 yards of offense per game and avoided handing the game over to Oklahoma last week. The Horned Frogs (which are actually lizards), have only lost four fumbles all year, but three of them were last week, including once at the goal line. Quarterback Trevone Boykin has yet to learn to slide instead of getting hit, which tends to put the ball, and the game, in jeopardy. TCU is 1-19 all time on the road versus top five opponents.
UCLA (4-1) vs. Oregon (4-1): Two weeks ago this looked like one of the year’s great games. Now it is two teams trying to keep their seasons, and the quarterbacks, alive. The Ducks are coming off a stunning loss at home to Arizona while the Bruins missed a last-second field goal to lose in the Rose Bowl to Utah by two. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and UCLA’s Brett Hundley are two of the most athletic quarterbacks in the country. Good thing, because both are beaten up weekly thanks, in large part, to offensive lines that cannot protect them. Mariota is a faster sprint-out quarterback, while Hundley is a bigger, stronger runner. But both are having to scramble for their lives every week.
Hundley was sacked an unbelievable ten times last week against Utah, including three on consecutive plays inside his own ten yard line. Oregon will be trying to buy a little more time for Mariota’s designed sprint-outs. UCLA will need to move the pocket more for Hundley and shorten his drop backs, as he has a tendency to hold the ball too long. In one of those great ironic twists of fate, a long-ago planned promotion has the Heisman Trophy on display at the Rose Bowl Saturday. Not sure either quarterback would be physically able to carry it right now. Whichever team wins is still in the playoff hunt. The team with two conference losses is probably on the outside looking in.
Missouri (4-1) vs. Georgia (4-1): With all of the gridiron revolution going on lately, the SEC East has been under the radar. It’s pretty much a three team race now, with these two teams, and possibly Florida. Missouri is the lone team in the division with no conference defeats, but lost at home to Indiana, so the Tigers’ status is dubious for now. Georgia is 3-0 since dropping a conference game to South Carolina in week two. Georgia running back Todd Gurley is averaging seven yards per carry on first down; clearly a running down for most teams yet defenses have not been able to stop him from big gains.
Florida (3-1) vs. LSU (4-2): LSU has two conference losses and will be making plans for a non-playoff bowl. Florida is hanging on to faint hopes for the SEC East race. The storyline here is that the life of Gator head coach Will Muschamp takes more twists and turns than a TV soap opera. Starting quarterback Jeff Driskel was pulled in the second half last week when he was struggling. Redshirt freshman Treon Harris came in and pulled out the victory against Tennessee. But now Harris has been suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of an investigation into sexual assault charges. Muschamp could go to backup Skyler Mornhinweg, but he was injured, in a fight…with his own teammate…over a pair of shoes, this week after practice. So the Florida quarterbacks look to be the undesired Driskel and a guy sitting in row 32 who still has a year of eligibility left.
Arizona (5-0) vs. USC (3-2): The Wildcats are the last undefeated Pac-12 team, but still have a tough schedule ahead. Two weeks ago they won on a Hail Mary at the end of the game against Cal. Last week, USC lost on a Hail Mary at the end of the game against Arizona State. Expect lots of prayers in Tucson.
Stanford (3-2) vs. Washington State (2-4): We throw this one for its entertainment value. Stanford has one of the stingiest defenses in the country. WSU quarterback Connor Halliday averages 61 passes and more than 500 yards per game.
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