Football Friday

It’s a nasty (and I mean absolutely disgusting) Friday. Rainfall of Noah-like proportions is forecasted for the entire weekend.

Obviously I failed last week when I said that it was going to be the worst weekend of college football. I set myself up for that when I said “this could be the worst weekend of college football all year.” But it’s fine, we’re moving past it.

This week. Oh man, this week. This is one of those weeks where you just wanna sit on your couch and watch football ALL DAY …and because of the weather, you’ll get to!

So grab your rain boots and ponchos and garbage bags (use them like a blanket if you’re going to a game this weekend. Weird, but works) and let’s get down to it.

Most Intriguing Top-25 Matchups

#23 West Virginia at #15 Oklahoma – 12:00 pm – FoxSports1
Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield pulled a Grayson Lambert and is coming off a school-record 572 yards of total offense in their win over Tulsa, most by an FBS player this season. The Sooners finished that game with 773 total yards. Over his last five quarters, Mayfield is 41-of-49 (84 percent) for 553 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. BUT. West Virginia ranks first in the Big 12 in defensive efficiency. The Mountaineers have not allowed a point in the first half this season, outscoring their opponents 74-0. So we’re starting off the day with a bang.

#13 Alabama at #8 Georgia – 3:30 pm – CBS
Sorry Clemson stole GameDay from you, Athens. Although, you can blame Alabama and their loss to Ole Miss for that. Grayson Lambert has been the definition of lights out. He’s thrown two incompletions in the last two games. Granted, those two opponents were South Carolina and Southern, but still. This game will determine whether or not Grayson Lambert belongs in the Heisman talk, or if his #s can only be attributed to their competition. I can’t remember the last time people were talking more about Georgia than Alabama in this game, but I don’t hate it.

Other fun note on this game – If Georgia running back Nick Chubb goes for 100 on the ground against Alabama, he will pass Herschel Walker for the most consecutive games with 100 rush yards in Georgia history.Chubb has rushed for 100 yards in 12 straight games, equaling Walker’s streak in the early 1980’s.

#3 Ole Miss at #25 Florida – 7:00 PM – ESPN
I said last week that Ole Miss had a cake walk against Vandy, but the ‘Dores actually held their own and made the Rebels nervous for most of the game. Florida’s defense has been solid this year, for the most part, and the Gators seem to have new life after their comeback win (or Tennessee’s epic collapse) last week.

#21 Mississippi State at #14 Texas A&M – 7:30 PM – SEC Network
These two teams are almost identical on paper. Dak Prescott is poised to have a huge game for Mississippi State (always)…..but it’s at Texas A&M….

#6 Notre Dame at #12 Clemson – 8:00 PM – ABC
No words. (Actually, I have a lot of words, I just don’t know how to formulate them into sentences) I don’t know how I feel about this game. So I’m just going to leave it here.

Most Intriguing Non-Top 25 Matchups

South Carolina at Missouri – 12:00 PM – SEC Network
The Gamecocks (somehow) did NOT lose to UCF. But, that doesn’t mean they’re trending upward. Spurrier finally decided to play the new QB, and it worked out pretty well on Saturday. How will he hold up in his first SEC road test?

Texas Tech at #5 Baylor – 3:30 pm – ABC/ESPN2
Ahhh Texas Tech. You almost proved me right last weekend…TWICE. If it wasn’t for TCU’s miracle touchdown and your so-close-but-so-far “last play”, I would have been typing “TOLD YA!” right here. This game will be about the speed of these two offenses (as in, how many plays can we run?) and I’m sayin’ first to 50 wins.

#1 Ohio State at Indiana – 3:30 pm – ABC/ESPN2
Sorry Clemson stole GameDay from you, too, Bloomington. Here’s the best summary of this game, pulled from ESPN.com -> “Indiana hosts No. 1 Ohio State. The Hoosiers are 0-15 all-time against AP No. 1 teams, including 0-5 against Ohio State. All five of those games were decided by double digits and the Hoosiers have been outscored 192-40. This is the first time Indiana is hosting a No. 1 team since 1998 (also Ohio State).”

Arkansas at Tennessee – 3:30 PM – ESPN2
Both of these teams – struggle fest. Tennessee keeps inventing new ways to lose games. So, that obviously makes for fun, must-see TV.

Side note – sorry all these games are ACC/SEC. I’m from Greenville, South Carolina. It’s all I know, ok?

From last week

• TCU/Texas Tech – THIS was the game winner. And then, Texas Tech almost lateraled itself to victory…

• Despite trailing at halftime, South Carolina did not lose to UCF. But, UCF did lose to South Carolina, which prompted this special at a local bar.
• Southern’s Devon Gales suffered a major spinal injury during their loss to Georgia last week. But Mark Richt and the Dawgs have been an example of pure class, and Southern has noticed.
• Leonard Fournette is still hanging out at the top of the Heisman list. Games like the one he had against Syracuse can only help him.
  • I just needed another bullet point to link to this play. Good grief.
• UCLA embarrassed Arizona. Utah embarrassed Oregon. But, West Coast football, ick.
• Duke beat Georgia Tech, which made Notre Dame’s win over the Jackets look more “eh” than impressive.

Finally, I leave you with this. Big man runnin’.

Seriously, never change CFB.

xo