After a dominant Hawkeye victory it’s great to have a stress free Saturday. So good, in fact, that we’ll just have to do it again this weekend. It’s Iowa’s bye week and I don’t have a whole lot to say for this week’s intro other than we’ve got some great games ahead of us to enjoy. Let’s get into it.
Schedule graphics are courtesy of Projection Sports by Tyler Markley.
Washington @ Purdue is the lone Big Ten weeknight game, with one team coming off a humiliating home beatdown loss and the other an impressive
home beatdown win. It ain’t the flashiest game around but it’s still Big Ten football, or half-Big Ten football anyway. The flashiest game is reserved for App State @ Coastal Carolina with the Chanticleers unveiling their 90’s themed uniforms earlier this week.
Radical!
The two biggest battles of Saturday morning come courtesy of the two biggest conferences. #4 Ohio State @ #5 Indiana pit the Big Ten’s two best teams against each other for the inside track for the conference lead. Looking ahead, the Hoosier’s path looks easier, with USC the only currently ranked team on the schedule. With one loss already on the books, Ohio State’s hopes for a first round CFP bye would take a big hit with a loss this weekend.
Meanwhile, in the SEC, their marquee morning match is #16 Mississippi State @ #22 LSU. College football’s favorite villain, Lane Kiffin, got more comeuppance against then-unranked Kentucky last weekend. Kamario Taylor and the Bulldogs will be all to happy to hand him his third loss on the year.
The Big XII has a couple of intriguing games in the morning slate with Cincinnati @ West Virginia and Kansas @ Kansas State. They’re not going to light the world on fire but the Big XII is a conference that’s always good for some entertainment and both of these could be close fights.
The SEC returns in the afternoon with two more games with CFP implications: #6 Alabama @ #14 Tennessee and #13 Missouri @ #9 Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide suffered a demoralizing loss to rival Georgia that included both a controversial pass interference no-call and a horrendously stupid late hit penalty. This is a great spot for the Volunteers to catch them, hopefully hung over from such a physical loss.
The Missouri Tigers continue to roll and have looked impressive. But their last two wins have come against a ridiculously overrated Florida and a Texas A&M team that’s dropped like a rock from it’s preseason expectations and ranking. The Rebels have just one loss on their resume, but it was a 52-28 drubbing to those aforementioned overrated Gators back in week 5.
Three games into the Big Ten season, we’re still waiting on Matt Campbell’s first conference victory. He may have his best chance yet with Penn State @ Michigan, which feels crazy when I say it out loud. At the beginning of the year, it would seem insane to think he wouldn’t get past Wisconsin or Northwestern, let alone both. Yet here they are. The Wolverines are looking for their first B1G win too, and will be coming off a bye week after losing the Little Brown Jug in week 5.
In the evening we get some rivalry action. Florida State @ #3 Miami is horribly one sided but it’s an all time “helmet game”. Canes QB Darian Mensah has yet to throw and interception after 133 attempts. Meanwhile Seminole quarterback Ashton Daniels has thrown seven. Still, it’s a rivalry, and Miami could be caught looking ahead to a bigger date next week against Notre Dame. But those Irish will have their hands full this week in #2 Notre Dame @ #8 BYU. It’ll be Notre Dame’s first visit to Provo since 2004, and College Game Day will be in town. Despite the top ten billing, I think the Irish will handle the Cougars fairly easily.
Back in the Big Ten, after a huge win over Oregon, Bob Chesney’s UCLA squad has rocketed up the rankings. Wisconsin @ #12 UCLA is the Bruins’ next big test and the Badgers have been a surprisingly competent outfit. UCLA will need to ride with backup quarterback Ty Dieffenbach the rest of the season after Nico Iamaleava suffered a knee injury against the Ducks, and took an egregious cheap shot to the head in the process. I think this could be one of the night’s best games.
Those Ducks will be traveling east for Nebraska @ Oregon. It was delicious seeing Nebraska’s upset bid against Indiana fall flat but they did play pretty darn good football for three quarters. Oregon is licking its wounds after their horrendous performance against UCLA, turning the ball over a whopping seven times! For the Cornhuskers, their season is still wide open. Beat the Ducks, and they’ll be in great shape up to their week 11 meeting with Ohio State. Meanwhile, Oregon’s playoff dreams are essentially dead and it’s simply pride they’re playing for now.
Hawks are back in action next week to battle for Floyd. Enjoy the peace while we can.
