What would seem like a weird thought might actually come to fruition next Saturday night in Fresno.
Halfway through the college football season and in the middle of October we find ourselves with what will likely be the Pac-12’s championship game. Or at the very least, pave the road to a subsequent championship for the winners.
Boise State will pay Fresno State a visit next Saturday night and the winner is in the driver’s seat for the conference title and can also start to lay claim to an argument
as to why they should be a part of the College Football Playoff.
The two have very similar resumes entering as well. Both lost in the opening week while visiting a Big Ten team. Both have yet to lose since. Both have won each of their four victories by 14 or more points.
However, both are very different. Boise State has been beating teams from the get-go the last three weeks. Not trailing at halftime and pulling away more in the second half. Aside from the Memphis win, Boise State jumps ahead early and doesn’t look back. Quite the opposite in Fresno.
The Bulldogs on the other hand have to seemingly wait until the second half to get rolling. Once again on Saturday night Fresno State was tied at halftime with an opponent, this one being Washington State. And once again they turned it on in the second half, outscoring the Cougs 20-0 in the second half to win 26-6.
If you include all five games this season Fresno State has outscored opponents now 81-26 in the second half. In their last three victories they were behind or tied with their opponents before turning it on and going on to win.
It will be interesting to see if the trend for both teams continues on Saturday, or if one of them can figure out the other early and put the game out of reach.
The game is at 7:30 Pacific Time next Saturday night and will be televised on The CW. Interestingly enough, it follows a clash in the Mountain West that could also go a long way in deciding that conferences race and have CFP implications as UNLV will take on North Dakota State. Both Fresno State and Boise State would like some help in the loss column for the Bison as they are the only Group of Six undefeated right now.
Critical college football games in October, it doesn’t get better than that.
