College Football Games of the Week

Another week and another great weekend of college football coming up. This week won’t be one for marquee games however as there are only two games between two top 25 teams. This is usually the time of the year that top teams sleepwalk through a game that is supposed to be an easy victory and get upsetted, if the top teams don’t come to play then anything can happen.

AAC- Houston @ #20 Louisville This might as well be called the “I lost to UCF Bowl”, both of these teams have one loss in conference to that team in Orlando and now seem to be fighting for second place in the American Athletic. Both teams still have an outside shot at the BCS as they are going to have to win out and hope for UCF’s downfall to make it.  Bridgewater leads the AAC in touchdown passes and the Cardinal offense is 11th in the nation in passing yards. The offense is highly advertised but it’s the defense that has the ‘Ville having a great year. Louisville is the #1 team in the nation in points against, allowing less than 11 points per game. That is sure to change against this Cougars offense however. QB John O’Korn is right behind Teddy in the passing touchdown category and the Cougars are second in the conference in points per game. Unfortunately the Cardinals are first, and as good as Houston has played this year, Louisville has played and looked better. No basketball game this Saturday so the Cardinal faithful cheer their team on to victory.
Louisville 34, Houston 27

ACC- Georgia Tech @ #8 Clemson The Clemson Tigers are back! After getting embarrassed by Florida State and looking unimpressive in a victory over Maryland, Tahj Boyd and company took Virginia to the woodshed and won by 49. Clemson is still on the inside track of making a BCS bowl and this is headed towards one of the best seasons in Clemson history. The Yellow Jackets are having a surprising season as well. With this win, Georgia Tech will clinch a share of the Coastal division and will watch and see what Virginia Tech, Duke and Miami(FL) do to see if they make the ACC championship game. A lot is on the line in this game! Tahj Boyd is looking to add to his 2600 passing yards and 20 touchdowns on the season as Clemson has the 10th best passing attack in the nation. The Clemson passing defense hasn’t been great this year as they are 9th in the ACC in passing yards allowed, luckily for the Tigers Georgia Tech doesn’t pass. Tech is 119th in the nation in passing and have triple the rushing yards, but that is how the Jackets plan to beat you. QB Vad Lee and company is known for lulling a defense to sleep with their running game and then busting open a big pass play. I expect them to gash Clemson on that a couple of times in this game, but one of the ACC teams worse than Clemson in passing yards against is Georgia Tech themselves and I expect Tahj Boyd to fully exploit that on Thursday night.
Clemson 41, Georgia Tech 21

Big 12- #12 Oklahoma State @ #24 Texas Matchup of the Week:“Texas doesn’t have the talent” “Mack Brown can no longer coach” “The Longhorns just aren’t as good of a program as they used to be” These are all things that have been said about this Texas team this year and recently they have been putting it all to rest. After losing two early season match ups and surviving a controversial game against Iowa State, UT has been winning and winning convincingly. After three straight double-digit wins QB Case McCoy led the Horns to a tough road victory in West Virginia. Now they face the preseason Big 12 favorite in Okie State. Coach Mike Gundy has had a hard time sticking to a QB for the Cowboys as J.W. Walsh and Clint Chelf have both played considerable minutes. Even with the constant change, the Cowboys are still 14th in the nation in points. The Cowboys have also played better since their loss to West Virginia and have posted four straight double-digit wins. This game is a toss-up for me as both teams have shown a Jekyll and Hyde complex this year. In the end I believe RB Desmond Roland will get going for Oklahoma State and punish the much maligned Texas run defense.
Oklahoma State 30, Texas 27

Big Ten- #16 Michigan State @ Nebraska Last week, Nebraska was able to squeak out a last-minute win in Ann Arbor against Michigan and now they must face their counterpart Michigan State in order to continue their goal of winning the Legends division. This game might end up being the game that decides as both teams are atop the division and do not have many obstacles in their way after this game. Nebraska is going to be hoping for the improving play of Freshman Tommy Armstrong to continue to play better. In the Michigan game , Armstrong was able to improve his completion percentage to 58% while not committing a turnover. RB Ameer Abdullah also continued to lead as he recorded his 6th straight 100-yard rushing game. Michigan State QB Connor Cook is only concerned with not committing turnovers and letting his defense prevail. The Spartans are 3rd in the nation in points against and Cook has only given up 3 interceptions all season. If Nebraska can get the running game going then they might be able to pull off the home upset, unfortunately the Spartans are the best rushing defense in the nation. So I’m sticking with Sparty.
Michigan State 24, Nebraska 14

Pac-12- #4 Stanford @ USC One has to wonder what Lane Kiffin was doing so wrong, because Ed Orgeron has USC trending upwards since he’s taken over. The Trojans have won 3 straight games by double digits including a victory over then ranked Oregon State. The defense is what has really turned around as they have only given up more than 14 points twice since Orgeron has taken over. Orgeron will be facing his toughest task yet in trying to slow down RB Tyler Gaffney and the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford is on cloud 9 right now after taking down rival Oregon in what was a downright victory. Now with Stanford in the driver seat of the conference, they are not going to want to give that up. Stanford also boasts a stout defense as they are in top 10 in run defense and top 20 in points against. As good as USC has been playing as late, they are still nowhere near the level the Stanford is (something I never thought I’d say). The nerds beat the Jocks once again.
Stanford 27, USC 17

SEC- #25 Georgia @ #7 Auburn The season looked so bright for the Georgia Bulldogs in the beginning and so dull for the Auburn Tigers and now look how the tables have turned. Georgia hasn’t had a bad season but definitely a disappointing one after started the season as National Title hopefuls. Auburn wasn’t even predicted to go to a bowl game in Gus Malzahn’s first year as head coach and now the Tigers are looking at a possible BCS bowl opportunity. The emergence of QB Nick Marshall has a lot to do with the Tiger turnaround, as he has kept this offense balanced using his arm and his leg. The rushing game has been big for the Tigers as they are 3rd in the nation behind Marshall and RB Tre Mason. Together they have almost 1,800 yards. Georgia lives behind the arm of QB Aaron Murray. Murray has thrown for 20 touchdowns and almost 2,500 yards and has had unbelievable wins against South Carolina and LSU. Unfortunately for him and the Bulldogs, they’ve also have disheartening losses to Clemson, Missouri and Vanderbilt. This could be a trap game for Auburn if they are caught looking ahead to the Iron Bowl, so I wont be surprised if they are behind at halftime, but I believe the crowd at Jordan-Hare stadium will be the backbone for this team and Auburn squeaks out this win in a shootout and Mark Richt is back on the hot seat.
Auburn 42, Georgia 38

Non-BCS- Texas State @ Arkansas State The mid major game of the week was actually the thrilling Wednesday night battle between Northern Illinois and Ball State, unfortunately that was too early in the week, so we’ll go with the 2nd best. Texas State is enjoying playing in the FBS and now is bowl eligible for the first time in their history, San Marcos has stood behind this upstart team. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they will be on the road against Arkansas State. The Red Wolves will need this win here to be bowl eligible themselves, and still has an outside chance at the Sun Belt title. They have been playing behind the arm of Adam Kennedy, who is third in the conference in passing yards. This offense is also third in the conference in rushing yards and second in 3rd down percentage. Where Arkansas State has a strength, Texas State has the counter because the Bobcats are the top team in the Sun Belt in interceptions, total yards against, and points against. This game is strength against strength and as good as Texas State’s defense, their offense struggles as they are dead last in points per game. I’m going with the more balanced team at home.
Arkansas State 20, Texas State 13

Season Record: 8-6

(Photo Credit: Erich Schlegel/Getty Images)

Follow Albert Nkansah on Twitter @AlbertN_5

Facebook.com/FullScaleSports Twitter:@FullScaleSport

Related Posts

• 
  Nations Top Recruit Chooses Nations Top Program.
• 
  Hurricanes Looking To Finally Upgrade
• 
  Spartans Experience take over Young Talented Wildcats