Its already Week 7?!?
Hard to believe its already week seven. This season is going by way too fast for me. So if anyone knows how to slow down time, feel free to make this last season longer. This week we have a top 15 match-up as rivals #15 Texas and #13 Oklahoma square off. #1 Alabama travels to Columbia, MO to take on Missouri. The Tigers are still looking for that first SEC win. ESPN's College Game Day will feature #7 Notre Dame taking on #13 Stanford. Florida travels to Nashville to battle Vanderbilt and finally we have another top 10 showdown as Steve Spurrier takes his 6-0 and #3 Gamecocks into Baton Rouge to play #9 LSU. Here's how I see it all playing out.
Clemson has the week off, Prepares for VT and Wake Forest
Clemson has a bye week this weekend and it comes with nearly perfect timing. The Tigers are 5-1 and are playing well (except for defense) and need to be rested up as we hit the final stretch. The break is also much needed because Oct 20th, Virginia Tech comes to town. Though its a game Clemson should be favored and "should" win, just a few days later on Oct 25th they hit the road to take on division foe, Wake Forest in a Thursday night match-up. The following week Clemson travels to Duke then prepares for a three game home stand to end the season with Maryland, North Carolina State and rival South Carolina. With a week off and even more time to prep, I suspect that Clemson will pick up where it left off against the Hokies last season and get a big win to make it 11 straight wins in Death Valley for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. Red River Rivalry
Texas is having a great season and comes into week 7 with an overall record of 4-1 and 1-1 in Big 12 play, their only loss being credited to Geno Smith and West Virginia. For the Longhorns, David Ash has played great and has lead the offense to an average of 46.8 points per game which ranks 6th in the nation. He's thrown for 1276 yards and 11 TDs. Texas is giving up 26.4 points per game on defense. The Sooners are also off to a solid start, ranked 13th and 3-1 on the year. The Sooners are averaging 38.3 points per game and giving up 16.0. Should be another exciting game of football between these two rivals but I'm going to give the edge to Texas in this match-up.
Prediction: Texas 24 Oklahoma 18
Alabama looks to continue its dominance over opponents this weekend when it travels to Missouri. The Tigers have yet to get that first SEC victory and would love to make that happen against the #1 team in the nation. However, I don't see it happening. The Crimson Tide have looked nearly flawless to this point and I don't see them have any problems taking care of business this weekend. They are a 21 point favorite for a reason, they are good. No upset here, folks. Bama rolls.
Prediction: Alabama 49 Missouri 21
After doing what they do best last week at NC State, FSU looks to get back on track when they take on Boston College. I would say this game could be interesting. BC has a solid passing game and they can also run the ball. They hung with my Tigers for far longer than I liked and I think they could give FSU some problems. However, with the game being in Tallahassee I have to give the Noles the edge. Just don't think BC has what it takes to go into the Doak and get it done. FSU, lead by Thompson on the ground, pull away from the Eagles in the second half.
Prediction: Florida State 47 Boston College 24
The Gators pack up and head to Nashville to play Vanderbilt. On paper it looks like Florida would roll in this game but the Commodores are tricky. They came a blown pass interference call away from probably knocking off South Carolina in week one. And speaking of the Gamecocks, they come to the Swamp next week for a HUGE showdown with the Gators. The key is for Florida to stay focused at the task at hand. Next week's game losses a lot of its luster if you trip up against Vanderbilt. Don't look ahead, cause it might cost you! Florida is 8.5 favorite and I think that is right on the money.
Prediction: Florida 28 Vanderbilt 21
Duke, yes Duke is one win away from becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 1994. I was still wearing pull ups the last time Duke went to a bowl game, but after this weekend that could change. The Blue Devils will have to go into Lane Stadium and face a frustrated and struggling Hoke squad if they want to get that 6th win this weekend though. I've yet to get to see the Blue Devils play so I'm not buying in just yet. They are clearly an improved team but winning in Lane Stadium is a tall task for anyone. Duke has the ability to win this game, but I think they fall just short. Hokies get it done at home.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 30 Duke 21
And finally,
South Carolina heads to that other Death Valley to battle LSU
At first glance I would say LSU wins this game, bottom line. However once you really look at things, its gets interesting. First I'll start with the Gamecocks. Yes they are undefeated and #3 in the nation but they have played all their "big games" at home so far this year. Furthermore, when they played on the road they struggled. Vandy had them on the ropes until the final possession of the game in week 1. Two weeks ago they were down 17-7 at halftime to a TERRIBLE Kentucky team on the road. They won both of those games BUT they cannot afford to have a bad half or game on the road in Death Valley and expect to win. Some people are questioning how good LSU actually is. They lost to Florida 14-6 last week on the road and word on the street is they blamed the heat. (I'm not making this up). Is this still football we are taking about? Good Grief, MAN UP!! LSU hasn't been all too impressive this year and nearly lost to Auburn on the road, who is having a flat out awful year. And based on last week's performance against UGA, if LSU doesn't block South Carolina's Clowney and Taylor coming off the ends, they are going to be in for a long, long night. If Mettenberger has time, he can make some things happen. He's tossed for 6 TDs and 1174 yards this season. However, he needs to really step up this week and lead his team. I think the difference in this game is South Carolina's defense and Marcus Lattimore on offense. He's back at 100% following last season's injury that sidelined him and hes already rushed for 9 TDs. Bottom line is LSU hasn't showed me enough to believe they can win this game, even with it being at home. As much as I want to see South Carolina go down, it may have to wait at least another week. Gamecocks get the job done in Baton Rouge and South Carolina takes another step towards winning its first SEC Championship in school history.
Prediction: South Carolina 27 LSU 23
Other Predictions:
#5 West Virginia over Texas Tech
#7 ND over Stanford
#11 USC over Washington
Tennessee over #19 Mississippi State
#22 Texas A&M over #23 Louisiana Tech
Miami (FL) over North Carolina
Ole Miss over Auburn
No comments:
Post a Comment