Week 8 Predictions

The trend of upsets continued last week and if you love high scoring games there were plenty of those to choose from as well. Defense appeared to take the back seat to the offense in many of Saturday's contest. This weekend isn't quite as big as week 6 or even last week however there are some games worth keeping an eye on. Ole Miss welcomes Coach Butch Jones and the Volunteers to town for a SEC match up. Alabama squares off against Texas A&M at home while Georgia is headed to Arkansas and South Carolina returns to action after their bye week as they play host to Furman for homecoming. Over in the ACC, #2 Florida State welcomes #5 Notre Dame to town for a Top 5 Showdown in "The Doak". #24 Clemson hits the road to take on Boston College, North Carolina State travels to Louisville and Georgia Tech will go at it in Chapel Hill against the Tarheels. Elsewhere in the country #4 Baylor faces West Virginia, #15 Oklahoma State takes on #12 TCU, #11 Oklahoma squares off against #14 Kansas State, and #9 Oregon plays Washington. The new #1 team in the country, Mississippi State, has the week off and prepares for their next game on the road at Kentucky next weekend.


#3 Ole Miss vs Tennessee 

The Volunteers face a huge test this weekend as they head to Oxford to face the Rebels. The Vols are 0-2 in conference play and are looking for that first SEC win but its not going to happen this week. Bo Wallace and company have proved to be the real deal. It would take the Vols' best game (and some luck) for them to go on the road and leave with a W this weekend. The line in Vegas is set at 16 and while I think that's just about right I also wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a decent game. Can Ole Miss continue to play at a high level and handle the all hype and not overlook this 3-3 team that clearly is at a disadvantage? Butch Jones and his team would love nothing more than to get that first SEC win of the season and put an end to Ole Miss' perfect season. But I just don't think its going to happen. Rebels get the job done.

The Pick: Ole Miss

#5 Notre Dame @ #2 Florida State

Another week and another headline story involving Jameis Winston....this time over autographs. The guy must be a cat and have nine lives cause I feel that any other player just about anywhere else in the country would have been dismissed long before now. The kid needs help but apparently doesn't want it. News broke earlier this week how the legendary Bo Jackson tried to reach out to Winston and offer help as a mentor with positive influence and act as a role model but apparently Winston wasn't interested. Go figure. Anyways we all expect him to play Saturday unless of course FSU is waiting until 10pm Friday night to announce he has been suspended again. Ya know, cause late at night is always when these stories from Tallahassee seem to be released. But on to the actual game this weekend....I'm intrigued..somewhat. While the Irish are undefeated the only respectable game (and win) they have came against #14 Stanford. They found themselves in a high scoring boxing match with the Tarheels last weekend and we all know how good they are. (sarcasm) Outside of that, their best win is probably Purdue. While FSU's schedule hasn't been the hardest of journeys either they do have wins over Oklahoma State and Clemson. They have been far from perfect though and didn't exactly dominate Syracuse last weekend giving up 20 points to the Orange. With this game being at home I gotta give the edge to Florida State although I'm interested to see how the defense handles Everett Goldson. I think he can cause some problems for the Seminoles so it'll be interesting to see who steps up.

The Pick: Florida State

#7 Alabama vs #21 Texas A&M 

This one has lost a bit of its luster in the last few weeks with the Aggies losing their last two games against Mississippi State and Ole Miss while Bama too is trying to get back on track after falling to the Rebels and barely escaping the upset to Arkansas last weekend. This game still should be one to keep an eye on. Overall Alabama hasn't been overly impressive and I think the special teams unit alone made Nick Saban grow a few gray hairs last week as they put the ball on the ground four times and had two turnovers.  Somehow they still managed to survive the game thanks to a missed FG by Arkansas. The defense will be tested this week against Sumlin's Aggies and they will look to spread the field and air it out against the Bama defense. When Kenny Hill has time, he is one of the best in the country but if you get some pressure on him and put him on the ground a few times its a different story. That being said I think Alabama wins this one on the back of its defense.

The Pick: Alabama

#10 Georgia @ Arkansas 

Georgia proved a lot of people wrong (including myself) last week and put to rest all the thoughts that they were a one-man team behind Todd Gurley. Freshman RB Nick Chubb seized the opportunity and lead the Dawgs with 143 yards rushing and 1 touchdown while the Georgia defense shutout Missouri. This week the Dawgs are back on the road and take on an Arkansas team that just seems primed for an upset. After back-to-back heartbreaking losses to the #6 Aggies and #7 Crimson Tide it just seems that they are due. The Razorbacks are much improved and you gotta think that they would love nothing more than to be a spoiler for Georgia and take down the Dawgs Saturday at home. I was wrong about UGA last week as I picked them to be upset by Missouri. As much as I would like to see them go down Saturday...(sorry, that is just the Clemson in me...and I'm really not sorry about it, either.) after last week I gotta say this is a solid football team and they were able to remain focused despite all the drama surrounding Gurley and pick up a huge win on the road against the defending division champs. Razorbacks are due for an upset but a small part of me is starting to believe they are just lacking somewhere and can't finish....that being said, I gotta play it conservative.

The Pick: Georgia 

#24 Clemson @ Boston College 

I'll be honest with you....this game worries me a bit. Chestnut Hill isn't the most exciting place to play and this game has all the makings of a low-scoring, hard fought battle. Boston College has arguably one of the best and deepest offensive lines in the country and the Eagles aren't too shabby on defense either giving up just under 20 points per game. While they took care of business earlier this year against #9 USC they also lost to Pittsburgh and Colorado State. But don't get me wrong, this BC team is very capable of beating the Tigers Saturday. However, BC hasn't faced a defense even close to what Clemson will bring to the table this weekend. The defense has become the backbone of this team and after last week their confidence and focus continues to grow. Special teams is also coming together and will be another major area of this game to watch. We talked earlier this season how if special teams wasn't fixed it would indeed cost us games down the stretch. It definitely made difference against the Seminoles back in September and the Cardinals last weekend. If Deshaun Watson was able to play, I'd feel a bit more comfortable but I think regardless of who the QB is Saturday, if the Tigers are going to win this game it'll be because of the play of the defense. I expect a low scoring game like last week against Louisville and think Stoudt and the offense does just enough to get the job done. Hopefully someone...ANYONE...will get the hot hand Saturday and get the running game going which will help us set up the big pass plays down field. Most importantly, Stoudt will have to take what the defense is giving him. It might not be the prettiest win ever but I think they grind it out in Alumni Stadium and get the win. If Stoudt plays like he did in the 1st half of the Georgia game, this could be a rout, if not...be prepared for a battle that isn't decided until the mid-to-late fourth quarter. I'm sure he is eager to come out and perform well after whats been an unfortunate first half of his senior season.

The Pick: Clemson

Other Picks: 

#15 Oklahoma State over #12 TCU 
#11 Oklahoma over #14 Kansas State 
Washington over #9 Oregon
South Carolina over Furman 
#4 Baylor over West Virginia 
Louisville over North Carolina State
Georgia Tech over North Carolina