Thursday, September 29, 2016

What to Watch in Week 5 of College Football

Thursday Night

UCONN @ #6 Houston- 8:00 ESPN
Kansas @ Texas Tech- 8:30 FS1

The week in college football starts off on Thursday Night as Houston tries to revenge its only loss from last season when they play UCONN.  Houston is clearly the superior team, but UCONN beat Virginia earlier in the season.  Kansas tries to win its first conference game in almost two seasons as they take on Texas Tech.  Tech plays shootouts, so look for a lot of points to be scored in this one.

Friday Night

#7 Stanford @ #10 Washington- 9:00 ESPN

Arguable the best Friday Night game of the season takes place this week when Stanford heads up the Pacific coast to Washington.  Both teams eked out victories over PAC-12 opponents last week, with Stanford scoring with under a minute left to beat UCLA and Washington needing overtime to beat Arizona.  The winner of this one is the clear favorite to win the PAC-12 and will be a playoff contender. 

Saturday Day

#22 Texas @ Oklahoma State- 12:00 ABC
#14 Miami @ Georgia Tech- 12:00ESPN2
Notre Dame VS Syracuse (East Rutherford, NJ)- 12:00 ESPN

With the rest of the Big 12 struggling, Texas and Oklahoma State are dark horse candidates to win the conference.  Oklahoma State lost last week to Baylor, and another loss may knock them out of contention, while Texas’ opening weekend win over Notre Dame is losing its shine.  Elsewhere, Miami take on Georgia Tech.  Miami is a favorite to win the ACC coastal, and faces their first conference opponent in Georgia Tech.  The Yellow Jackets are looking to bounce back after getting dominated by Clemson last weekend.  Notre Dame needs a victory over Syracuse this weekend in Metliffe Stadium to avoid their season turning into a disaster.  The Irish have already fired their Defensive Coordinator during their 1-3 start.

Saturday Afternoon

#8 Wisconsin @ #4 Michigan- 3:30 ABC
#11 Tennessee @ #25 Georgia- 3:30 CBS
#23 North Carolina @ #12 Florida State- 3:30 ESPN
Oklahoma @ #21 TCU- FOX

Wisconsin continues their tough stretch of games when they head to Ann Arbor.  Michigan has yet to be challenged in a game this season, while Wisconsin blew out Michigan State last weekend.  The winner of this one becomes the favorite to make the playoff out of the Big 10.  In the SEC Tennessee tries to build off of last week’s win over Florida as they take on Georgia.  Georgia got blown out last week by Ole Miss, but Tennessee was down 21-0 at one point.  Georgia has the talent to put a scare into the Volunteers, but need to play their best game of the season so far.  UNC had a miraculous win over Pitt in which they converter 3 fourth downs on their last drive and scored the game winning touchdown with 1 second left.  They take on FSU who finally got Dalvin Cook going last week when the Seminoles beat USF.  If Cook is able to run like that this week, FSU should have no problem. However, if Cook is slowed, the Tar Heels could pull off the upset.  In a late afternoon start, the two preseason favorites out of the Big 12 face off after both had disappointing non-conference losses.  The Sooners are already pretty eliminated from the playoff, but if they play up to their potential, they can easily win the conference.  TCU played 3 bad quarters against Arkansas, but almost came back to win.  They can jumpstart their season with a victory.

Saturday Night

#18 Utah @ California- 6:00 PAC12 Network
Memphis @ #16 Ole Miss- 7:00 ESPN2 SEC Network Plus (TBA on Friday)
#3 Louisville @ #5 Clemson- 8:00 ABC

Utah has survived some close game this years as it has stayed undefeated.  They take on a tough Cal team, that can light up the scoreboard.  This game will be a challenge to Utah’s offense as they will need to keep pace with Cal.  Cal could pull the upset, but Utah will be the toughest team they have played yet. In Oxford, Ole Miss takes on Memphis.  Memphis upset the Rebels last season, and are undefeated this season.  Ole Miss struggled in the second half against Alabama, and Florida State, as they could not run the ball.  If they can’t run on Saturday, Memphis may pull off the upset.  In the ABC nightcap, two top 5 ACC teams square off.  Louisville dominated Florida State two weeks ago, winning by 52.  Clemson’s offense has struggled so far, but its defense has been excellent, including holding Georgia Tech to under 25 yards of offense in the first half this week.  This will most likely be the best defense Lamar Jackson will face all year.  The winner of this one will could be the #1 team in the land on Sunday. 

Saturday Late Night

Oregon @ Washington State- 9:30 PAC12
Arizona @ UCLA- 10:30 ESPN


2 PAC12 games cap off the weekend in college football.  Oregon and Washington State are both struggling out of the gate this year.  Both of these teams were dark horses to win the PAC 12 North when the season began.  Now the loser may struggle to reach bowl eligibility.  In Los Angeles, Arizona faces off against UCLA.  Both of these teams lost heartbreakers to top ten teams last weekend.  However, both need to bounce back quickly in order to take control of the PAC 12 South. 

No comments:

Post a Comment