Week 8 Previews
Top 25 vs. Top 25
No. 2 Florida State (6-0) vs. No. 5 Notre
Dame (6-0), 8pm ET, ABC/WatchESPN
Line: FSU -9, O/U: 57.5
This is a
season defining game for both teams and the loser is likely out of the playoff
hunt. FSU has had its share of off-field
distractions but week in and week out they seem to shut it out and win football
games. Jameis Winston and the FSU
offense will face plenty of pressure from the Notre Dame defense and the
Irish’s ability to get home will likely make the difference in the game. Winston has traditionally be good against the
blitz but their offensive line has under-performed this season.
For the
Irish, quarterback Everett Golson is the key.
He must play his best game of the season for Notre Dame to have a
chance. He’s turned the football over at
an alarming rate the past few weeks and is facing an FSU defense that has
started to force more turnovers in their last few games.
In the end,
I think FSU wins a close game on the arm of their Heisman winning quarterback,
Jameis Winston.
Jeremy-
Florida State 37, Notre Dame 31
Nick-Florida State 48, Notre Dame 31
No. 7 Alabama (5-1) vs. No. 21 Texas
A&M (5-2), 3:30pm ET, CBS
Line: BAMA -14, O/U: 63.5
Someone will
stop the slide this week. A&M has
lost two straight and the holes seem to be growing in what once looked like a
promising season. Alabama lost two weeks
ago to Ole Miss and the win against Arkansas last week felt like a loss. This is a winnable game for the Aggies. Nick Saban and the Alabama defense has
struggled against Kevin Sumlin the past two season and the way ‘Bama’s playing
it’s not crazy to think A&M can pull it out. This game will be a lot closer than the
14-point spread and you could see eye-popping scoring numbers.
Jeremy-
Alabama 41, TA&M 37
Nick-Alabama
48, Texas A&M 42
No. 11 Oklahoma (5-1) vs. No. 14 Kansas
State (4-1), 12pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN
Line: OU -7, O/U: 55
High-stakes
in the Big12 here as the winner stays alive in the conference and the loser is
likely out. Oklahoma has been outplayed
the last two weeks (lost to TCU and was outplayed in a win over Texas) and
quarterback Trevor Knight has been pretty shaky. Kansas State is coming off a bye week and
will give OU a run. If this game was in
Manhattan, KSU is the pick. It’s in
Norman and Bob Stoops doesn’t lose at home.
Jeremy-
Oklahoma 24, Kansas State 21
Nick-Oklahoma
30, Kansas State 31
No. 12 TCU (4-1) vs. No 15 Oklahoma State
(5-1), 4pm ET, FOX Sports 1
Line: TCU -10, O/U: 62
Another
great game from the Big 12 this weekend.
TCU had Baylor beat last week, but unraveled in the final 10 minutes and
lost a heartbreaker. This team is
extremely dangerous averaging 45.8 points per game on offense and last week
aside have been really solid defensively.
OK State has been a bit Jekyll and Hyde, nearly knocking off FSU in week
one but has struggled against the bottom three teams of the Big 12 the past
three games. Despite the heartbreaking
loss last week, I think TCU comes out firing and smokes the Pokes.
Jeremy- TCU 38, Oklahoma State 20
Nick-TCU 45, Oklahoma State 34
No. 17 Arizona State (4-1) vs. No. 23
Stanford (4-2), 10:30pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN
Line: STAN -4, O/U: 53
It’s not
always pretty for Stanford but they’ve got ASU’s number, whether they’re home
or in the desert. Stanford has the best
defense in the nation and the offense is coming off its best performance of the
season. ASU has the 92nd
ranked scoring defense (31.4ppg) and Kevin Hogan and the Cardinal go in and get
it done.
Jeremy- Stanford 30, ASU 20
Nick-
Stanford 24, Arizona State 21
Upset Alert
No. 9 Oregon (5-1) vs. Washington (5-1),
8pm ET, FOX Sports 1
Line: UO -21, O/U: 65
Oregon has
won the last 10 games in this series and in the six games they’ve won at home,
their average margin of victory over UW is 28.5 points. Couple that with the fact that they’re coming
off a decisive win over UCLA and things look bleak for the Huskies on
Saturday. That said, Oregon’s offensive
line is still unsettled and Washington has one of the best front-seven’s in the
country. I like this UW team and I’m
taking them in the upset.
Jeremy- Washington 27, Oregon 24
Nick-Washington 35, Oregon 33
No. 24 Clemson (4-2) @ Boston College (4-2),
3:30pm ET, ESPNU/WatchESPN
Line: CLEM -4.5, O/U: 44.5
Clemson is
coming off a physical, last second win over Louisville in which they lost their
starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson and travel to an equally physical opponent
in BC. I think the Tigers do just enough
to win but don’t be surprised if BC pulls off another ridiculous upset at home
(ask USC what it’s like to play there coming off an emotional win).
Jeremy- Clemson 27, Boston College 17
Nick- Clemson 45, BC 20
No. 4 Baylor (6-0) @ West Virginia (4-2),
12pm ET, FOX Sports 1
Line: BAY -8, O/U: 80.5
No one wants
to go to West Virginia and they especially don’t want to go on the heels of a
knockdown, drag out, last second win the week before. Will Baylor be able to put last week’s
emotional win the in the past or will it carry over and cost them in Morgantown
against a dangerous West Virginia team?
The Bears have been much less impressive on the road…
Jeremy- Baylor 41, WV 27
Nick-Baylor 70, West Virginia 56
Top 25
No. 1 Mississippi State (6-0), IDLE
Next game-
Sat, Oct. 25 @ Kentucky
No. 3 Ole Miss (6-0) vs. Tennessee (3-3),
7pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN
Line: MISS -17, O/U: 46.5
Tennessee is
a nice story and I keep waiting to Ole Miss to start acting like Ole Miss again
but I don’t think it will be this week.
The Rebel defense will be too much for a bad Tennessee offensive line. Look out Justin Worley, ish is about to get
real.
Jeremy- Ole Miss 35, Tennessee 17
Nick-Ole
Miss 31, Tennessee 17
No. 6 Auburn (5-1), IDLE
Next game-
Sat, Oct 25 vs. South Carolina
No. 8 Michigan State (5-1) @ Indiana (3-3),
3:30pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN
Line: MSU -17, O/U: 59.5
Indiana has
a nice offense but their defense might be the worst in college football. Michigan State has a solid defense and a
solid offense. Michigan State wins big.
Jeremy- Michigan State 45, Indiana 24
Nick-Michigan State 48, Indiana 21
No. 10 Georgia (5-1) @ Arkansas (3-3),
4pm ET, SEC Network/WatchESPN
Line: UGA -4, O/U: 54
A lot of people
are calling for an upset here but I’m not ready to go there yet. I think Georgia might be hitting their stride
and Arkansas just doesn’t have enough pieces to win this game yet.
Jeremy- Georgia 34, Arkansas 21
Nick-Georgia 31, Arkansas 24
No. 13 Ohio State (4-1) vs. Rutgers (5-1),
3:30pm ET, ABC/ESPN2
Line: OSU -22, 63
The Buckeyes
dropped off the college football radar after their loss to Virginia Tech but
have quietly beat their last three opponents by a combined score of
168-52. Rutgers is improved and they’ve
gotten solid play from quarterback, Gary Nova but I think Ohio State makes a
statement this week and reminds us all that they’re still a national power.
Jeremy- Ohio State 44, Rutgers 23
Nick-Ohio State 56, Rutgers 24
No. 16 Arizona (5-1), IDLE
Next game-
Sat, Oct 25 @ Washington State
No. 18 East Carolina (5-1), IDLE
Next game-
Thu, Oct 23 vs. UCONN
No. 19 Nebraska (5-1) @ Northwestern (3-3),
7:30pm ET, BTN
Line: NEB -7, O/U: 52
Both teams
are coming off losses and Northwestern seems woefully outmatched here. Ameer Abdullah and the Huskers should have no
problems running over the Wildcats… but then again it is Nebraska, so who
knows.
Jeremy- Nebraska 33, Northwestern 21
Nick-Nebraska
35, Northwestern 34
No. 20 Utah 29, Oregon State 23, 2OT
No. 22 USC (4-2) vs. Colorado (2-4),
6pm ET, Pac-12 Network
Line: USC -21, O/U: 62
USC is like
a box of chocolates. You never know what
you’re going to get. There’s nothing
about Colorado that says they should even have a prayer in this game, except
for the fact that they’re playing USC.
Well, SC is at home and I think they’ll take care of the Buffs.
Jeremy- USC 45, Colorado 14
Nick-USC 48, Colorado 20
No. 25 Marshall (6-0) @ FIU (3-4), 6pm
ET
Line: MARSH -23, O/U: 56.5
Rakeem Cato
and the Herd will do what they do against C-USA opponents- win 40-something to
20-something.
Jeremy- Marshall 47, FIU 17
Nick-Marshall 56, FIU 13
Best of the Rest
San Jose State (2-3) @ Wyoming (3-3),
4pm ET, ESPN3
Line: SJSU -1.5, O/U: 46.5
The battle
between to hopeful bowl teams. Wyoming
is coming off a tough loss at Hawaii last week and missing their starting
running back. San Jose is coming off a
win over conference foe, UNLV. The
Trojans have been dreadful at home so I’m banking on some high-altitude, home
magic for the Pokes.
Jeremy- Wyoming 23, SJSU 20
Nick-WYO 24, San Jose State 17
Kentucky (5-1) @ LSU (5-2), 7:30pm ET,
SEC Network/WatchESPN
Line: LSU -10, O/U: 53
This might
be one of the biggest head scratchers of the season and if LSU wasn’t at home,
I don’t see how they’d be favored by 10.
Kentucky has a real shot a win here.
They play solid defense and the offense has moved the football against
other SEC opponents. I like Kentucky
with a big upset here.
Jeremy- Kentucky 24, LSU 21
Nick-LSU 31,
Kentucky 30
Virginia (4-2) @ Duke (5-1), 12:30pm
ET, GamePlan/ESPN3
Line: Duke -3, O/U: 51
The winner
of the ACC Coastal might just be the team that wins this game. The Hoos play really solid defense but I’m
not sure they’ll have enough against a well-coached, sneaky-talented Duke
team. Duke wins, but its close.
Jeremy- Duke 27, UVA 23
Nick-Virginia 28, Duke 27
UCLA (4-2) @ Cal (4-2), 3:30pm ET,
ABC/ESPN2
Line: UCLA -6.5, O/U: 73.5
UCLA’s
season might just be determined against Cal this weekend. Do they pull themselves up by their
bootstraps or fall apart and give the season away. Cal’s capable of putting up big numbers and
if UCLA gets down early lookout.
Jeremy- UCLA
41, Cal 38
Nick-UCLA
56, Cal 53
Missouri (4-2) @ Florida (3-2), 7pm ET,
ESPN2/WatchESPN
Line: UF -5.5, O/U: 46.5
Florida’s
season and Will Muschamp’s job are pretty much on the line here. Missouri’s coming off a bad loss, at home to
Georgia, but it’s hard to see them playing that poorly two weeks in a row. That said, their last three games have been a
4-point loss to Indiana, a 1-point win at South Carolina and that blowout at
home against Georgia 34-0. Florida’s
been equally unimpressive but I expect them to rise up and defend the Swamp.
Jeremy- Florida 28, Missouri 20
Nick-Florida 24, Missouri 17
Utah State (4-2) @ Colorado State (5-1),
7pm ET, CBS Sports Network
Line: CUS -5.5, O/U: 54.5
This game
could go a long win in determining the Mountain division of the Mountain West
Conference. Utah State has played well
the last two weeks after losing Chuckie Keeton but CSU is a tough, well-coached
football team.
Jeremy- CSU 30,
USU 27
Nick-CSU 35, SUS 28
Kansas (2-4) @ Texas Tech (2-4), 3:30pm
ET
Line: TTU -13, O/U: 58.5
Hey,
someone’s getting a much needed Big 12 win.
Jeremy- TTU
34, Kansas 24
Nick-Texas Tech 48, Kansas 17
Players to Watch
Jameis Winston, QB, FSU
This is the
biggest game of the season for the ‘Noles and while they’ve faced good teams
already this season, this might be their biggest challenge to date. Winston will face pressure from a blitz-happy
Irish defense and he’ll need his line to be sharp and his young receivers to
get open. In the end, however, it will
again come down to Jameis blocking out the noise and playing at a high level.
Everett Golson, QB, ND
Like
Winston, Notre Dame’s success depends on Golson’s ability to make plays against
a underperforming be dangerous FSU defense.
Golson has turned the ball over nine times (4 INT’s and 5 fumbles) in
the last three games and that cannot happen on Saturday. Facing an athletic, but young FSU front
seven, Golson will likely have running lanes and it’s important he sets the
tone early, that he’ll get out of the pocket and make plays with his feet.
Shaq Thompson, LB/RB, UW
Shaq
Thompson might be Washington’s best offensive weapon. After all, he has scored four touchdowns this
season… on defense. The Washington front
seven will be key against a shaky Oregon offensive line and Thompson and Co.’s
ability to force turnovers will be the difference between a blowout loss or a
potential win. Don’t be surprised to see
the Jack-of-all-trades Thompson line up on offense as well. UW is going to need to reach deep into their
bag of tricks in Autzen.
Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford
Kevin Hogan
had his best game of the season last week against another poor Pac-12 defense
(WSU) and he’s going against another this week at ASU. The Sun Devil offense will score some points,
so Stanford is going to need Hogan and the offense to build on the momentum
they’ve built.
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