This post is brought to you by the blog, Coming for Herbstreit’s Job. To view the original post, click here.
What’s good party people? Another weekend of college ball is upon us and I’m happy to provide my opinion. I was going to give it to someone anyway and I’m just happy it’s you. We got our first look at the playoff rankings on Tuesday and a lot of us raised an eyebrow when we saw Georgia sitting at number one ahead of Alabama. However, Georgia has that win at Notre Dame in their back pocket which is looking pretty sweet these days. Personally, I don’t think there’s a scenario that’s realistic where two teams from the same conference end up in the final four, but it will probably be the SEC if Georgia and Alabama can win out and then it’s Georgia who wins the SEC championship game. I know this looks bad and isn’t altogether fair, but you know you would take a one-loss Crimson Tide over anyone else in the country. I would literally take a one-loss Alabama in the playoff before my own mother. That doesn’t make a whole lot of common sense, but that’s how strongly I feel about this topic. But let me chill and deliver this heat like an electric blanket.
19 LSU at 2 Alabama
I don’t know if it gets any more classic than this. I can’t remember a time when this game was meaningless and this season is no exception. I hate to ask questions about mascots, but does anyone know what a Crimson Tide is or are we just giving Alabama the benefit of the doubt. No offense to the state of Alabama, but I don’t think the majority of the population is literate. With that said, I don’t think I can trust them to pick a mascot that exists. I guess that was kind offensive wasn’t it?
Alabama is coming into this game about how we thought they would. The Tide haven’t faced an opponent who has given them any trouble. Jalen Hurts has been an efficient leader under center and the run game is firing on all cylinders. The defense is also playing out of their minds. It’s almost sad how they just toy with their opponent. What they did to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss could be considered abuse most countries. I digress. If there’s a knock on Bama at this point, it’s that they haven’t played anyone too tough. We thought the Florida State win was going to be a resume builder in the beginning of the year, but the Noles can’t protect the password on their computers, let alone a quarterback. Too soon? For Alabama to win this game, they need to continue to play their brand of football. These games always tend to be low scoring so if the offense can generate 17-21 points, that should be enough to get the job done.
For LSU, it has been an interesting year. First Ed Orgeron was going to be fired, then they beat Florida and he’s not. It’s all just exhausting to keep up with. After a loss to Troy a few weeks ago, the Tigers seem to have finally found a rhythm. Quarterback, Danny Etling isn’t going to be Heisman guy, but he’s been a good solider expectations as of late. The senior has only thrown it to the other team once this year and is conducting a Tiger offense that put up 40 on Ole Miss last week (Does everybody beat up on Ole Miss or something?). The defense for LSU is not as dominant as we are accustomed to seeing (87th in the country in points allowed per game with 25) , but if there’s one game they’re going to get up for, it’s Nick Satan and Alabama. In order for LSU to escape the jaws of defeat in Tuscaloosa this week, Danny Etling needs to be efficient and not allow Alabama’s defense to score points. They also need to be able to create some kind of offensive output against the Tide to allow themselves to play the field position game. Lastly, the defense needs to step it up. If they can (somehow) stop the run, that will force Alabama’s offense out of their comfort zone and make things interesting.
All in all, this is going to be a fun game to watch. Both teams are, historically, the big dogs in the SEC. LSU is riding some momentum coming into this game, but Alabama has been riding momentum since last year. If you’re giving up 25 points a game against normal teams, then based on Newton’s Law and the average curve from the last exam, Alabama is primed to score a lot more than that. And Alabama gets them at the crib? It’s a wrap mane. Roll Tide.
13 Virginia Tech at 10 Miami
Another fun ACC matchup going down in Coral Gables. It’s nice to see both of these historic teams in the hunt. In terms of culture, these teams are nearly polar opposites. Virginia Tech has the lunch pale and seems to stick to that mentality. They want to play blue collar football. On the other hand, Miami has the big gold chain. They are the college football team from South Beach and they got the swag to go along with it.
Mark Richt has the nation believing that the “U” is back.The Canes are 7-0 and playing with a lot of confidence. They aren’t exactly blowing teams out, but they have solid wins against teams like Georgia Tech, Syracuse and at Florida State (again not a great team, but the first time in 7 years. Throw em a bone). Miami has been the epitome of sure and steady. 7 up and 7 down. The defense is giving up less than 20 points a game and the offense is doing what needs to be done each week to win. Malik Rosier has continued to lead the charge for the Hurricane offense and play mistake-free football in his first year as the starter (only 4 ints). Travis Homer has also played well at the running back position in place of the injured Mark Walton. Also worth noting, Homer is averaging 7 yards a carry when Miami is at the crib. For the Canes to keep this train rolling, they need to continue to not turn the ball over and take what the Virginia Tech defense gives them. If they can remain two dimensional in their offensive attack and make the Hokies settle for 3 on a few drives, the Canes will be rocking.
For Virginia Tech, the first year under, redshirt freshman quarterback, Josh Jackson has been encouraging, to say the least. Jackson has the Hokies off to a 7-1 start with their only loss coming from Clemson. The strength of Virginia Tech comes from their defense who is top 10 in the country in yards and points allowed per game. For the Hokies to come out of Coral Gables with a win, the defense will need to continue their dominance. If they can make Malik Rosier uncomfortable early and finish drives with touchdowns, it’ll be a good time when they get back to Blacksburg.
I have gone back and forth on this one quite a bit. I love Miami and I think Mark Richt has the program headed towards something great in the years to come. With that said, Virginia Tech has the better defense and will be Miami’s toughest test to date. I want to pick the Hurricanes, but the ball don’t lie son. Hokies win. 305 to my city.
5 Oklahoma at 11 Oklahoma State
College GameDay will be live and in color from Bedlam. I did some research on what Bedlam actually means and I got two definitions. The first said, “a scene of uproar and confusion.” The second said, “an institution for the mentally ill.” So take that one and run with it.
Oklahoma has had a weird year thus far. They beat Ohio State in Columbus and then went and lost to Iowa State at home. Plot twist, Iowa State is good. Anyway, I still can’t get a clear read on who Oklahoma is. Baker Mayfield, in my opinion, is the best quarterback in the land. Their defense hasn’t been outstanding, but they continue to find a way to win. For the Sooners to keep their playoff hopes alive, Baker needs to bring his A game. When he’s on, nobody can touch him and the entire team feeds off of his energy. When he’s talking mess and playing chippy, Oklahoma is at their most dangerous.
For Oklahoma State, the show goes on. With the exception of a loss to TCU, the Cowboys have been unstoppable. They snagged a quality win on the road last week against West Virginia, in a game they were forced to play all four quarters, and get to go back home this week for the most important game of their season. Mason Rudolph has been a straight dawg leading the nation’s most efficient offense. Wideout, James Washington has been his favorite target and for good reason. Homeboy already has 8 touchdowns and over 1000 yards on the year. What is, perhaps, more impressive is the effort the Pokes have gotten from their defense. Sure, they aren’t statistically dazzling, but in terms of coming up clutch, they have answered the call to action on multiple occasions. For the Cowboys to win in this institution for the mentally ill, the defense needs to continue to make plays. Baker Mayfield is fun to watch because he will ad-lib and trust his guys to make plays for him, but that style of play can itself to turnovers. The burden will fall on Oklahoma State to capitalize on any opportunity they can get to steal a possession when Baker gets risky.
Bottom line, this is another playoff elimination game. I believe these are the two best teams in the BIG 12 and we could, potentially, see this matchup again in the conference title game. The fact that this game is in Stillwater is a huge deal. Not that Oklahoma doesn’t play well on the road, but Oklahoma State fans are crazy. OU has won 4 out of the last 5 in this rivalry, but I think Oklahoma State’s playmaking defense and efficient offense will get the job done on Saturday.
While major moves are made weekly on the website, we’ve been trying to make some moves off the website as well. To give the people a little update, Wings Over Ithaca has agreed to a partnership until the end of the calendar year so huge shoutout to Wings Over. Even if they weren’t doing this trial partnership with us, I would still highly recommend pairing them with your college football Saturday. I like to go with the honey barbecue and the buffalo with a 2 out 5 on the hot scale. Not because I’m soft, but I value flavor more than heat (not referring to the heat from this website). We are also putting out some shirts for the boys and girls just in time for the holiday season. They make great stocking stuffer and/or anniversary gift so HMU for those. I guess you could say things are looking up here at CFHJ. We got wings and fly swag. With that said, there’s no time to be complacent. Kirk still has his job and it needs to be taken from him. There’s a lot of great action this weekend and it’s getting to that point in the year where we’re playing for keeps. Regardless of what these “experts” tell you, absolutely anything can happen. Have a great day kids, now go outside and play.
Quick Pix
Penn State over Michigan State (Saquon gets back on track)
USC over Arizona (Sammy Darnold only throws one int)
Clemson over NC State (Fakes get exposed? Eyes emoji)
Stanford over Washington State (Feel the Love)
“Thanks for recruiting me here. I love this place.” – Nick Null
Follow @CFHJ on Twitter for more college football updates.
