College Football Week 4

September 22, 2016

Saturday Sept 24 NOON ESPN
GEORGIA @ OLE MISS by 5
I truly believe that Ole Miss is the better overall team in this one, but I do have concerns about whether they can bounce back again from a loss to a Top 10 team with a superior effort. They may have too many injuries already to compete against top teams every week that their SEC schedule requires. Ole Miss will also be pitted against one of the top frosh QB in the country in JACOB EASON. But I do think QB/CHAD KELLY has the moxie to raise his team up again. The Rebels have to find some sort of running game to balance out their offense, while the D has got to contain the UGA running attack featuring CHUBB/MICHEL. I’ll take Ole Miss to bounce back again, but will not be shocked at all if the Bulldogs win on the road. Prospects to watch:

GEORGIA                                                                          MISSISSIPPI

#27 NICK CHUBB/RB 5’10/225 JR                                  #1 TONY BRIDGES/CB 6’0/185
#81 REGGIE DAVIS/WR 6’0/170                                   #10 CHAD KELLY/QB 6’2/215
#42 TIM KIMBROUGH/LB 6’0.226                               #12 TONY CONNER/S 6’0/215
#17 EVAN ENGRAM/TE 6’3/235                                    #20 QUINCY MAUGER/S 6’0/200
#93 D.J. JONES/DT 6’0/324                                            #73 GREG PYKE/OT 6’6/313

Saturday Sept 24 3:30 CBS
FLORIDA @ TENNESSEE by 3
I wanna pick Florida in this contest to make it 12 straight versus the Vols, but the Gators will using back-up QB/AUSTIN APPLEBY to steer an already mediocre Offense. However, the Gators’ D is tough as usual and TENNESSEE has looked downright anemic at times on offense. This could be a snoozer for those who like scoring; indeed, the best pro prospects on both side of the ball – CB Teez Tabor for the Gators and UT DE Derek Barnett, a couple of juniors with 1st round talent for 2017 – play defense. The VOLS, though, have enough talent to post some points, at least on paper. But they have looked like a team stuck in the mud so far this September. Logic says UT QB/JOSHUA DOBBS will lead the O out of their doldrums sometime soon. It had better be this weekend or they may get shut out by the Gators D. Prospects to watch:

FLORIDA                                                                          TENNESSEE

#34 ALEX ANZALONE/LB 6’3/244                                #11 JOSHUA DOBBS/QB 6’3/207
#94 BRYAN COX/DE 6’3/268                                            #1 JALEN HURD/RB 6’2/240 JR
#40 JARRAD DAVIS/LB 6’2/240                                    #21 JALEN REEVES-MAYBIN/LB 6’0/225
#91 JOEY IVIE/DT 6’3/295                                                #9  DEREK BARNETT/DE/6-3/260/JR
#20 MARCUS MAYE/S 6’0/207                                       #50 COREY VEREEN/DE 6’2/249
#31 TEEZ TABOR/CB/6-0/200/JR

Saturday Sept 24 8PM/ET ABC
STANFORD @ UCLA by 5
Okay, so its still September, but this game has all the earmarks of a preview of the conference championship game in December. This is especially a big chance for the Bruins to demonstrate that they are not just paper tigers in a “soft” PAC-12. STANFORD is by far the most physical team in the conference. And the Cardinal gets just enough Offense to win so far, led by all-purpose O weapon CHRIS McCAFFREY, who is a threat to break things open every time he touches the ball. Opposing defenses have been keying on McCAFFREY and his numbers so far are modest, at least by his lofty Heisman type standards, but most college football watchers feel a breakout performance is eminent. BRUINS QB/JOSH ROSEN is off to a mediocre start after his outstanding frosh season in 2015. But part of his issues can be traced to an almost completely overhauled group of skill position players to work with. He too, should get better as the season goes on. My thinking here is that when you combine home field advantage with better overall team speed UCLA may be able to outscore Stanford by game end. Prospects to watch:

STANFORD                                                                           UCLA
#67 JOHNNY CASPERS/OG 6’4/296                                   #3 RANDALL GOFORTH/S 5’10/190
#10 ZACH HOFFPAUIR/FS 6’0/197                                   #68 CONOR McDERMOTT/OT 6’9/310
#99 LUKE KAUMATULE/DE 6’7/295                                #10 FABIAN MOREAU/CB 6’0/200
#29 DALLAS LLOYD/SS 6’2/213                                         #32 NATE IESE/TE 6’3/250
#5 CHRIS McCAFFREY/RB/RS 6’0/202 JR                     #47 EDDIE VANDERDOES/DT 6’3/305 JR
#3 MICHAEL RECTOR/WR 6’1/185

Saturday Sept 24 Arlington, TX 9PM ESPN
ARKANSAS by 5 @ TEXAS A&M
I am of the belief that the Aggies may regret giving up a home game to play in Jerry’s World. In the meantime the Razorbacks look to be coming around overall as new QB/AUSTIN ALLEN gets more comfortable. Hogs’ head guy BRET BIELEMA may be the “mouth that roared” but he also knows fundamental football and how to coach it. The key matchup here is likely to be the Arkansas OL trying to protect ALLEN from the fearsome pass rush of DEs MYLES GARRETT and DAESHON HALL at the DE slots. Indeed, from a pure draft perspective, watching Garrett, arguably the top prospect overall for the 2017 draft, and Hall go against massive 6-10 Hogs’ RT DAN SKIPPER may be the best one-on-one watching of the weekend. Also keep an eye on A&M FS Justin Evans who is one of the hot draft commodities around these days. Indeed, lots of talent and teams that can both put up points in bunches should make for an exciting time under the Big Top.

ARKANSAS                                                                         TEXAS A&M
#51 BROOKS ELLIS/LB 6’2/248                                          #14 JUSTIN EVANS/FS 6’1/195
#4 KEON HATCHER/WR 6’2/218                                       #15 MYLES GARRETT/DE 6’5/262 JR
#80 DREW MORGAN/WR 6’0/195                                     #10 DAESHON HALL/DE 6’6/260
#70 DAN SKIPPER/OT 6’10/326                                         #65 AVERY GENNESY/OT 6’5/310
#83 JEREMY SPRINKLE/TE 6’6/255                                 #11 JOSH REYNOLDS/WR 6’4/190
#48 DIETRICH WISE/DE 6’5/280                                      #33 SHAAN WASHINGTON/LB 6’3/235

Enjoy the action folks and be sure to check the entire weekend’s slate of games. This is an upside weekend for quality game action.

Pigskin