Saturday kicks off with an interesting ACC game involving 6th ranked Miami (6-0) playing at Louisville (4-2) on ABC at Noon ET. Miami, of course, is led by QB Cam Ward, the nation’s leading passer who appears to be gaining favor among pro scouts with his unique combination of arm talent and athleticism. For the record, to date this fall Ward is completing 69% of his passes for close to 400 yards per game with 20 TD passes, but also 5 picks. Ward heads a decent offensive supporting cast that also includes bruising RB Damien Martinez (#6, 6-0, 235), tricky WR Xavier Restrepo (#7, 5-10, 200), TE Elijah Arroyo (#8, 6-4, 245), and OT Jalen Rivers (#64, 6-5, 330), while DE Tyler Baron (#9, 6-5, 260) and LB Kiko Mauiago (#1, 6-2, 230) anchor the Canes’ defence. For its part, Louisville also features an interesting DE prospect in Ashton Gillotte (#9, 6-3, 275), although his production is off so far this year with just a couple of sacks. Same story for CB Quincy Riley (#3, 6-0, 195) who led the conference with 3 picks and 12 PBUs last fall, but has barely played so far this year because of a nagging foot injury.
Meanwhile, the other game to watch this weekend is Colorado at Arizona at 4 PM ET on FOX. Buffs’ QB Shedeur Sanders hasn’t had quite the national scrutiny this year as last but has just kept on trucking. Indeed, one could make the case that if the upcoming draft were held next week, which QB would be taken first could very well come down to Sanders or Miami’s Ward. The other potentially fascinating aspect of this game involves Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter (#12, 6-0, 185), arguably the best player in college football who was forced to leave last week’s game with a shoulder injury, but will play, will be going against star Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan (#4, 6-4, 215) when he’s on defence and CB Tacario Davis (#1, 6-3, 190) when he’s catching passes. Both are considered to be potential first-round picks this coming April. FOX also has a game at Noon ET with surprising Indiana (6-0), which is ranked for what feels like the first time literally in decades, hosting 5-1 Nebraska, yet another resurgent program in a game that features Hoosiers’ QB Kurtis Rourke who leads the country in passing efficiency including a 74% completion mark and a 14:2 TD-to-INT ratio.
