Uncle Colin is previewing the Iron Bowl or you this week so let’s take a look at some other games of major interest to Pigskin Paul and hopefully you as well.
FRIDAY NOV. 24 3:30/ET ABC
SOUTH FLORIDA (9-1) @ CENTRAL FLORIDA (10-0) by 9
For those of you still wondering what’s wrong with perennial powers FSU & FLORIDA this football season it is time to shift your attention to a couple of non-power five teams from the AAC that are facing a showdown today. This series is not far from developing into quite the highway rivalry in football. We are talking about campuses just a bit over 100 miles apart. SCOTT FROST, has taken over the UCF program and created a monster contender in only 2 seasons on the job. I’ll put my money on the Knights in this one which features two of the most dynamic QB in the country; QUINTON FLOWERS/USF #3 and McKENZIE MILTON/UCF #10. They can both win with their arms and/or legs. USF has some serious senior NFL talent. UCF is one of the youngest successful teams in the nation. Eat some left over turkey and dressing and enjoy!
USF prospects: #9 QUINTON FLOWERS/QB; #13 DARIUS TICE/RB; #11 MARQUEZ VALDES-SCANTLING/WR; #10 DEADRIN SENAT/DT; #43 AUGIE SANCHEZ/IB; #3 DEATRICK NICHOLS/CB.
UCF prospects: #88 JORDAN AKINS/TE/JR; #66 AARON EVANS/OT; #5 JAMIYUS PITTMAN/DL.
SATURDAY NOV. 25 NOON/ET FOX
OHIO STATE (9-2) by 8 @ MICHIGAN (8-3)
This game is a big deal, especially for Buckeye Boosters who still see their team headed to the Big Ten Championship game and posting a W over Wisconsin to head to the Final Four. Not so fast my friends. HARBAUGH and his Wolverines have some other thoughts. A big win at home for the Wolverines would save their season and position the very young team to go into 2018 as a conference title favorite. Even though the Buckeyes have a solid Defense the real key matchup here is whether or not JT Barrett/QB can lead the Buckeye Offense to points against the young, talented Michigan D. I’ll take OSU, but would not be shocked if Michigan pulls an upset special.
Ohio State prospects: #16 J.T. BARRETT/QB; #85 MARCUS BAUGH/TE; #54 BILLY PRICE/OC; #74 JAMARCO JONES/OT; #6 SAM HUBBARD/DE/JR; #59 TYQUAN LEWIS/DE; #35 CHRIS WORLEY/IB; #33 DANTE BOOKER/OB; #12 DENZEL WARD/CB/JR; #7 DAMON WEBB/S.
Michigan prospects: #32 TY ISAAC/RB/?; #52 MASON COLE/OT; #57 PATRICK KUGLER/OC; #73 MAURICE HURST/DT; #9 MIKE McCRAY/OB.
SATURDAY NOV. 25. 7:30ET ESPN
CLEMSON (10-1) by 7 @ SOUTH CAROLINA (8-3)
What many of us thought would be a sorry mismatch to end the season has now become a referendum on exactly how good Clemson is. There is considerable talk that Gamecocks HC WILL MUSCHAMP deserves SEC Coach of the Year for the job he has done in only his second season at the helm in South Carolina. I expect Williams-Brice Stadium to be rocking for this intra-state rivalry that means a lot to both teams. Clemson’s season will be a failure if they do not win this game to continue the hunt for a Final Four berth… again. You’re gonna see a lot of D in this one, but both teams have big play potential on Offense.
Clemson prospects: #8 DEON CAIN/WR/JR; #55 TYRONE CROWDER/OG; #75 MITCH HYATT/OT; #99 CLELIN FERRELL/DE/RSo; #42 CHRITIAN WILKINS/DT/JR; #91 AUSTIN BRYANT/DE/JR; #34 KENDALL JOSEPH/IB; #6 DORIAN O’DANIEL/OB.
South Carolina prospects: #1 DEEBO SAMUEL/WR/JR; #81 HAYDEN HURST/TE/JR; #93 BULRIC JONES/DT; #90 TAYLOR STALLWORTH/DT; #10 SKAI MOORE/OB; #7 JAMARCUS KING/CB; D.J. SMITH/S.
SATURDAY NOV. 25 8PM/ET ABC
NOTRE DAME (9-2) by 3 @ STANFORD (8-3)
STANFORD has had an uneven season again in 2017, but still manages to be highly respected based on steadiness of the program under HC DAVID SHAW. They feature another Heisman contending RB in BRYCE LOVE. But most importantly they seem to uncovered their QB of the foreseeable future in Redshirt Frosh #3 KJ COSTELLO. 2017 has been a big bounce back year for Notre Dame. The team is young and talented. Another win here, and given their excellent strength of schedule, would put Brian Kelly into a solid recruiting mode for a Top 10 freshman class in 2018. A great matchup for you to watch in this game is whether the left side of the UND OL (McGlinchey/Nelson) and open holes in that solid Cardinal D and allow RB/JOSH ALLEN to keep pace with LOVE and the Stanford running game. Don’t expect a lot of high powered offense and scoring in this one. I’ll pull out an old cliche’ and state that the team that wins the takeaway/turnover battle will win a tight game. Surprise, I am going with the Fighting Irish by a field goal.
Notre Dame prospects: #33 JOSH ADAMS/RB/JR; #6 EQUANIMEOUS ST BROWN/WR/JR; #80 DURHAM SMYTHE/TE; #56 QUENTON NELSON/OG/RJr; #68 MIKE McGLINCHEY/OT; #5 NYLES MORGAN/IB; #23 DRUE TRANQUILL/OB/JR.
Stanford prospects: #20 BRYCE LOVE/RB/JR; #64 DAVID BRIGHT/OT/RsJR; #66 HARRISON PHILLIPS/DT/JR; #80 ERIC COTTON/DE; #34 PETER KALAMBAYI; #44 KEVON PALMA/IB; #24 QUENTON MEEKS/CB/JR; #8 JUSTIN REID/FS/JR.
Enjoy the last full weekend of the 2017 College Football season. Wow, where did that season go?
