WEST VIRGINIA (6-0) @ OKLAHOMA STATE by 4 (5-2); NOON ET; FOX
If this game were in Morgantown I’d go with the undefeated Mountaineers, but Stillwater has become a tough place to play and the Cowboys should be 6-1, but for officiating robbery in their loss to Central Michigan. WVU has also shown a propensity for too many sloppy penalties, which may be hard to overcome in this one. Both teams are beginning their conference gauntlet, which the Big 12 prides itself on. A sleeper to watch from a pro prospect point of view is Oklahoma State junior QB Mason Rudolph who has improved each season and I think is a legit Top 100 Pick if he comes out early. Rudolph also has an outstanding target in junior WR James Washington, while C Tyler Orlovsky may be the Mountaineers best pro prospect, although truth be told there really are not very many elite prospects in this one, but some solid potential draftees for day 3. Prospects to watch:
WEST VIRGINIA OKLAHOMA STATE
#7 RUSHEL SHELL/RB 5’10/215 #2 MASON RUDOLPH/QB 6’5/235 JR
#6 DAIKEL SHORTS/WR 6’1/205 #28 JAMES WASHINGTON/WR 6’0/205 JR
#65 TYER ORLOVSKY/OC 6’4/295 #47 BLAKE JARWIN/TE 6’5/248
#95 CHRISTIAN BROWN/DE 6’2/298 #90 MOTEKIAI MAILES/DT 6’3/315
#49 DARRIEN HOWARD/DT 6’1/297 #13 JORDAN STERNS/S 6’0/200
GEORGIA (4-3) @ FLORIDA by 3 (5-1); 3:30 PM ET: CBS
Let’s start by saying that this is not a neutral game site as the Gators could almost walk from Gainesville to Jacksonville. His initial season at Georgia is not going as well as KIRBY SMART had hoped, but the cupboard is not bare and his Frosh QB/JACOB EASON is improving every week. If EASON breaks out the Gators could be challenged. But then again, as usual, Florida has one of the best secondaries in college football, led by potential first rounder JALEN “TEEZ” TABOR. If EASON gets too aggressive, or wilts under pocket pressure, then the Gators secondary could pad their INT stats. Florida is still offensively challenged, which HC McELWAIN is working on. But the Gators D is one of the best in the SEC. And this season the Gators have a big time weapon in PK/EDDY PINEIRO, who is accurate and kicks them long. The GATORS will be without LB/JARROD DAVIS & DE/BRYAN COX, but all that does is diminish their depth, not their talent. Plus UGA will be without RB/NICK CHUBB barring a Lourdes healing miracle.
GEORGIA FLORIDA
#27 NICK CHUBB/RB 5’10/225 JR #30 DEANDRE GOOLSBY/TE 6’4.245 JR
#73 GREG PYKE/G/T 6’6/315 #91 JOEY IVIE/DT 6’3/295
#72 TYLER CATALINA/OT 6’5/305 #34 ALEX ANZALONE/OLB 6’3/245
#42 TIM KIMBROUGH/LB 6’0/226 #31 TEEZ TABOR/CB 6’0/191 JR
#20 QUINCY MAUGER/S 6’0/200 #20 MARCUS MAYE/S 6’0/207
WASHINGTON (7-0) by 4 @ UTAH (7-1); 3:30 PM ET; Fox Sports 1
It’s a pity that what could be the game of the year in the Pac-12 between unbeaten #4 Washington and #17 Utah is relegated to the depth of cable TV; trust us if this were USC or Stanford this game would be on national TV somewhere. And while its still fairly early to project very many games as “musts” for this year’s play-off aspirations, but that could be so in this one, especially in the case of surprisingly good UTAH. Despite a ton of graduation losses, the Utes have been beating people they weren’t expected to and now get a home field shot at the top PAC-12 team in the Huskies. Some of the best talent at both programs lies in their underclassmen ranks. RB/JOE WILLIAMS, who came out of self-imposed “retirement ” has run for 200+ yards in the past 2 games. If this thing stays tight I’d give a slight edge to Utah with their pro prospect PK ANDY PHILLIPS. The Huskies have a decided edge at QB, where Soph JAKE BROWNING looks like their best signal caller since a guy named JAKE LOCKER played on the Puget Sound. Both teams have explosive talent on offense, but they are also stalwart on D, which leaves the result here up in the air, IMO.
WASHINGTON UTAH
#15 DARRELL DANIELS/TE 6’4/240 #28 JOE WILLIAMS/RB 5’11/205
#11 ELIJAH QUALLS/DT 6’1/321 JR #52 SAM TEVI/OT 6’6/305
#5 JOE MATHIS/ER/LB 6’2/256 #49 HUNTER DIMICK/DE 6’3/275
#20 KEVIN KING/CB 6’3/190 #15 DOMINIC HATFIELD/CB 5’10/175
#32 BUDDA BAKER/FS 5’10/185 JR #20 MARCUS WILLIAMS/FS 6’1/195 JR
CLEMSON (7-0) by 2 @ FLORIDA STATE (5-2); 8 PM ET; ABC
Prior to the season this is one of those games that had game of the year written all over it, however, a couple of losses by the Seminoles have robbed it of much of its luster. Still, don’t sleep on this game, just because FSU has two losses. Clemson looks like it has been sleep walking through some of their games this season, and they may run out of luck sometime soon, especially on the road in Tallahassee. The Seminoles are a very young squad, just like Ohio State, but the talent is there just inexperienced, also like the Buckeyes. But some of their players are growing on a weekly basis. It will be interesting to see if Clemson tries to use LB/BEN BOULWARE to spy RB/DALVIN COOK. Much as I like BOULWARE that could be a big mismatch athletically. FSU redshirt freshman QB/DEONDRE FRANCOIS is just as good of an athlete as Clemson’s DESHAUN WATSON who will be looking for a big game to keep his Heisman hopes on the front burner. In the end this is one of the those games where one just forget the records and enjoy. If push comes to shove late I’ll take FSU’s kicking game with the second AGUAYO brother RICKY/#11. Prospects to watch:
CLEMSON FLORIDA STATE
#4 DESHAUN WATSON/QB 6’2/210 JR #4 DALVIN COOK/RB 5’11/206 JR
#7 MIKE WILLIAMS/WR 6’4/200 JR #15 TRAVIS RUDOLPH/WR 6’1/190 JR
#16 JORDAN LEGGETT/TE 6’5/255 #72 KAREEM ARE/OG 6’6/330
#94 CARLOS WATKINS/DT 6’3/300 #44 DeMARCUS WALKER/DE 6’3/275
#10 BEN BOULWARE/ILB 5’11/240 #27 MARQUEZ WHITE/CB 6’0/181
#25 CORDREA TANKERSLEY/CB 6’1/195 #3 BOBO WILSON/WR/RS 5’10/186
BONUS COVERAGE: For the record, this weekend looks to be another really great one for watching college football. How great? Well, we didn’t even include a couple of major league Big 10 games on the list of top games. At 7 PM ET on Saturday evening, for example, #7 ranked Nebraska plays at #11 Wisconsin, with the conference ‘s western division spot B10 title game very much on the line. That one is on ESPN. Meanwhile, at Noon ET, ESPN also has #2 Michigan playing cross-state rival Michigan State in a game that features a pair of potential top 5 picks for the upcoming draft in the Wolverines SS/OLB/KR Jabrill Peppers, arguably the best defensive player in the country, and maybe also the most versatile, along with MSU DT Malik McDowell. Indeed, McDowell should spend a good part of the afternoon squaring off with Michigan C Mason Cole in a head-to-head match-up that should be worth the price of admission all on its own.