It is down to crunch time in college football and for those that don’t follow the sport all that closely, there are essentially just 7 teams across the country that control their own destinies as far as the national championship playoffs are concerned. They include Georgia and Alabama from the SEC, Ohio State and Michigan from the Big Ten, Oregon, Oklahoma and Cincinnati. In fact, barring a huge upset, Georgia is probably already in, while the others all have a shot if they can run their respective tables.
This weekend, two of those teams – Michigan and Oklahoma – will be tested as they play quality opponents on the road with their hopes very much on the line. Michigan, for example, will be at Penn State, while Oklahoma will be at #12 Baylor, which is still very alive in the Big XII conference race, although you’ll need to keep your clicker handy as both games have noon kick-offs. And just as an added bonus, the Michigan-Penn State duel should feature one of the weekend’s best individual head-to-head match-ups of top prospects for the 2022 draft. Here is a quick preview of the players to watch for the upcoming draft in this weekend’s big college games.
#6 MICHIGAN (8-1) at PENN STATE (6-3); Noon ET; ABC … There was a time earlier in the season that this game looked like it would be virtually a semi-final in what was looking like a 4-team Big Ten East race, but Penn State kind of dropped by the wayside after suffering three losses. However, this is still a good Penn State team which will be playing in front of a raucous, white-out crowd. And Michigan needs a win to set up a home showdown with Ohio State for the division title on November 27th to keep their CFP playoff hopes alive.
And draft watchers should get a bit of a treat in this one when Michigan’s star pass-rushing DEs Aidan Hutchinson (#97, 6-6, 270) and David Ojabo (#50, 6-5, 250) go up against Penn State LT Rasheed Walker (#53, 6-5, 325), one of the better tackles in the country. Hutchinson, in particular, is a top 5-10 candidate with the length, quickness and motor of an elite pass-rushing defensive end, while Ojabo, who isn’t as big or technically proficient as his more heralded teammate, but may actually be a better athlete, is a late riser who is just starting to get some late first-round interest of his own. For the record, in fact, Ojabo actually has one more sack this year than Hutchinson (8-7), but the latter clearly does attract considerably more attention from opposing defenses. Meanwhile, Walker is a solid all-around offensive lineman that is considered to be a mid-to-late second day prospect, although he’s not necessarily a great athlete and may end up playing more on the right side at the next level.
At least on paper, Penn State doesn’t appear to have the same talent level on the roster; however, the Lions do have a mid-first round prospect of their own in WR Jahan Dotson (#5, 5-10, 185), who isn’t all that big, but he is an explosive speedster who is on pace to catch close to 90 passes for over 1,200 yards this fall. At the same time, the Lions have a number of other solid second day types including safety Jaquan Brisker (#1, 6-0, 200), along with OLBs Brandon Smith (#12, 6-3, 245 and Arnold Ebiketie (#17, 6-3, 260) and CBs Joey Porter (#9, 6-1, 195) and Tariq Castro-Fields (#5, 6-0, 195). Meanwhile, other Wolverines to watch include safety Dax Hill (#30, 195) and MLB Josh Ross (#12, 6-2, 225), a rising star who just makes plays all over the field, along with veteran RB Hassan Haskins (#25, 6-0, 225), who combines with soph Blake Corum (#2, 5-8, 200) to give the Wolverines one of the best running games in the country.
#8 OKLAHOMA (9-0) at #13 BAYLOR (7-2); Noon ET; FOX … Given all the negativity around Oklahoma this fall, one would have thought the Sooners were 5-4 and struggling. However, while the style points haven’t always been there, Oklahoma is still unbeaten and very much in the CFP picture if they can run the table. They’ve also looked like a very different team since true freshman Caleb Williams (#13, 6-1, 220) replaced veteran Spencer Rattler (#7, 6-1, 200) during the dramatic comeback win over Texas last month. For the record, Williams has completed 72% of his pass attempts since taking (including over 75% in each of his three official starts) with 14 TD passes versus just 1 pick.
The fact that Rattler finds himself on the bench these days may be one of the biggest shocks in college football this fall, as he came into the season generally considered to be the top QB prospect for the 2022 draft with the potential to go first overall. However, while he did complete 75% of his pass attempts, he could never really get the O at OU rolling. And instead of the draft, Rattler is likely to bide his time on the Sooners’ bench the rest of the year and then bolt for the transfer portal as soon as it’s safe to get out of town.
With Rattler apparently off the board, the Sooners best pro prospects are a pair of defensive stars in DT Perrion Winfrey (#8, 6-4, 295) and LB Nik Bonitto (#11, 6-3, 240), both of whom are potential early second round prospects, while RB Kennedy Brooks (#26, 5-10, 215) has some later second-day prospects. Meanwhile, other Sooner veterans to watch include safety Pat Fields (#10, 6-0, 205), DE Isaiah Thomas (#95, 6-5, 265) and WR Michael Woods (#8, 6-0, 200).
Baylor has quietly been one of the best kept secrets in college football this fall as the Bears have gone from 2-7 to a very competitive 7-2 in just head coach Dave Aranda’s second season in Waco. And while the turnaround is not likely to be reflected early in the draft where it doesn’t appear that the Bears have any legit first or second day prospects, they do have a number of solid veterans that could get looks either in the later rounds or in free agency including RB Abram Smith (#7, 5-10, 225), who is currently 8th in the country in rushing yards per game, AP/KR Trestan Ebner (#1, 5-11, 215), big-play WR Tyquan Thornton (#9, 6-2, 185), rangy LT Connor Galvin (#76, 6-6, 310), DE Cole Maxwell (#98, 6-5, 295), LBs Terrel Bernard (#2, 6-1, 225) and Dillon Doyle (#44, 6-2, 245), CB Kalon Barnes (#12, 5-11, 190), and safeties Jalen Pitre (#8, 6-0, 200), Christian Morgan (#4, 6-0, 215) and JT Woods (#22, 6-1, 195).
Of course, once these games are in the books you’ll have almost a whole afternoon and evening to kill, so here are some other games that folks can, or should, check out:
- Wake Forest’s dreams of an unbeaten season and, just maybe, an improbable invite to the CFP playoffs, ended with last week’s loss at North Carolina; however, the Deacons are still very much alive in the division race and have a chance to take a big step toward the ACC championship game when the #12 Demon Deacons host #16 North Carolina State at 7:30 PM ET on the ACC Network. The reason to watch this game, though, at least from a draft perspective is to check out NC State LT Ikem Ekwonu (#79, 6-4, 320) arguably the fastest rising player at any position in the 2022 draft class at this time. Indeed, Ekwonu is starting to generate some top 10 interest, although the fact that he’s not that tall at under 6-4 might put some kind of ceiling on his grade.
- And speaking of noteworthy interior offensive linemen, nobody expects #1 ranked Georgia to have a whole lot of trouble when they play at Tennessee tomorrow afternoon in the CBS feature SEC game at 3:30 PM ET. However, we’d at least recommend checking in on Vols’ LG Cade Mays (#68, 6-4, 325), one of the better prospects at the position this year, especially when he goes head-to-head with monstrous UGA DT Jordan Davis (#99, 6-5, 340). In fact, we’ve heard from more than one NFL scout that Davis is their favorite prospect in this draft! Period! Have a great weekend!!
