Week 4 of college football is in the books, and there were some amazing games! I went to the Tulsa-New Mexico game on Saturday. I moved to Tulsa earlier this year from Albuquerque. I became a fan of the Lobos over the years I was there, and went to quite a few of their games. I've hated the Tulsa football team ever since they beat Iowa in 1996, I know it was 21 years ago, but I'm still not over it. So, I was glad to be there rooting for New Mexico! The Lobos outplayed the Golden Hurricane (which might be the dumbest name in all of sports), but they struggled to put points on the board. They were down to their third string QB, he ran for 150 yards, but made some costly mistakes at the wrong times. New Mexico ended up hitting a 53-yard field goal at the last second to win the game! Very cool ending!
The only other game I watched Saturday was Iowa vs Penn State. I was a little nervous for the game, I was really hoping Iowa wouldn't get blown out like they did last year against the Nittany Kittens. What a game! Penn State seemed to be in control most of the time, but Iowa never gave up and eventually took a 7-5 lead into halftime. Iowa's offense got going a little bit in the second half and they took the lead 19-15 with 1:42 left, unfortunately, that was plenty of time for Penn State to march down the field. The game ended on a last second touchdown pass on 4th and goal from the seven. It was pretty heart-breaking, but it was one of the best, hard-fought, football games I have ever seen. Iowa gained a lot of respect that night, it felt like the entire country was rooting for them. I'll never pick against Iowa when they have a night home game, what a crazy atmosphere.
Here's my Top 25 for the week
1-Clemson 4-0
2-Alabama 4-0
3-Oklahoma 4-0
4-Georgia 4-0
5-TCU 4-0
6-Michigan 4-0
7-Penn State 4-0
8-USC 4-0
9-Washington 4-0
10-Virginia Tech 4-0
11-Wisconsin 4-0
12-Auburn 3-1
13-Ohio State 3-1
14-Miami 2-0
15-Washington State 4-0
16-USF 4-0
17-San Diego State 4-0
18-Utah 4-0
19-Oklahoma State 3-1
20-Notre Dame 3-1
21-Mississippi State 3-1
22-Louisville 3-1
23-West Virginia 3-1
24-Florida 2-1
25-LSU 3-1
Predictions for this week
I was 8-2 last week, not bad.
Clemson at Virginia Tech: Clemson is looking really sharp right now, Va Tech looks better than they've looked in years, but I don't know if they can hang with Clemson.
Clemson 27 Virginia Tech 17
Miami at Duke: Miami hasn't played much this year and they travel to undefeated Duke, who has looked better than I expected this year.
Miami 31 Duke 21
Memphis at UCF: I really like both of these teams, the AAC has a few really solid teams at the top of their conference. This could be a shoot out, Memphis has a solid QB.
UCF 38 Memphis 35
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech: Texas Tech is playing really well right now, but their schedule is about to get much tougher. Oklahoma State is coming off a tough home loss to TCU.
Oklahoma State 58 Texas Tech 49
Texas at Iowa State: Texas came in to the season overhyped as usual and lost right away. Iowa State is very close to being 3-0 after a tough overtime loss to Iowa. The Cyclones offense looks sharp, but can their defense keep them in any games in conference?
Iowa State 34 Texas 31
Iowa at Michigan State: How will Iowa respond after the Penn State game? Michigan State is coming off of their first loss of the season against Notre Dame, and they've struggled with holding on to the football. Turnovers could be the difference in this one.
Iowa 27 Michigan State 24
Air Force at New Mexico: Air Force has played tough in their two losses to Michigan and San Diego State. The Lobos bring an identical record 0-1 2-2 into this game. If Gerhart can avoid costly mistakes, the Lobos can win.
New Mexico 27 Air Force 23
USC at Washington State: Two of the 24 undefeated teams remaining go head-to-head, as well as two of the top QBs in the nation, Sam Darnold of USC and Luke Falk of Washington State. This should be a good matchup, USC has had some close calls this year.
USC 34 Washington State 28
Georgia at Tennessee: If not for a miracle hail mary by Florida, both of these teams would be undefeated. Georgia crushed Mississippi State a week ago and they're off to a great start.
Georgia 27 Tennessee 21
Mississippi State at Auburn: Mississippi State flew up the rankings after dropping LSU, but last week got whooped by Georgia. Auburn looks really good, with their only loss coming to Clemson.
Auburn 27 Mississippi State 10
Heisman Watch
I think after watching Saquon Barkley put up over 300 all-purpose yards against Iowa, he's my Heisman leader at this point, but will he be able to carry the work load all season? They still have to play Michigan and Ohio State, too.
1-Saquon Barkley Jr Penn State
Last week at Iowa - Rush: 211-1 Rec: 12-94
Season - Rush: 518-4 7.8 Rec: 23-335-2
2-Baker Mayfield Sr Oklahoma
Last week at Baylor - Pass: 283-3-0 Rush: 30-0
Season - Pass: 1,329-13-0 Rush 17-0
3-Lamar Jackson Jr Louisville
Last week vs Kent State - Pass: 299-2-2 Rush: 34-1
Season - Pass: 1,387-10-3 Rush: 337-4
Others to Watch
QB
Sam Darnold USC, Mason Rudolph Oklahoma State, Nic Shimonek Texas Tech, Luke Falk Washington State, Josh Rosen UCLA, J.T. Barrett Ohio State
RB
Rashaad Penny San Diego State, Bryce Love Stanford
WR
Cam Phillips Virginia Tech, James Washington Oklahoma State
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
College Football Week 3
I haven't had much time to blog about college football the last couple of years, and won't be able to put out my own top 25 for the week. The Iowa Hawkeyes are off to a 3-0 start, they've been kind of sluggish in each of the games at times, but they've found a way to win all of them. The big test is this week against #5 Penn State, who rolled all over them last year. Iowa has gotten some solid play from their new QB, Nate Stanley, and RB Akrum Wadley has been amazing as expected. The WR group looks better than last years squad and will only get better. The OL has provided pretty solid pass protection thus far, but now conference play begins, can they hold up? The defense really struggled against Iowa State, after a brilliant performance against Wyoming in the opening game, which I got to attend! The first half against North Texas, the defense looked uninspired as well, but they shut them out in the second half.
Here are the top games of the week and my predictions.
Penn State at Iowa: This is one is really hard to predict. I thought Michigan was going to crush Iowa last year, but the Hawkeyes played their best game of the year and ended the Wolverines' undefeated season. I think Iowa still has a lot of work to do on defense, and the loss of James Butler at running back could really hurt. Penn State has the top running back in the country, SaQuon Barkley, and he will be a tough matchup. If this game is close, I'll give the edge to Iowa, but I could also see Penn State winning by more than a couple touchdowns.
Penn State 31 Iowa 17
Alabama at Vanderbilt: Alabama started the year strong with a win over Florida State, then they knocked off a couple of Mountain West opponents, Fresno State and Colorado State. Vanderbilt is off to a great start at 3-0, even knocking off Kansas State a week ago. They've had great QB play, but can they hang with Alabama this week?
Alabama 27 Vanderbilt 17
USC at California: USC is coming off of a big overtime win against Texas. They kind of struggled with Western Michigan to begin the year before beating down Stanford the second week. California is off to a 3-0 start, which was kind of a surprise.
USC 45 California 27
TCU at Oklahoma State: TCU only gave up seven points in their first two games before allowing SMU to score 36 last week. Oklahoma State had 49 points by halftime against Pittsburgh. I think Oklahoma State will be able to get plenty of points against a pretty solid TCU defense, not sure if TCU has the offensive firepower to stay with them.
Oklahoma State 45 TCU 31
Washington at Colorado: Colorado has only allowed 27 points this season, but they'll face a tougher slate now as conference play starts up against #7 Washington. Washington got off to a slow start against Rutgers before pulling away in their opener. Washington embarrassed Colorado last year in the Pac 12 title game, 41-10, I think this one will be closer.
Washington 38 Colorado 21
Mississippi State at Georgia: Mississippi State surprised a lot of people last week, pounding LSU. Georgia nearly lost to Notre Dame two weeks ago, but bounced back to crush Samford.
Georgia 24 Mississippi State 21
Florida at Kentucky: Florida nearly started the season 0-2, they needed a miracle hail-mary pass against Tennessee to win last week. Kentucky is 3-0, with a win over South Carolina last week.
Florida 27 Kentucky 17
Notre Dame at Michigan State: Both teams had pretty awful seasons a year ago, so a win would be nice for either of these teams. Notre Dame sits at 2-1, with a one point loss to Georgia, while Michigan State is 2-0, both victories over MAC opponents.
Notre Dame 24 Michigan State 17
UCLA at Stanford: Stanford fell to 1-2 after their loss to San Diego State Saturday night, and UCLA was upset at Memphis, so both of these teams are in need of a win right now. UCLA has played in a couple of the more exciting games of the season so far, lets have another one!
UCLA 48 Stanford 42
Texas Tech at Houston: Both teams are at 2-0 right now, a win by either team should move them closer to the top 25. Texas Tech really needs a win before conference play starts.
Texas Tech 42 Houston 34
Here are the top games of the week and my predictions.
Penn State at Iowa: This is one is really hard to predict. I thought Michigan was going to crush Iowa last year, but the Hawkeyes played their best game of the year and ended the Wolverines' undefeated season. I think Iowa still has a lot of work to do on defense, and the loss of James Butler at running back could really hurt. Penn State has the top running back in the country, SaQuon Barkley, and he will be a tough matchup. If this game is close, I'll give the edge to Iowa, but I could also see Penn State winning by more than a couple touchdowns.
Penn State 31 Iowa 17
Alabama at Vanderbilt: Alabama started the year strong with a win over Florida State, then they knocked off a couple of Mountain West opponents, Fresno State and Colorado State. Vanderbilt is off to a great start at 3-0, even knocking off Kansas State a week ago. They've had great QB play, but can they hang with Alabama this week?
Alabama 27 Vanderbilt 17
USC at California: USC is coming off of a big overtime win against Texas. They kind of struggled with Western Michigan to begin the year before beating down Stanford the second week. California is off to a 3-0 start, which was kind of a surprise.
USC 45 California 27
TCU at Oklahoma State: TCU only gave up seven points in their first two games before allowing SMU to score 36 last week. Oklahoma State had 49 points by halftime against Pittsburgh. I think Oklahoma State will be able to get plenty of points against a pretty solid TCU defense, not sure if TCU has the offensive firepower to stay with them.
Oklahoma State 45 TCU 31
Washington at Colorado: Colorado has only allowed 27 points this season, but they'll face a tougher slate now as conference play starts up against #7 Washington. Washington got off to a slow start against Rutgers before pulling away in their opener. Washington embarrassed Colorado last year in the Pac 12 title game, 41-10, I think this one will be closer.
Washington 38 Colorado 21
Mississippi State at Georgia: Mississippi State surprised a lot of people last week, pounding LSU. Georgia nearly lost to Notre Dame two weeks ago, but bounced back to crush Samford.
Georgia 24 Mississippi State 21
Florida at Kentucky: Florida nearly started the season 0-2, they needed a miracle hail-mary pass against Tennessee to win last week. Kentucky is 3-0, with a win over South Carolina last week.
Florida 27 Kentucky 17
Notre Dame at Michigan State: Both teams had pretty awful seasons a year ago, so a win would be nice for either of these teams. Notre Dame sits at 2-1, with a one point loss to Georgia, while Michigan State is 2-0, both victories over MAC opponents.
Notre Dame 24 Michigan State 17
UCLA at Stanford: Stanford fell to 1-2 after their loss to San Diego State Saturday night, and UCLA was upset at Memphis, so both of these teams are in need of a win right now. UCLA has played in a couple of the more exciting games of the season so far, lets have another one!
UCLA 48 Stanford 42
Texas Tech at Houston: Both teams are at 2-0 right now, a win by either team should move them closer to the top 25. Texas Tech really needs a win before conference play starts.
Texas Tech 42 Houston 34
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