Here we are, the final quarter of what’s been a tumultuous season of college football, and one that almost certainly has some more surprises and shocks left in store for us. Here are a few things to watch this weekend:
Baylor vs. Oklahoma
My pick for Game of the Week. Thanks in large part to a back-loaded Big XII schedule, we’re going to see some tantalising match-ups in the high-scoring conference, and it starts Saturday night – primetime, no less - with what is undoubtedly Baylor’s first real test of the season.
Despite the Bears remaining undefeated, they drop in the national rankings each week, overtaken by teams, even those with a loss, who’ve played legitimate opponents. We’ll know a lot more about how good Baylor really are starting this week, and the Bears also have Oklahoma State and Texas Christian to come. Freshman QB Jarrett Stidham, filling in for the injured Seth Russell, will be the key in this one. If he can protect the football and continue to hook up with star receiver Corey Coleman, Baylor has a good chance to win.
For the Sooners, scoring is the key. Yes, they’ve scored at least fifty points in each of it’s last four games, but recent history shows that Oklahoma has had problems scoring against Baylor. In the last two contests between these teams, the Sooners have been out-scored 89-26. It’s going to be very interesting to see whether this current iteration of Oklahoma’s high-powered attack comes to the party.
The way Baylor score, and the way defense is played in the Big XII – hint, there isn’t a whole lot of it – the Sooners will need their offense to fire, or they’ll be blown away for a third year in a row.
Houston
The undefeated Cougars are now the only team in the American Athletic Conference without a loss, but their schedule gets tougher from here – as Houston’s impressive first-year coach Tom Hermann indicated during the week.
It all starts this weekend with Memphis, who were also an undefeated AAC squad until a week ago. Now that their own playoff dreams are kaput, the Tigers, with their star quarterback Paxton Lynch, have a chance to play spoiler in an conference match-up of two ranked teams.
That said, it won’t be easy against a Houston squad that boasts a great running back in Kenneth Farrow and a quarterback, Greg Ward Jr., who averages a touch more than 90 rushing yards per game, good for second-best in the nation. This two-headed ground game monster goes against a Memphis squad who were horrendous against the run last game, their defeat at the hands of Navy, giving up 374 yards and five touchdowns.
Conversely, Paxton Lynch averages more than 352 passing yards per game, so Houston’s defense is going to need to have all their wits about them. They didn’t last week, when Cincinnati’s Gunner Kiel passed for 523 yards in a narrow 33-30 loss to the unblemished Coogs. This should be an intriguing contest!
Alabama
This feels a little like a trap game for Alabama, after the big game in Tuscaloosa last week.
Coming off a big victory against Louisiana State, the Crimson Tide get Mississippi State, whose quarterback Dak Prescott is going to present Nick Saban’s men with a different sort of challenge to stopping Leonard Fournette. Not much has really been made of the Bulldogs, but Prescott is quietly putting up big numbers, and is a threat both running and passing, especially in the last few weeks, where he’s hit a real purple patch of form.
Iowa
Another week, and another potential trap game for a Hawkeyes squad in strange territory, undefeated and atop their Big Ten division. This week, it’s Minnesota, but at least the Hawkeyes get the Gophers at home. Minnesota weren’t bad against Ohio State last week, nor Michigan the week before, and will likely give the Iowa squad some trouble.
Stanford
The Cardinal welcome their recent rivals, Oregon, into Palo Alto this weekend, as they continue to surge forward in the College Football Playoff rankings. Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey is a legitimate Heisman contender now, and showed last week that he can throw touchdown passes as well as he runs them, makes receptions and even contributes returning kicks and punts. He’s the guy that Oregon have to stop if they want a chance, and good luck – it isn’t easy!
I feel like this game will be close, so it’s a bit of a trap one for the Cardinal. The more his finger heals, the more Oregon QB Vernon Adams Jr. looks like the star we saw at FCS Eastern Washington, and the Ducks are a much better team as a result, hitting solid form after a few early losses. I’m really looking forward to see how the Stanford defense goes about shutting Adams down.
Boise State
The Broncos are right back in the Mountain West Championship Game hunt after New Mexico State beat Utah State, and now those same Lobos come into Boise to try pull off another big victory.
We’ll likely see a steady diet of QB Brett Rypien – the best signal-caller in the Mountain West – throwing to star wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck – who happens to be the best wide-out in the Mountain West – and the Broncos really should roll on the blue turf. That said, we assumed Utah State would roll against these same Lobos, and they didn’t, so Boise State will likely enter this game cautiously.
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