As we head into October and the second month of the 2011 college football season, there are a handful of games that you really just can’t miss this weekend. Conference standings are starting to shape up, and the pretenders are being exposed. Who had Clemson undefeated midday on October 1st? They travel to a very tough Blacksburg, VA, and many are tuning in for the Tajh Boyd – Sammie Watkins show. And there’s one thing for sure The Swamp will be off the charts Saturday night with Alabama in town as two undefeated SEC teams face off.
Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas will be the site for the Texas A&M (#14) – Arkansas (#18) matchup. The Aggies will have to put last week’s devastating loss to Oklahoma State out of their mind. Last week Oklahoma State just had more in the tank down the stretch. Great coaching shows and it rose to the top just before halftime and out of the second half gates. And Oklahoma State showed in the 3rd quater how to get it done. A&M went into the half up 20-3 only to see the most unbelievable 3rd quarter imaginable where they gave up 21 points and scored none themselves, the Aggies will have to learn the lessons and just flush the bad from memory. Arkansas is in the same boat coming off a tough loss to Alabama. This should be a good early October test determining who can bounce back and who continues to fall from grace. A&M’s ground game has the edge here, but don’t ever count out Bobby Petrino’s passing attack. I’m positive The Razorbacks came away from Tuscaloosa with a number of things to work on during this week's practices.
Mississippi State at Georgia will be another noon kickoff where we’ll find out who this Georgia team really is. Georgia is currently favored by a touchdown. Last week’s win on the road in Oxford was a largely unimpressive win. The kicking game specialized in missing and the offense should have blown out the Rebels. In a game where the backups should have played almost the entire 4th quarter and received some solid reps (working toward the future), the starters were in late trying to hang on to the lead. Sure the Georgia Defense is showing some great progress and picking it up big time, gravitating towards the upper half of the SEC’s Defensive elite. But it is hard to miss - UGA's red zone offense is pathetic. For a team with tons of tight end talent you would think Mike Bobo would bring out the big boys down in the red zone and punch in for a couple TDs with Crowell or play action to some wide open sure handed tagets. So for Georgia: expect the unexpected. In a season where many were pumped for Miss. State it’s hard for State fans to come to grips with an 0-2 SEC start. Question: Can Georgia plug the middle and keep State off the edge? Question: Can Coach Bobo stop popping the clutch and let this offense just turn it loose? If not, it’s going to be another tough pill to swallow in A-town.
It’s a big day for football in the state of South Carolina. The Gamecocks (#10) host Auburn, and this will be a great barometer as Clemson took care of business beating Auburn at home back in week 3. South Carolina is currently favored by 10, but things are not all good in Columbia. The dysfunction is rising up and boiling over. Spurrier’s headset is taking a beating and his visor is in tatters. Thank goodness he has Lattimore and one of the most exciting defenses around to carry the load. That combination is tough to beat despite Garcia’s bumbling. Look for the Gamecocks to expose Auburn this year. Both teams have yet to lose an SEC match, but something has got to give. Queue up Sandstorm and look for Lattimore on the national stage to really make his mark for the Heisman.
Clemson (#13) at Virginia Tech is a big time cross divisional ACC clash. These two teams could easily be seeing each other again, squaring off in Charlotte for the December 3rd ACC Championship game. Bud Foster has no doubt been watching countless hours of new on the scene Chad Morris and Clemson’s revved up offense. Coach Morris is the right fit for Clemson at Offensive Coordinator, and his offensive scheming is the breath of fresh air that this team needed. Virginia Tech is favored by 7, but I’m just not seeing it. VA Tech has struggled this year – just pop in the tape of the East Carolina game, and I like Clemson’s run defense. Look for Dabo and company to keep the Boyd-Watkins-Ellington-Hopkins show rolling. Bottom line, there are too many Clemson weapons for Virginia Tech to stop them all. Plus I see Logan Thomas having trouble on 3rd and long situations, but Blacksburg...at night. Look for a really close one.
Alabama #3 travels to The Swamp to square off against #12 Florida. This is far and away the marquee game of the day. Coach Will Muschamp has this Florida squad back on track and he’s playing to his team's strengths. The run game is on point again, and the defense is playing really, really good. The Florida defense only gave up 36 points for the entire month of September. On the other side, you’ve got Alabama, who has been playing great defense with a solid run game, and a fairly unproven passing game. The Crimson Tide only surrendered 32 points in December. The matchups to watch in this one are Florida’s run game against The Tide D, and Florida’s QB play from John Brantley against The Tide secondary. And finally how will AJ MacCarron perform on 3rd and long situations? Because, to me, it is clear that Alabama’s Offense has not seen a defense all year with this kind of prowess.
Another primetime game of the night is the Nebraska (#8) at Wisconsin (#7) game. Good luck getting a ticket to this one. Two of the best rushing programs in the country square off in this new found Big 1G rivalry. Both teams have laid waste to their competition. A cross divisional game, all chips will be on the table come Saturday night. Look for Taylor Martinez to take a beating against the Wisconsin defense. Wisconsin has only given up 34 points in the month of September, and that’s nothing to shake a stick at regardless of who you’re playing. These guys are BCS grade. I expect Wisconsin to get into the red zone behind the Russell Wilson - Montee Ball – James White ground game, and punch in TDs in the redzone via the tight ends. Look for a close one early, but Wisonsin to pull away late.
