Week 5 Preview

How are we already at week 5 of college football? So many things have already happened. Notre Dame and Texas have both shown they are not as great as we thought (which makes me EXTREMELY happy). Louisville and Lamar Jackson have taken the CFB world by storm. Les Miles got fired. What? This season is already crazy.

Notable Games
7Stanford at 10Washington (Friday) This should be a very interesting game. Stanford and Christian McCaffrey have been doing well. They don’t score a lot of points, but with that defense, they don’t need to. Washington got a scare last week when they needed OT to beat Arizona. I think Stanford is going to continue their strong play and stay at the top of the Pac 12. I am picking Stanford.

3Louisville at 5Clemson What a matchup! Deshaun Watson against Lamar Jackson. Clemson has underperformed on offense while Lamar Jackson has already been responsible for 25TDs. Clemson’s defense has looked decent and this will definitely be the toughest test for the Cardinals. I just don’t see the Tigers outscoring Louisville. Watson and Gallman will both need huge games to get this win. I am picking Louisville.

8Wisconsin at 4Michigan So clearly I know nothing about the Big 10. I was extremely confident that Michigan State wouldn’t have much of a problem with Wisconsin. Wisconsin won 30-6. But to be fair, I didn’t realize how bad Notre Dame actually was so my opinion on Sparty was skewed. Michigan has been consistent and I think they really are the team to beat in the Big 10 this season. But given my success rate in picking Big 10 games this season, who knows what’ll happen in this one? (Hint: it’s not me.) I am picking Michigan.

11Tennessee at 25Georgia Tennessee has been the comeback kid so far this season. Pretty much the complete opposite of how they were last year. The Vols ended their 11-game losing streak against Florida last week despite trailing 0-21 with 5 minutes left in the first half. Georgia got smacked by Ole Miss last week and Nick Chubb was held to just 57 yards on 12 carries. I have not been impressed by Georgia and Tennessee has been finding ways to win games. Nick Chubb will need a big game to keep the Bulldogs in this one. I am picking Tennessee.

Oklahoma at 21TCU This is a very difficult game for me to pick. Oklahoma hasn’t looked very good at all. TCU has looked decent but their defense isn’t that great. I expect a relatively high scoring game. The difference in the game will probably be a defensive or special teams score. Both teams have a lot of offensive weapons. Both QBs are very good. This could come down to whoever has the ball last. I am picking TCU.

22Texas at Oklahoma State Oh, Texas. They looked so good week one! We thought beating Notre Dame meant they were amazing! That was wrong. Texas doesn’t seem to have much of a defense. They can probably put up points against anyone, but that isn’t enough in the Big 12 where everyone scores. Oklahoma State lost at Baylor last week but has looked pretty decent. I think the Cowboys have the better defense and that will be the reason they win. I am picking Oklahoma State.

Alcorn State at 20Arkansas (Little Rock) Well. I guess the Hogs aren’t going undefeated this season. The Razorbacks played a strong first 29 minutes of football against A&M. But it was all downhill from there. Allowing a long QB rush TD at the end of the first half extinguished any momentum the Hogs had. Making it inside the 1-yard line twice and not scoring doesn’t help either. This should be an easy win for Arkansas, but Little Rock has not been a great place for Razorback football the last couple of seasons. For the first time since I’ve been a student I will not be at the LR game. So hopefully that will change their luck.
Side Note: Austin Allen played his butt off last week. He wasn’t getting much help from his o-line and was on his back way too many times. But he somehow got back up and continued to fight like hell to win for all 60 minutes. It’d be nice to see that mentality from everyone on the team. Keon Hatcher is another guy who played great and kept going. We need more of that passion. So I just wanted to say thanks to Austin. I am so glad he is our QB.