2017 Week 5 Preview

Week 4 was ok. The biggest upset was TCU taking down Oklahoma State and Heisman-hopeful QB Mason Rudolph in Stillwater. Florida State was also upset by NC State, dropping the ‘Noles to 0-2 on the season. Baylor gave OU one heck of a scare and Penn State scored on the final play to beat Iowa. Texas A&M beat Arkansas in OT (again) and Mississippi State got trounced by Georgia. Kentucky lost to Florida (for the 31st straight year) because on two different plays they left Florida’s best receiver uncovered. Arizona State also upset Oregon, but no one is talking about that. Now let’s move on to week 5.

How I fared: 4-2 last week, 17-7 overall

Notable Games
2Clemson at 12Virginia Tech
Clemson started out very slow against Boston College last weekend. The two were tied until just under 12 minutes left in the 4th quarter. After that, Clemson rattled off 27 unanswered points. The Tiger defense is great and should be the reason they win this game against Virginia Tech. The Hokies had no problems with Old Dominion last week, winning 38-0. Clemson’s offense will need to come out strong and try to get ahead early. This has the potential to be a big upset.
I am picking Clemson

5USC at 16Washington State (Friday)
Why this game isn’t on Saturday blows my mind. How can you expect to get Gameday in Pullman if you don’t play your toughest opponents on Saturday? USC has been a little weird this season. They are undefeated, but a couple of their games have been much closer than they should have been. Sam Darnold is a very good QB, but he has already thrown 7INTs this season after only having thrown 9 picks last year. WSU QB Luke Falk has thrown 14TDs and just 1INT so far. USC has played better opponents and better defenses than WSU. USC’s defense should be the difference in this game. I think this will be a very exciting game that most people will miss because it doesn’t come on until 10:30ET on Friday night.
I am picking USC

24Mississippi State at 13Auburn
Last week Georgia did to Mississippi State what Mississippi State did to LSU two weeks ago. Miss State could not get anything going on offense last week and they also gave up 31 points. Auburn’s defense has been very impressive so far this season. Their offense showed up big time against Missouri and they scored 51 points. That stat is a little skewed because Missouri’s defense is not good. I think this will be a lower scoring game and that favors Auburn.
I am picking Auburn

15Oklahoma State at Texas Tech
One of the big upsets of last weekend was TCU beating Oklahoma State on the road. Cowboy QB Mason Rudolph still threw for nearly 400 yards, but the TCU defense was opportunistic and picked him off twice and also got a pick on a trick play. Adding two fumbles, OKST ended up turning the ball over 5 times. Texas Tech was only able to put up 27 points in a win against Houston last week. This should be one of those high-scoring Big 12 games we like so much. That being said, I think Oklahoma will win this game rather comfortably by pulling away late.
I am picking Oklahoma State

Florida State at Wake Forest
Who could’ve guessed that the 4-0 team coming into this game would be Wake Forest and the winless team would be Florida State. I know FSU has only played two games and one was Alabama and they also lost their starting QB, but last week’s loss to NC State pretty much takes them out of playoff contention. The ‘Noles biggest issue last week was missed opportunities in the red zone. They will need to capitalize on those opportunities in this game. Wake Forest barely escaped an upset by Appalachian State last weekend. The Demon Deacons blocked what would’ve been the game winning FG and won 20-19. It will be interesting to see how both teams respond after last weekend’s games.
I am picking Florida State

Memphis at UCF
This is a really interesting matchup. UCF has only played two games so far because of weather. Last weekend they got a huge win over Maryland and have scored a lot of points in their two games. Their defense has also been strong, only giving up 27 points in their two games. Memphis’s offense also likes to score. The Tigers are 3-0 with a big win over UCLA a couple weeks ago. Their defense is not as great, giving up at least 29 points in all three of their games. I believe that UCF’s defense is going to be the difference in this game, but it will still be relatively high scoring. Big AAC game for sure.
I am picking UCF

New Mexico State at Arkansas
For what seems like the 800th time in a row, Arkansas blew a lead and lost to Texas A&M in OT in Dallas. Of course, I still had a great time cheering them on from the stands. I thought there were a lot of improvements, but when 4 blown plays end up turning into 222 yards and 24 points, it is hard to win. Austin got sacked 6 times and was holding on to the ball way too long. They did switch some things around, occasionally using Chase Hayden in the Wildcat and backup QB Cole Kelley in a “Steamboat” package (see: Blake “Belldozer” Bell from OU a few years ago). There is still almost no pass protection by the offensive line. The receivers looked better this week, but the most experienced one in the bunch, Jared Cornelius, is out for the season after having to get surgery on his Achilles. The defense still has some major issues getting off the field on 3rd down. I felt like they played a lot harder and with a lot more drive than they did against TCU, and that’s huge. New Mexico State will be coming to the Hill this weekend for an early 11am CT kick. The Aggies have looked pretty good this season. They can score and the play fast. Hopefully Arkansas isn’t looking ahead to South Carolina because this could be a major trap game if they doing start strong and keep their foot on the gas.

Top 25
Ole Miss at 1Alabama
3Oklahoma BYE
Indiana at 4Penn State
6Washington at Oregon State
7Georgia at Tennessee
8Michigan BYE
9TCU BYE
Northwestern at 10Wisconsin
11Ohio State at Rutgers
14Miami at Duke (Friday)
Murray State at 17Louisville
18South Florida at East Carolina
Northern Illinois at 19San Diego State
20Utah BYE
Vanderbilt at 21Florida
Miami (OH) at 22Notre Dame
23West Virginia BYE
Troy at 25LSU

Other Games
Texas at Iowa State (Thursday)
San Jose State at UNLV
Houston at Temple
North Carolina at Georgia Tech
Baylor at Kansas State
Iowa at Michigan State
Air Force at New Mexico
South Carolina at Texas A&M
Colorado at UCLA
California at Oregon