Weekend Kickoff (Week 12)

Games of the Week

Season Record (38-17)

#5 Stanford Cardinal at USC Trojans
Both teams here have a lot of momentum going in there favor.  Stanford is riding high after beating Oregon, while USC who have gone 4-1 since they fired Lane Kiffin, including a big win over Oregon State.  Stanford looks to have the advantage with their physical offense going against a beat up Trojan defense.  But USC has new life under Ed Orgeron and is playing with a new intensity.  But don't be shocked if this game is a blowout.  Especially with Stanford focused on a possible National Title Game.
Prediction:  Stanford 24 USC 13

#18 Oklahoma State Cowboys at #24 Texas Longhorns

Don't know if the Big 12 planned this, but all the contenders will be playing each other in a near round robin format to determine the conference champion.  Texas brings in a perfect conference record where the Cowboys are still trying to play catch up after a bad loss to West Virginia.  On paper the Cowboys look to be the favorite.  They are an offensive juggernaut averaging 40 points per game, but it's their defense that has stepped up this year.  Texas has bounced back, but it's been against the Kansas' and Iowa States of the conference.  Even with this game in Texas, look for the Cowboys' defense to step up and get a key stop in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Predition:  Oklahoma State 44 Texas 38

Georgia Bulldogs at #7 Auburn Tigers

At the beginning of the season you would have thought that the roles would have been reversed.  But Auburn is rejuvenated under Gus Malzahn and Georgia got hurt due to some key injuries to their offense.  But since RB Todd Gurely has been back, the Bulldogs have regained their momentum and are looking to upset the Tigers run at the SEC West Title.  If Georgia wants to win they are going to have to slow down the Tigers' rushing attack that just went for 444 yards against Tennessee.  But with Alabama right behind the corner and a healthier Bulldog team, I see the Tigers dropping this one.
Prediction:  Georgia 52 Auburn 45

#12 Michigan State Spartans at Nebraska Cornhuskers

With Nebraska's win over Michigan this makes this contest the de facto Legends Title Game.  Both teams have enjoyed some growth over previous weaknesses.  The Spartans have found some offense with QB Connor Cook, while the Husker young defense has matured the past two games.  The key to this game will be whether Nebraska's ground game can get going against an elite Spartan defense.  Michigan State hasn't allowed a rusher to go for over 100 yards, while RB Amer Abdullah is the nations 5th leading rusher.  I want to think Michigan State wins this game, but Pelini has the Spartans' number and when that's the case, he usually sticks pretty true.
Prediction:  Michigan State 10 Nebraska 13

Ball State Cardinals at #22 Northern Illinois Huskies

Finally the Northern Illinois Huskies will be playing a quality opponent on Wednesday night in what should live up to the #MACtion hype.  Not since their opening week game against Iowa have they played somebody that could beat them.  Ball State has bounced back up after the whole Stan Parish fiasco and are 6-0 in the conference and a fringe top 25 team.  This is a perfect game for a Wednesday night that will allow the nation to see the top two MAC schools.  It should be a high scoring affair with both teams in the top 15 in scoring offenses.  Ball State will have to slow down the Huskies powerful rushing attack and Heisman candidate Jordan Lynch if they want to get the upset.  But that could be too much to ask.
Prediction:  Ball State 42 Northern Illinois 48 

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Match up to Watch

Pittsburgh WR Devin Street vs North Carolina CB Tim Scott

Player Profiles

Devin Street is a popular name with draftnicks mainly because of early success he had in his college career.  Street definitely has the tools that teams would covet out of the wide receiver.  Standing at 6'4, Street has the long arms, body control, and leaping ability to go up and get any ball.  Add that to his big hands and strong grip makes it easy for him to catch passes.  But his downfall is that he's so lean and lacks a lot of true strength he gets pushed around.  Street isn't very sudden which can hurt him trying getting off the line clean or working the short routes.  He is truly at his his best when working medium to deep routes and taking advantage of jump balls and deep throws.


Tim Scott is an experienced corner who saw the field right away at North Carolina before becoming a full time starter last year.  Scott is a good athlete who looks to use his speed and quickness to stay in receivers back pocket.  Because of his speed and quickness Scott plays off the receiver quite a bit giving himself the space to react and fly to the ball.  He will close in a hurry and can make a play on the ball or make a hit to jar the ball loose.  Scott will also go from side to side to cover the opponents best receiver.  He isn't overly physical nor a great tackler so he isn't going to come up and jam receivers at the line.  The problem is that his cushion tends to allow receivers more catches.

Outlook
Pittsburgh is still looking to be a run first team, but they should try to take advantage of this match up.  Street should have a good day here because he won't be seeing much press coverage which should allow him to get off the line and run his routes without a lot of redirection.  His size advantage should help as he has four inches on Scott and should win the jump balls.  North Carolina would be wise to put Scott in Street's pocket and give him a chance to make more plays on the ball.  Otherwise Street could have a 100 yard 2 TD day.

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BCS Bowl Projections

National Title Game
Alabama vs Florida State
*This should be a fun game and the Seminoles have as good of a chance to end the SEC run as anybody.  Alabama has struggled against elite QB play and nobody has been better than Winston this year.

Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs Stanford
*The Rose Bowl does get to stay within the Pac 12 / Big 10 model.  This would be a fun game because Stanford has played like one of the best teams and Ohio State would still be undefeated.

Sugar Bowl
Missouri vs Central Florida
*This can't be the Sugar Bowl's dream scenario.  Neither team is a huge draw but because UCF wins the American and Missouri is the #2 SEC team they go here.  Missouri has the advantage, but UCF will be tough to beat.

Fiesta Bowl
Baylor vs Fresno State
*The Dream scenario would to get Baylor vs Oregon, but with the Orange Bowl getting first dibs that won't happen.   This should be a fun back and forth game, but Baylor would be so much better than Fresno that it would likely be a blowout.

Orange Bowl
Oregon vs Clemson
*Not too often does the Orange Bowl get such a marquee match up, but with first dips and losing Florida State to the title game would give them first crack at Oregon.  This would be a shootout similar to West Virginia and Clemson of a couple years back.  Oregon should win, but Clemson's defense is much better.