A shortened week and a very hectic Thursday have left me with little time to scramble and make some picks for the paltry matchups on tap this weekend. There are very few meaningful, genuinely interesting games and most of them are upset alert-type of games, like the Arizona/OkSt game tonight and the Mizzu/ASU game tomorrow night. Saturday is pretty barren, but we’ll make do. It is college football, after all, and at least we can have some action on the field to take away from the burgeoning Big 12 kerfuffle.
Let’s get to the picks!
Arizona at No. 9 Oklahoma State - Okie State had no trouble moving the ball last week against psuedo-cupcake Louisiana-Lafayette, but Brandon Weeden did toss two pick-sixes and the defense was less than stellar. Even without star wideout Juron Criner, Arizona should be able to move the ball. But the question is; can they keep up? I don’t think so.
Oklahoma State wins, 51-34
No. 21 Missouri at Arizona State - The other Arizona team that has a shot at an upset over a ranked opponent, I think that the Sun Devils have a better shot than the Wildcats. For one, the game will be in Sun Devil Stadium, where the temperature at kickoff is expected to be hovering around 100 degrees. It gets warm in Missouri, but not that kind of heat. Expect the stadium to be rocking and the Sun Devil’s offense to be rolling.
ASU wins, 42-33
No. 16 Mississippi State at Auburn - Look for Auburn to bounce back a bit from their opening weekend scare against a very game Utah State team. I think they will come out more focused and prepared against the Bulldogs. With as much as the Aggies took advantage against Auburn in week one, the Bulldogs will look to duplicate that success. They’re more than capable with Vic Ballard and Chris Relf in the backfield.
Mississippi State wins, 27-17
No. 3 Alabama at No. 23 Penn State - Two teams that have question marks at QB, but one of them has that luxury. Alabama’s defense could probably shut down half of the NFL at this point. That’s going to prove to be the difference in what promises to be an ugly but well-played game.
Alabama wins, 17-9
Notre Dame at Michigan - Let me start off by stating that I’m dreading this game. I have to work Saturday night and won’t be able to watch it in it’s entirety, so I’ll just spend my whole evening on the edge of my seat. Not looking forward to that at all.
But, there is good news for Irish fans, Tommy Rees is now the starting QB and aside from a few hiccups in the second half of the USF game, he looked very calm, collected and in control of the Notre Dame offense. I’m excited to see what he can do with a solid running game led by Cierre Wood. Michigan fell victim to the same ill weather that the Irish suffered through last Saturday, but opted to call their game in the 3rd quarter, up 34-10 on Western Michigan. They ran the ball well, but the explosiveness came from the defense, with two returns for touchdowns. Western Michigan was able to move the ball against the Wolverines, so expect the Irish to do the same, as they put up over 500 yards in the loss to USF, who returned a good chunk of their stout defense from a year ago. I think the Irish win this one. (but I am biased)
Notre Dame wins, 38-27
