2023 College Football - Week 6: A River Runs Through It
Oct 6, 2023 20:18:44 GMT -6
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Post by Uncle on Oct 6, 2023 20:18:44 GMT -6
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it..."
That's one of the great quotes from the semi-autobiographical novel and 1992 hit film, "A River Runs Through It", and while there are several meanings behind that quote about life in general, when it comes to College Football at the FBS level, all the "rivers" (the Power 5 Conferences) will merge into 4 (College Football Playoff) and ultimately to just one...
...and with the calendar now turned to October and the first CFP rankings less than a month away on Halloween (the Tuesday after Week 9), the Conference matchups in Week 6 will go along way to determining who crosses the river to the land of CFP champions on the other side...
That, and well, I needed a "catchy" title for the Week 6 thread and it seemed a good fit with the premier matchup for Week 6 titled the "Red River Showdown"...
Saturday, 10/7 - Early Afternoon Games
#12 Oklahoma vs #3 Texas - Noon ET (ABC) - "Red River Showdown"; spread is Texas -5.5
It's not often that this happens, but the big matchup for Week 6 comes right out of the gates, from Cotton Bowl Stadium at the Texas State Fair. The river in this game refers to the Red River that divides Texas from Oklahoma and is typically played on the 2nd Saturday on October, except when the first Saturday falls on the 7th, which is does in 2023. This is arguably the most hyped "showdown" game between these two in a long time and the winner not only receives the coveted 10-gallon "Golden Hat" and bragging rights for the next year, more importantly, the winner will take sole possession of 1st place in the BIG XII and a front-row seat to the BIG XII Championship and possibly a spot in the CFP. Texas has had a very good start to their season and with their good, all-around team (OL, DL, star-QB, WR, coaching), they look the part of a CFP contender, but 2nd-yr Sooner HC Brent Venables is looking for his first signature win and there's no other game to make your mark than this legendary game. This game has had some great, individual moments in the last few years, especially w/ the QB performances - the most memorable being the debut of Caleb Williams for the Sooners, coming in for Spencer Rattler who was benched after Oklahoma was down 35-17 and looked completely out of it, and Williams announced to the College Football world how good he was when he led the Sooners to a dramatic and improbable 55-48 comeback victory. Can Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel or Texas's Quinn Ewers create their own "Caleb Williams" moment in this game?
Maryland @ #4 Ohio St - Noon ET (FOX); spread is Ohio St -20
At first glance, an unranked team traveling to Columbus to take on the 4th ranked team in the nation doesn't seem like anything special, but the Terrapins are 5-0, and Taulia Tagovailoa - Tua's little brother - is played really good football and might give the Buckeyes a bit more than that 20-pt spread indicates. If Ohio St was coming off their dramatic Week 4 win at Notre Dame Stadium, you might think they would be ripe for a bit of a "hangover" here, but they had the week off last week to probably not take the undefeated Terrapins too lightly. Maryland took Ohio St into the 4th qtr at College Park last year before the Buckeyes pulled away late in the 4th for a 43-30 victory right before their rivalry game vs Michigan the next week, so Maryland will be seeking to not only "hang" with the Buckeyes this time, but possibly try and pull off the upset. Ohio St QB Kyle McCord was clutch in that last-minute drive vs Notre Dame and I'd like to see if that springboards his play to new levels, as well see if "little brother" Taulia has a bit of his older brother's magic in big moments.
#23 LSU @ #21 Missouri - Noon ET (ESPN); spread is LSU -6.5
I don't think many people would have predicted that the Tigers from Columbia would be ranked ahead of the Tigers from Baton Rouge ahead of their Week 6 matchup when the season started, but that's exactly where we are. LSU's playoff hopes were washed away in Oxford, MS last week thanks to their "swiss cheese" defense getting shredded by Lane Kiffin and Jaxson Dart. While it's certainly possible that LSU can play their way back into the SEC West, Missouri has dreams of an SEC Championship appearance of their own. Speaking of things people probably wouldn't have predicted: did you know that the leading WR in the country (in receiving yards) doesn't play for LSU...or Ohio St...or USC...or Alabama? Nope. The leading WR in the nation (644 receiving yards) is Luther Burden III, who plays for the undefeated Missouri Tigers, off to their best start since 2013. Missouri QB Brady Cook is also an under-the-radar 2024 QB prospect and is one of the few QB's to have not thrown an INT this season; in fact, he has thrown an SEC-record 347 passes without an INT, a streak that stretches back to Oct 2022. The Missouri River in Columbia is the setting for this unexpected, but possibly crucial SEC midseason matchup.
Saturday, 10/7 - Mid-Afternoon Games
#13 Washington St @ UCLA - 3PM ET (PAC 12 Network); spread is UCLA -3.5
Surprisingly, the 13th-ranked Cougars are getting little love from Vegas as they travel to LA to take on the unranked Bruins, and I think that's exactly the way they like it. The PAC-12 is possibly the deepest Conference this season and with USC, Oregon, Washington and Coach Prime making all the headlines, Washington St. could possibly be the Cinderella that strikes midnight for everyone else's Playoff hopes. Led by QB Cam Ward, who has skyrocketed up 2024 Draft boards into Day 2 territory, the Cougars - like Ohio St - come into this game well-rested after a week off. UCLA's defense is pretty good so this will be a big test for Ward to play a bigtime defense on the road. On the flipside, the last time we saw UCLA, they were getting manhandled by Utah's defense in Salt Lake City, so the need a bounceback game to keep-up with the contenders in the PAC-12.
#11 Alabama @ Texas A&M - 3:30PM ET (CBS); spread is Alabama -2.5
You wouldn't know it the way the SEC has sort of "limped" along this season compared to the last 10-15 years, but this game is actually for 1st place in the SEC West and could go along ways into determining a spot in the SEC Championship. While Jimbo Fisher has certainly underperformed as HC of the Aggies so far, the 2023 version of the team might actually be his best one as outside of a dogfight game in Miami against the Hurricanes, they've played really well and come into this game with as much momentum as any team Fisher has had in College Station. It was only a few weeks ago that the Crimson Tide looked like a shell of their former selves as they were thoroughly defeated at home by Texas and had to scrape by USF, but a big win over ex-Assistant Lane Kiffin may have rejuvinated Alabama's season. It's no secret that Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher don't like each other, which provides a little something extra for this mid-day matchup with possible CFP implications.
Saturday, 10/7 - Evening Games
#20 Kentucky @ #1 Georgia - 7PM ET (ESPN); spread is Georgia -14.5
At first glance, I didn't think much of this matchup as Kentucky hasn't really beaten anybody and their QB, NC St transfer Devin Leary, hasn't played that well - completing less than 60% of his passes and already throwing 5 picks. But despite that, the Wildcats have really solid OL/DL's, a solid rushing attack (RB Ray Davis ran for 280 yds & 4 TD's last week vs Florida) and play really good defense, which are things that travel really well in football. The Bulldogs also haven't been too great this season as they needed Top 10 prospect Brock Bowers to bail them out last week on the Plains in Auburn. Devin Leary has been horrible in bigtime games in the past for the Wolfpack, but he has a chance to put his name back on the 2024 Draft map with a win "between the hedges" on Saturday night.
#10 Notre Dame @ #25 Louisville - 7:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Notre Dame -6.5
This will be Part 3 of the 4-part Notre Dame mid-season primetime fest, with the Irish falling in Part 1 to Ohio St on a last-minute drive and then getting a bit of revenge at Duke last week as they scored a last min TD of their own. While many fans are already looking ahead to Part 4 of the series when USC and Caleb Williams come to Notre Dame Stadium in primetime next week, the Irish must get through Part 3 first, and it's not going to be easy. For starters, Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman is a QB known to have complete meltdowns and he's returning to the scene of one of his biggest meltdowns ever when he turned the ball over 6 times (3 INT's - 2 for a Pick-6, to go along with 3 lost fumbles) before getting benched during a game @ Louisville last season while he was still the QB at Wake Forest. Louisville is also playing really good offensive football behind a solid OL, a good rushing attack and QB Jack Plummer who actually leads the ACC in yards-per-completion (impressive considering the ACC QB's in Drake Maye, Jordan Travis, Riley Leonard & Tyler Van Dyke). This game is a bit of the 'ol immoveable object (Notre Dame's 11th ranked defense) vs an unstoppable force (Louisville's 11th ranked offense) and while Notre Dame will have the better roster, this is Louisville's biggest home game in 7 years this feels like a Kentucky bourbon-infused time bomb of pent-up energy, aggression, and pure exuberance perhaps never felt on gameday in Louisville, Kentucky. Lastly, Louisville 1st-yr HC Jeff Brohm (a hometown "hero", born in Louisville and playing QB for the Cardinals from '89-'93) has a bit of history upsetting top teams - he sprang 3 Top 5 upsets during his time at Purdue and led that historically bad program to a B10 title game last season. He was 7-10 against Top 10 opponents over the last 6 years, and the 2023 Louisville team is arguably the most talented team he's ever had. A few weeks, a spot in the CFP ran through South Bend...but after Saturday night, perhaps that spot might actually run along the Ohio River in Louisville...
#24 Fresno St @ Wyoming - 8PM ET (FOX); spread is Fresno St -6
The Bulldogs are currently the favorite to represent the Group of 5 on New Year's Day as the only ranked non-Power 5 Conference team, but the Cowboys are having a really good season. They have wins over Texas Tech and App St and took Texas into the 4th in Austin a few weeks ago. 1st place in the Mountain West is on the line in this one as well as a possible spot in a New Year's Day bowl game.
That's one of the great quotes from the semi-autobiographical novel and 1992 hit film, "A River Runs Through It", and while there are several meanings behind that quote about life in general, when it comes to College Football at the FBS level, all the "rivers" (the Power 5 Conferences) will merge into 4 (College Football Playoff) and ultimately to just one...
...and with the calendar now turned to October and the first CFP rankings less than a month away on Halloween (the Tuesday after Week 9), the Conference matchups in Week 6 will go along way to determining who crosses the river to the land of CFP champions on the other side...
That, and well, I needed a "catchy" title for the Week 6 thread and it seemed a good fit with the premier matchup for Week 6 titled the "Red River Showdown"...
Saturday, 10/7 - Early Afternoon Games
#12 Oklahoma vs #3 Texas - Noon ET (ABC) - "Red River Showdown"; spread is Texas -5.5
It's not often that this happens, but the big matchup for Week 6 comes right out of the gates, from Cotton Bowl Stadium at the Texas State Fair. The river in this game refers to the Red River that divides Texas from Oklahoma and is typically played on the 2nd Saturday on October, except when the first Saturday falls on the 7th, which is does in 2023. This is arguably the most hyped "showdown" game between these two in a long time and the winner not only receives the coveted 10-gallon "Golden Hat" and bragging rights for the next year, more importantly, the winner will take sole possession of 1st place in the BIG XII and a front-row seat to the BIG XII Championship and possibly a spot in the CFP. Texas has had a very good start to their season and with their good, all-around team (OL, DL, star-QB, WR, coaching), they look the part of a CFP contender, but 2nd-yr Sooner HC Brent Venables is looking for his first signature win and there's no other game to make your mark than this legendary game. This game has had some great, individual moments in the last few years, especially w/ the QB performances - the most memorable being the debut of Caleb Williams for the Sooners, coming in for Spencer Rattler who was benched after Oklahoma was down 35-17 and looked completely out of it, and Williams announced to the College Football world how good he was when he led the Sooners to a dramatic and improbable 55-48 comeback victory. Can Oklahoma's Dillon Gabriel or Texas's Quinn Ewers create their own "Caleb Williams" moment in this game?
Maryland @ #4 Ohio St - Noon ET (FOX); spread is Ohio St -20
At first glance, an unranked team traveling to Columbus to take on the 4th ranked team in the nation doesn't seem like anything special, but the Terrapins are 5-0, and Taulia Tagovailoa - Tua's little brother - is played really good football and might give the Buckeyes a bit more than that 20-pt spread indicates. If Ohio St was coming off their dramatic Week 4 win at Notre Dame Stadium, you might think they would be ripe for a bit of a "hangover" here, but they had the week off last week to probably not take the undefeated Terrapins too lightly. Maryland took Ohio St into the 4th qtr at College Park last year before the Buckeyes pulled away late in the 4th for a 43-30 victory right before their rivalry game vs Michigan the next week, so Maryland will be seeking to not only "hang" with the Buckeyes this time, but possibly try and pull off the upset. Ohio St QB Kyle McCord was clutch in that last-minute drive vs Notre Dame and I'd like to see if that springboards his play to new levels, as well see if "little brother" Taulia has a bit of his older brother's magic in big moments.
#23 LSU @ #21 Missouri - Noon ET (ESPN); spread is LSU -6.5
I don't think many people would have predicted that the Tigers from Columbia would be ranked ahead of the Tigers from Baton Rouge ahead of their Week 6 matchup when the season started, but that's exactly where we are. LSU's playoff hopes were washed away in Oxford, MS last week thanks to their "swiss cheese" defense getting shredded by Lane Kiffin and Jaxson Dart. While it's certainly possible that LSU can play their way back into the SEC West, Missouri has dreams of an SEC Championship appearance of their own. Speaking of things people probably wouldn't have predicted: did you know that the leading WR in the country (in receiving yards) doesn't play for LSU...or Ohio St...or USC...or Alabama? Nope. The leading WR in the nation (644 receiving yards) is Luther Burden III, who plays for the undefeated Missouri Tigers, off to their best start since 2013. Missouri QB Brady Cook is also an under-the-radar 2024 QB prospect and is one of the few QB's to have not thrown an INT this season; in fact, he has thrown an SEC-record 347 passes without an INT, a streak that stretches back to Oct 2022. The Missouri River in Columbia is the setting for this unexpected, but possibly crucial SEC midseason matchup.
Saturday, 10/7 - Mid-Afternoon Games
#13 Washington St @ UCLA - 3PM ET (PAC 12 Network); spread is UCLA -3.5
Surprisingly, the 13th-ranked Cougars are getting little love from Vegas as they travel to LA to take on the unranked Bruins, and I think that's exactly the way they like it. The PAC-12 is possibly the deepest Conference this season and with USC, Oregon, Washington and Coach Prime making all the headlines, Washington St. could possibly be the Cinderella that strikes midnight for everyone else's Playoff hopes. Led by QB Cam Ward, who has skyrocketed up 2024 Draft boards into Day 2 territory, the Cougars - like Ohio St - come into this game well-rested after a week off. UCLA's defense is pretty good so this will be a big test for Ward to play a bigtime defense on the road. On the flipside, the last time we saw UCLA, they were getting manhandled by Utah's defense in Salt Lake City, so the need a bounceback game to keep-up with the contenders in the PAC-12.
#11 Alabama @ Texas A&M - 3:30PM ET (CBS); spread is Alabama -2.5
You wouldn't know it the way the SEC has sort of "limped" along this season compared to the last 10-15 years, but this game is actually for 1st place in the SEC West and could go along ways into determining a spot in the SEC Championship. While Jimbo Fisher has certainly underperformed as HC of the Aggies so far, the 2023 version of the team might actually be his best one as outside of a dogfight game in Miami against the Hurricanes, they've played really well and come into this game with as much momentum as any team Fisher has had in College Station. It was only a few weeks ago that the Crimson Tide looked like a shell of their former selves as they were thoroughly defeated at home by Texas and had to scrape by USF, but a big win over ex-Assistant Lane Kiffin may have rejuvinated Alabama's season. It's no secret that Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher don't like each other, which provides a little something extra for this mid-day matchup with possible CFP implications.
Saturday, 10/7 - Evening Games
#20 Kentucky @ #1 Georgia - 7PM ET (ESPN); spread is Georgia -14.5
At first glance, I didn't think much of this matchup as Kentucky hasn't really beaten anybody and their QB, NC St transfer Devin Leary, hasn't played that well - completing less than 60% of his passes and already throwing 5 picks. But despite that, the Wildcats have really solid OL/DL's, a solid rushing attack (RB Ray Davis ran for 280 yds & 4 TD's last week vs Florida) and play really good defense, which are things that travel really well in football. The Bulldogs also haven't been too great this season as they needed Top 10 prospect Brock Bowers to bail them out last week on the Plains in Auburn. Devin Leary has been horrible in bigtime games in the past for the Wolfpack, but he has a chance to put his name back on the 2024 Draft map with a win "between the hedges" on Saturday night.
#10 Notre Dame @ #25 Louisville - 7:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Notre Dame -6.5
This will be Part 3 of the 4-part Notre Dame mid-season primetime fest, with the Irish falling in Part 1 to Ohio St on a last-minute drive and then getting a bit of revenge at Duke last week as they scored a last min TD of their own. While many fans are already looking ahead to Part 4 of the series when USC and Caleb Williams come to Notre Dame Stadium in primetime next week, the Irish must get through Part 3 first, and it's not going to be easy. For starters, Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman is a QB known to have complete meltdowns and he's returning to the scene of one of his biggest meltdowns ever when he turned the ball over 6 times (3 INT's - 2 for a Pick-6, to go along with 3 lost fumbles) before getting benched during a game @ Louisville last season while he was still the QB at Wake Forest. Louisville is also playing really good offensive football behind a solid OL, a good rushing attack and QB Jack Plummer who actually leads the ACC in yards-per-completion (impressive considering the ACC QB's in Drake Maye, Jordan Travis, Riley Leonard & Tyler Van Dyke). This game is a bit of the 'ol immoveable object (Notre Dame's 11th ranked defense) vs an unstoppable force (Louisville's 11th ranked offense) and while Notre Dame will have the better roster, this is Louisville's biggest home game in 7 years this feels like a Kentucky bourbon-infused time bomb of pent-up energy, aggression, and pure exuberance perhaps never felt on gameday in Louisville, Kentucky. Lastly, Louisville 1st-yr HC Jeff Brohm (a hometown "hero", born in Louisville and playing QB for the Cardinals from '89-'93) has a bit of history upsetting top teams - he sprang 3 Top 5 upsets during his time at Purdue and led that historically bad program to a B10 title game last season. He was 7-10 against Top 10 opponents over the last 6 years, and the 2023 Louisville team is arguably the most talented team he's ever had. A few weeks, a spot in the CFP ran through South Bend...but after Saturday night, perhaps that spot might actually run along the Ohio River in Louisville...
#24 Fresno St @ Wyoming - 8PM ET (FOX); spread is Fresno St -6
The Bulldogs are currently the favorite to represent the Group of 5 on New Year's Day as the only ranked non-Power 5 Conference team, but the Cowboys are having a really good season. They have wins over Texas Tech and App St and took Texas into the 4th in Austin a few weeks ago. 1st place in the Mountain West is on the line in this one as well as a possible spot in a New Year's Day bowl game.
... and neither is this Chris guy.