Well it didn’t take too long before we got to see some top teams take a tumble down the rankings. Last week we saw Ole Miss march into Tuscaloosa and leave out victorious over the Crimson Tide for the second year in a row, and we also saw Stanford take down USC despite looking very suspect to open the season.
You folks know the saying about how on any given Saturday an upset could happen, and that’s exactly how it went down this past weekend.
Will we get more of the same this weekend as some more Top 25 matchups and some possible trap games? We shall see. Lets take a look at some of the matchups on deck for Saturday.
#24 Oklahoma State vs. Texas
The Longhorns dropped a heartbreaker to Cal last week when their kicker shanked an extra point to tie the game, but they also found themselves a playmaker at quarterback in Jerrod Heard in the process. Oklahoma State comes in undefeated, but they had looked a little shaky until last week against UTSA. I came into the season thinking this was a game that Texas could win to get some early season momentum after how they beat up on OSU in Stillwater last year, and I expect this game to include tons of fireworks on offense. I am going with the Horns to knock off the Cowboys and get some momentum going as conference play begins.
Prediction: Texas
#22 BYU vs. Michigan
The Cougars and their hot shot freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum are heading to The Big House this weekend to take on Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines. BYU finds themselves as the underdog despite being the team that is ranked in the matchup and I find that particularly interesting. BYU has proved to be a tough out every week thus far and Michigan hasn’t notched a win against a ranked opponent just yet. I think this one will be close, but I am rolling with Tanner Mangum and his magic.
Prediction: BYU
#19 USC vs. Arizona State
The Trojans are coming off of a big loss to Stanford from this past weekend (making me look bad, smh) and they are looking to get back on track against Arizona State. The Sun Devils haven’t looked great at all this year, but after last week USC can’t take anything for granted when it comes to matchups. I think USC wins this game, but don’t be shocked if ASU puts up a fight as they trying to get off on the right foot in conference play.
Prediction: USC
#18 Utah vs. #13 Oregon
If you think back to last year, it looked like Utah was on their way to upsetting Oregon as they jumped out to an early lead on the Ducks. That was until a Utah receiver dropped the ball before crossing the goal line and it was returned the other way for six points. The Utes never recovered and the Ducks rolled them. A year later they have a chance to march into Eugene and make amends for coming up short last year and the Ducks defense has shown each week that they can be had. The Ducks are still good on offense, but I think this could be the year the Utes put it together and take them down.
Prediction: Utah
#16 Arizona vs. #9 UCLA
It hasn’t been a great week for the Bruins despite holding on to a victory this past weekend against BYU. Earlier in the week the Bruins found out that star linebacker Myles Jack will be out for the remainder of the year with a torn meniscus and that was after losing one of the stud defensive lineman in Eddie Vanderdoes. Now the Bruins must head down to the desert in Arizona and take on Rich Rod’s Wildcats and it is never easy to win down there. Brutal injury key injury + young quarterback going into a hostile road environment+ an opponent who is capable of scoring points+ = Upset City. I’m taking Arizona.
Prediction: Arizona
#14 Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
A rematch of what ended up being an epic game last year in Jerry World. The Razorbacks are desperate for a win after head coach Bret Bielema wrote a few checks with his mouth that he couldn’t afford to cash. Unfortunately for him he faces yet another high octane offense from the state of Texas and I think the Aggies will be looking to sweep the leg after his comments about spread offenses came to light. I’m taking the Aggies to hand Arkansas their third straight loss.
Prediction: Texas A&M
#3 TCU vs. Texas Tech
Why am putting this game in the preview? Because this one has trap game written all over it. Texas Tech is playing with a bit of swagger offensively, and they are coming off a big win on the road against Arkansas. On top of that the TCU defense has been absolutely snake bitten with injuries and are heading into a tough road environment that always seems to create problems for ranked opponents who head out to Lubbock. Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes is legit and he has a chance to go toe to toe with Trevone Boykin and the TCU offense in a game I expect to be a shootout. I think this is the week where the several injuries on defense finally bite the Horned Frogs.
Prediction: Texas Tech