After all the excitement of last week with the big matchups, week 4 feels like a lukewarm appetizer when you know that prime rib is coming soon. However, that won’t kill my vibe and I’m still here to tell you what to watch for this week. Last week I went 5-0 taking my season record to 14-2 including that bonus game from week one.
5) Auburn Tigers at #6 LSU Tigers
Last year’s matchup was a 12-10 victory for LSU in a slugfest. This year though, we got ourselves a night game at LSU and we all know how those tend to go for opponents. The good news for Auburn is they are 3-0 and riding high coming off their first conference victory in over 10 games. The bad news is they are running into a LSU team that is very much underrated at #6. New offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has LSU QB Zach Mettenberger playing well which is key since QB play has been so bad for LSU recently. Look for Auburn to give the inexperienced LSU defense some problems early but LSU will pull away in the second half and win by double digits.
4) Tennessee Volunteers at #19 Florida Gators
You know a rivalry is intense when Steve Spurrier who hasn’t coached Florida for over a decade is still taking shots at the Vols in the media saying “is this really a rivalry anymore? Tenn hasn’t won in a while.” It has been 8 games in a row that the Gators have taken down the Vols so the HBC might be right. Both teams are coming off losses with Tennessee losing to Oregon last week 59-14 and the Gators losing two weeks ago against Miami. The extra week of rest for QB Jeff Driskel will be huge for the Gators and because of him being healthy, that defense, and home crowd, the Gators roll in this one by 14+.
3) Utah State Aggies at USC Trojans
You might be thinking: Greg why in the world would you list a game between two unranked opponents as your 3 best game of the weekend? I say for the same reason you can’t take your eyes off a car wreck of a Miley Cryrus twerk video. The USC Trojans are the college football equivalent to a train wreck right now and it’s very interesting. If you want an on the field reason to watch this game it’s Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton. Last year Keeton set Utah State season records for touchdown passes, passing yards, total offense while leading the Aggies to 11 wins. The Trojans should be on full upset alert and I say the Aggies take down USC in the Coliseum.
2) Michigan State Spartans at #22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Another rivalry game for the Irish this week even though it seems like ALL of their games are supposed to be rivals. The Spartans and their slow starting offense travel to South Bend to face an Irish team that is still really hard to figure out. What happened to the ND defense from last year? Yeah they lost Manti Te’o but they returned 8 starters and have struggled. Michigan State’s gameplan will be to slow the game down and grind it out with their defense but I just don’t see that working. Tommy Rees is a good QB for all the grief he took during the offseason and the Irish will be able to put up points at home. Look for ND to take this one behind another 300 yard game from Tommy Rees.
1) #23 Arizona State Sun Devils at #5 Stanford Cardinal
Last week I called for ASU to take down the Badgers at home and they did just that behind the great running of Marion Grice. Controversial or not, they got the W and keep it moving. Moving the ball against the Stanford defense will be a whole different animal though. I think Arizona State has a good thing going with HC Todd Graham who just got an extension until 2018, but I don’t think they have the talent to take down David Shaw’s juggernaut just yet. Stanford will lost a game this year, but it’s not this one. The defense leads them to victory in this one in Palo Alto by 10 points.