Week 11

BYU vs Texas Tech – This game is a semifinal for the Big 12 Title Game and will help shape the College Football Playoff. BYU comes into this game undefeated at 8-0 but they haven’t always been dominate. They struggled against Arizona, Colorado and Utah, but they did win. The Cougars are powered by their hardcore rushing attack. RB LJ Martin has been the work horse of this offense, but he enters this game with a lingering shoulder injury which might limit his carries and production. The plus side is that he only had five carries in the first half of BYU’s last game at Iowa State and they had an open date last week which provided some extra recovery time. The report is that he was able to return to practice this week. If he is healthy and able to take on his workhorse responsibilities, it’ll be the best news for the Cougars. Otherwise, this game is going to test the depth of the BYU running attack and more than likely put more pressure on the shoulders of true freshman QB Bear Bachmeier. QB Bachmeier will have to be at the top of his game against this bruising Texas Tech defense. Right now the Cougars rank third in scoring 36.3 points per game. The Red Raiders haven’t had such a big matchup since the 2008 season when they played three ranked teams in a row, where they beat Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Game Day is making a return trip to Lubbock Texas. Texas Tech only has one loss and sits at 8-1 but in that loss they didn’t have their starting QB Behren Morton who has been on fire throwing for 1,750 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. The Raiders offense is averaging 43.6 points per game and when they are operating on all cylinders they have overwhelmed opponents with a balance and dominant attack, ranking in the top 10 nationally in total offense. However, that is not the strength of the Raiders it’s their defense. They are led by edge rusher David Bailey and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and they’ve only allowed 75 rushing yards per game. With the Cougars strength being their rushing attack it’s going to be interesting to see which strength is going prevail. There is the old saying offenses win games, defenses win championships. Defenses usually win, so Texas Tech is the pick.

Texas A&M vs Missouri – The Daughter is dreading this game; she has been waiting for the horrible “Battered Aggie Syndrome” to appear this season and she and every other Aggie fan are terrified that this could be the game. Is this game a trap game? yes, yes it is. Missouri lost their starting QB in the Vanderbilt game and are going to be led by a freshman Matt Zollers. Zollers did fill in nicely for the Tigers in that loss to Vandy. Missou opened their year on quite a tear, beating the daylights out of several overmatched opponents, but they’ve had two losses in their last three games, and that one victory was in overtime to a very weak and struggling Auburn team. The fact of the matter is that the Aggies are a much more battle-tested team than the Tigers. The Ags have a very experienced defense that is playing extremely well. The Tigers do have a good rushing attack with RB Ahmad Hardy but after facing some tough defenses their production has dropped off by 33%, they’ve got to get that back up if they have any chance of winning. Texas A&M is coming into this game confident, undefeated, and ranked 3^rd in the nation. They have visions of the SEC Championship game and a high ranking for the Playoffs, heck they’re even thinking of having an undefeated season. Which is why this game has the potential of being a huge trap game. The Ags know the Tigers are weak and struggling but Mizzou isn’t dead and they aren’t going to just roll over and die. QB Reed is now being talked about as a Heisman finalist, the defense is dominating, everything is going the Aggie’s way. But if they come into this game thinking they’ve already won just by showing up, the “Battered Aggie Syndrome” is going to end up biting them. This is unfamiliar territory for A&M and HC Mike Elko is going to have his hands full making sure this A&M team enters this game with their heads on straight. A&M should win this game with no problems, but trap games have a terrible time of upsetting the favorite. The pick is still the Aggies the Daughter should be happy at the end of the game.

Oregon vs Iowa   - Iowa is looking for a major upset. Believe it or not they are still in the running for third place in the Big Ten, but they have a hard November in front of them and these next two games are crucial. If they can take down Oregon and then beat USC, they’re next two games are not as difficult, but they have to run the table on these last four if they want to have a chance for the playoffs. Iowa of course relies on running the ball, they don’t just rely on it, they live by running the ball. To make this rushing attack so dominate they have great big lineman, and they mostly control the pace of the game. They have two losses to Iowa State and Indiana, and their big lineman haven’t completely dominated as the Hawkeyes do have several struggle wins. Oregon started off the season great and then they played Indiana and lost at home. Since that time, they had a great game against Rutgers, and they did beat Wisconsin but they weren’t great, but it was raining and that might have been a factor. Oregon might come into this game with a bit of an edge. With that loss to Indiana and their struggle against Penn State and Wisconsin it caused them to lose some of their shine, and they want it back. Oregon can’t afford to have another conference loss. The Quack attack is a formidable offense but if they are going to win this game, it's not the Quack attack that is going to do it, its that Green, or whatever color they wear for this game, Defense that’s got to do it. All they have to do is stop the Iowa ground game, the Hawkeyes can pass from time to time, but they don’t like to do it, and they’re not the best at it. The Iowa defense might slow down the Quack Attack but it’s highly doubtful they’ll be able to stop it. Oregon is the pick to win, but this is going to be a hard-fought game down to the last minutes.

LSU vs Alabama – LSU comes into this game wounded, beaten, and they just lost their head coach, but after some of the reports that have come out about HC Brian Kelly’s tenure, they might not be missing him that much. Even with all that has happened to the Bayou Bengals they are still a very dangerous team and they are fully capable of beating Alabama. Nothing of course would please this Tiger team more than to potentially be the one that knocks the Crimson Tide out of the SEC Championship game. Alabama has been in playoff mode since they lost their first game to Florida State, and they can’t let up now. Ty Simpson has been performing great, and if the Tide is going to win this game, he’s going to have to keep that production going. LSU hasn’t had much of a pass rush, and if they allow Ty to have time in the pocket, he’s going to pick that secondary apart. LSU and Alabama is a rival game, which means records don’t matter. LSU is playing to be the spoiler they’ve got nothing to lose, so they’re going to go all out in this game. Alabama has everything to gain by beating the Tigers and they’re going to go all out. It’s going to be a tight three quarters, but in the fourth Alabama is going to pull away and get the victory.

Short Smokes

Tulane and Memphis is going to be a great game, Tulane is going to upset Memphis

Indiana will continue to dominate over Penn State

Georgia will have a tough time with Mississippi State for the first half and then they’ll pull away in the second half, just like they’ve been doing all year

SMU will stampede over Boston College

Colorado and West “By Golly” Virginia are both at 3-6 but WVU is playing better

Army goes marching along against Temple

Ohio State will not have any problems with Purdue, but wouldn’t it be great if they did

Ole Miss passes all over The Citadel

Maryland and Rutgers is a toss-up, pick one

Syracuse could possibly take down Miami the way the Hurricanes are playing

Kansas and Arizona should be good one, gonna pick the Wildcats

Iowa State is going to have a very tough time against TCU

Auburn will continue their downward fall against Vanderbilt

Washington will dominate Wisconsin as the Badgers continue to lose

North Carolina vs Stanford…hmmmmm…..go with the Tar Heels

Virginia is playing pretty darn good and they will continue to do so against Wake Forest

The hippies of California are up against it with Louisville

Florida State and Clemson used to be a great rival, back when both teams were good, Florida State had a better game last week so go with FSU

Notre Dame will add another loss to Navy

Florida and Kentucky are both having a bad year, Kentucky will pull this one out

Nebraska needs to be ready for UCLA, the Cornhuskers will win

In the first late game, Oregon State will take down Sam Houston

In the second late game, San Diego State is going to have a tough game with Hawai’i but the Aztecs will win