What to Watch this Weekend
Notre Dame’s not playing this weekend, so it’s probably a good time for you to spend your Saturday doing something other than watching football all day.
Who am I kidding? We only get so few Saturdays a year for college football and need to take advantage of every one of them.
There are plenty of interesting matchups to watch that involve Notre Dame opponents and other big games to check out. It all starts with a noon kick involving one of the most intriguing games of the day.
(All times are eastern)
Notre Dame opponents
Army at Michigan (Noon on FOX)
Army gave Oklahoma a scare last season and held their high powered offense to 21 points in regulation. They ultimately lost in overtime, but they limited the possessions in the game and essentially played keep away.
Can they do the same against Michigan this year? The Wolverines have a much better defense so I don’t know if Army’s offense will be able to get ti done with their offense in this one.
Michigan is favored by 22.5.
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech (Noon on ESPNU)
Last year ODU exposed Virginia Tech’s defense in an upset victory. Some assumed it was a blip, but the Hokies struggled all season on that side of the ball.
Tech’s defense didn’t look too great against Boston College last week either. They gave up six plays longer than 20 yards. It was the big play that killed them last year in this game, but it would still be surprising to see them lose despite wide receiver Damon Hazelton potentially not being available again with a hamstring injury.
Tech is favored by 28.5.
Murray State at Georgia (4pm on ESPN2)
No one believes Georgia isn’t going to win this big and they probably won’t show much, but if you want to get a glimpse of them, no one would blame you for having one of your screens on this game.
Georgia is favored by 48.5.
Stanford at USC (10:30pm on ESPN)
No KJ Costello and no Walker Little for Stanford. Losing two of your best players at two critical positions might have been the difference against a USC team that was at full strength, but quarterback JT Daneils is out for the season. His replacement is true freshman Kedon Slovis.
This has the potential to get all kinds of weird, even for a #PAC12AfterDark game.
USC is favored by 3.
The Other Guys
Cincinnati at Ohio State (Noon on ABC)
This is the kind of game that Urban Meyer would win by 40 just to show that the Bearcats are not worthy of being on the same field as the Buckeyes.
Let’s see how Ryan Day does in this spot.
Ohio State is favored by 16. (I’ll be taking the favorite to cover)
Texas A&M at Clemson (3:30 on ABC)
No one played Clemson tighter than A&M last season, but that was before Trevor Lawrence became QB1. Justyn Ross also had zero catches in that game and was barely utilized in the offense. Something tells me those two guys are going to have a big impact on Saturday.
Mike Elko is going to have his hands full stopping them and Travis Etienne.
Clemson is favored by 17.
Nebraska at Colorado (3:30 on FOX)
I love the old rivalries and this one was revived last season between the former Big 8 opponents. This is way more about nostalgia than the game itself. I just like seeing these two play each other on Folsom Field (which is a really cool stadium).
Nebraska is favored by 4.
LSU at Texas (7:30pm on ABC)
The game of the week in college football. We need more of these types of matchups. Kudos to both of these schools for scheduling it.
LSU always has so much talent at receiver, but they’ve seemed to waste it in the wrong offense. That might be changing under new passing game coordinator Joe Brady. It should be fun to see how those receivers do against a very talented Texas secondary.
“Texas is back!” That was the message after the beat down Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, but people seem to say Texas is back a lot when they aren’t actually there yet. This time they might be right, though.
This is the best roster they’ve had in a long time. I’d lean towards LSU, but it would not be surprising at all if UT won it. Tom Herman has done well in big games like this.
LSU is favored by 6.5.