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Notre Dame Football

What to Watch on Saturday

September 25, 2020
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Notre Dame football won't take the field on Saturday, but there will still be plenty of football to watch as the SEC makes its return to the field. 

Here's a quick rundown of what I'll be keeping tabs on this weekend. 

ACC ACC ACC
The Fighting Irish share a first-place tie (doesn't matter with how many others) in the ACC, so let's start here. 

No. 24 Louisville travels to No. 21 Pitt for a noon kickoff on the ACC Network. Notre Dame plays both teams later this fall and if you like seeing future opponents, then this is the game for you. 

It's no secret Louisville has an explosive offense, but how do they fare against one of the top defenses in the ACC? Can Javian Hawkins get loose against an excellent run defense? On the other side, Pitt isn't known for offense and could have one of the worst in the ACC, so can Louisville rebound after giving up 47 to Miami a week ago? 

I like Louisville in this one because they should be able to score, whereas Pitt might not be able to keep up. 

Georgia Tech at Syracuse and Duke at Virginia won't be on any TV in my house, so let's skip to primetime. 

Florida State travels to No. 12 Miami and the Noles will be without head coach Mike Norvell as he tested positive for COVID last week, but it might not matter at the end of the day. 

Miami looked like the 3rd best team in the ACC last week at Louisville while Florida State lost to Georgia Tech 16-13 two weeks ago at home. Yes, it's worth mentioning Georgia Tech hosted Central Florida last weekend and lost 49-21.

But as with any rivalry, it's worth watching until it's not. I think Miami wins big and if they do, then it might be time to start paying attention to the Canes as they will have a bye next week before traveling to No. 1 Clemson on Oct. 10. 

The other night game is NC State at No. 20 Virginia Tech at 8:00 pm on the ACC Network. Neither team plays Notre Dame, but Saturday will be the Hokies first game of the season.

It Just Means More 

The SEC makes it returns and there will be some quality football games from the start.

No. 23 Kentucky will travel to No. 8 Auburn and if you want to see NFL talent and speed, this might be the game for you. 

Kentucky struggled last year because it lost all its quarterbacks and had a receiver winning games out of the wildcat. Offensive lineman Darian Kinnard and Drake Jackson headline the Wildcats offensive line and both are NFL talents. At 6-foot-5, 347, Kinnard could work himself into a position to leave Lexington early. 

Auburn has the fastest man in college football in receiver Anthony Schwartz and quarterback Bo Nix will also have plenty of talent backs to hand the rock to. Kentucky cornerback (LSU transfer) Kelvin Joseph will have his hands full, but the talent has always been there for the former four-star prospect.

No. 5 Florida travels to Oxford as Ole Miss opens the Lane Kiffin era. The Rebels lack defensive talent, but Kiffin will have offensive weapons to play around with and 2020 is weird. I don't expect the Gators to get upset, but if they did, Kiffin would be the guy to do it. 

Mississippi State travels to No. 6 LSU and despite the offensive hype, it might turn into a classic low scoring SEC contest. LSU returns plenty of talent, but they also lost so much that it's hard to replace it all. I've been waiting for the day Mike Leach is in the SEC and while he might be a few years away from competing, I'm interested to see what he does with Stanford grad transfer KJ Costello at quarterback. 

Misc. 

No. 22 Army will head to No. 14 Cincinnati and the winner will walk away with a quality win. Cincinnati seems to be on the cusp of becoming a program people should notice, but the tripe-option is a great equalizer.

Iowa State travels to TCU. TCU hasn't played in 2020 and Iowa State is coming off a 31-14 loss to Louisiana two weeks ago...at home. If you like points, I could see this one being a high scoring game. 

Tags: Football
 
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