After three straight week's of at least 4 wins, last week brought us back down to earth with a 3-2 performance. Time to get back on track. Here are this week's picks.
Texas Tech vs Oklahoma
The Red Raiders travel to Norman and will look to beat the Sooners for the second straight time at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. QB Davis Webb has taken over for Baker Mayfield and will look to keep the Red Raiders offensive success going Saturday in Norman. Webb has thrown for over 1400 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions so far this season with the last two games being starts. Webb has a plethora of offensive weapons including WR's Jace Amaro, Bradley Marquez and Eric Ward who have each caught over 30 passes so far this season. The Red Raiders ability to spread the ball all over the field has allowed them to have the second best passing offense in the country. While they don't run often, the Red Raiders have two capable running backs in Kenny Williams and DeAndre Washington. Both are averaging almost four yards a carry and have combined for 10 rushing touchdowns so far this year. The biggest improvement under first year Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury has been the defense. Texas Tech has always been able to score with anyone but has had real problems stopping opposing offenses the last several years. This year, however, the Red Raiders are 15th in points allowed and have only allowed one opponent to score more than 30 points. If the defense can keep Oklahoma under 30 points and the offense continues to execute the way it has the last few weeks, it could be a long day for Oklahoma.
The Sooners are coming off a 34-19 win over Kansas in Lawrence and will look to build on that momentum against the Red Raiders on Saturday. QB Blake Bell struggled for the second straight game completing only 60% of his passes for 131 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Bell will need to play much better against the Red Raiders if the Sooners are going to win on Saturday. The Sooners will also need to run the ball the way they did against Kansas to keep the Texas Tech offense on the sidelines and wear the Raiders defense out early in the game. Bell along with RB's Damian Williams and Roy Finch and FB Trey Millard should get some touches early and often for the Sooners. The biggest challenge for the Sooners will be stopping the Red Raider offense. The good news for the Sooners is that the Raiders can't pound the ball down the Sooners throat like Texas did two weeks ago in the middle of the Sooner defense so the weak part of the Sooner defense won't be as exposed. The bad news is that the Raiders hurry up offense can and will target many different offensive weapons to keep drives going and won't allow the Sooners to substitute fresh legs, so if the Sooners can't stop the Raider drives early, the defense could be in for a long day.
Prediction: While Oklahoma is a very difficult place for opponents to come in and win, Texas Tech has done it before. Oklahoma will try to establish the run early and often and while it will have success throughout the game, it will be forced to throw in the later stages as Tech will have the lead throughout the majority of the game. Bell's inability to complete passes consistently in crucial moments will be the deciding factor in this game and Texas Tech will go into Norman and come out with a W for the second straight time.
+Texas Tech University 34 - +The University of Oklahoma 24
UCLA vs Oregon
UCLA looks to get back on track after losing to Stanford last week, but is in for a tough task against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene. QB Brett Hundley, who has led the UCLA offense all year, struggled mightily last week against the Cardinal defense will need to play much better against the Ducks if the Bruins expect to pull off the upset. Hundley has completed 67% of his passes on the year with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has also rushed for 287 yards and three touchdowns as well. Hundley will need to get the ball in the hands of his play makers including WR's Shaq Evans and Devin Fuller for the Bruins to score enough points to keep up with the Ducks offense. The Bruins running game of Hundley and RB's Jordon James and Paul Perkins has been very good this year averaging 200 rushing yards per game. This will be the X factor against the Ducks because if the Bruins can run the ball successfully early and often, they can keep the Ducks offense on the sideline, chew up some clock and wear down the Ducks defense to open some holes for Hundley. The Bruin defense will also look to win the line of scrimmage battle to prevent the Ducks from running on them all night. The Bruins have the physicality. Do they have the speed to keep up with Oregon is the question?
The Ducks offense just keeps on rolling after another 60+ point and 700+ yard performance last Saturday against Washington St. Heisman candidate QB Marcus Mariota has been sensational this year throwing for over 2000 yards to go along with 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He is also lethal on the ground where he averages over 10 yards per carry and has nine touchdowns as well. The Ducks up tempo offense begins and ends with Mariota. The Ducks are 2nd best in rushing yards per game and top 20 in passing yards per game, which would be higher if they didn't blow every team out of the stadium by the second quarter. Joining Mariota in the backfield are RB's Byron Marshall and Thomas Tyner. The two have combined for over 1100 yards and 16 touchdowns. The Ducks will also get RB De'Anthony Thomas back from his ankle injury adding even more firepower to the offense. WR's Josh Huff and Bralon Addison have been a nightmare for defenses to cover so far this year. The question for Oregon isn't will they score because they will definitely score enough points to win. The question will be whether they can deal with the Bruin physicality up front with regard to the Bruin run game.
Prediction: Both teams will come out and try to impose their will. The Bruins will have success early with their run game and with Hundley through the air. However, after a couple of solid drives leading to points, the Bruins offense sputters a bit and the Bruins fall behind the Ducks by two scores. This forces the Bruins to become over reliant on the pass, which plays into the Ducks hands. After a good first half, the game is decided by the end of the third quarter and the Ducks put on another offensive clinic.
+University of Oregon Ducks 56 - +UCLA Bruins 35
Texas vs TCU
After avenging its previous two beat downs at the hands of Oklahoma, the Texas Longhorns look to avenge last year's loss to TCU in Fort Worth. The Longhorns have had a week to prepare for this game after thoroughly manhandling Oklahoma and will look to lean on their running game for the second consecutive game. QB Case McCoy will look to manage the game and try not to make any mistakes against the talented TCU secondary. McCoy has completed less than 60% of his passes the last two games, however, the Longhorns aren't asking him to win the game for them, rather that responsibility falls on the running game. RB's Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown who have rushed for 745 yards and five touchdowns so far this year. Both are also reliable targets out of the backfield and will need to take care of the ball against TCU. The Longhorn defense has been much improved the last three games since Greg Robinson took the helm as defensive coordinator. The Longhorns will need to create pressure with the front seven and stop the run to force the Horned Frogs to air it out which TCU hasn't been very successful at so far this season. With Casey Pachall possibly playing on Saturday, the Longhorns had best stop the run early and take an early lead.
The Horned Frogs are looking to bounce back after a 24-10 loss to Oklahoma St last Saturday in Stillwater. Trevone Boykin struggled badly throwing for only 188 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. The running game of Boykin and RB B.J. Catalon was decent but the offense as a whole has struggled all year and it doesn't appear to be getting better anytime soon. If Pachall can return, that might be the spark the Horned Frog offense needs to get the ball moving down the field. The defense has been good as it always is under Gary Patterson. Against Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma St, the defense only gave up an average of 21 points per game. The defense is elite, but it needs help from the offense if the Horned Frogs expect to win those types of games.
Prediction: Texas won't have nearly the running lanes it had against Oklahoma two weeks ago and the offense will struggle at times. With the TCU offense struggling as well against an improved Texas defense, this game will come down to the fourth quarter. A costly turnover from Boykin will give the Longhorns a short field leading to a Johnathan Gray touchdown to seal the Longhorn victory.
+Texas Longhorns 20 - +TCU Athletics 13
Stanford vs Oregon St
Kevin Hogan and the Cardinal look to beat their fourth top 25 team this year when they take on the Oregon St Beavers Saturday Night. The Cardinal bounced back nicely last week beating UCLA 24-10 after losing to Utah the week before. Hogan threw for 222 yards, a touchdown and an interception and played much better than he did against the Utes. The Cardinal also leaned heavily on RB Tyler Gaffney, who ran 36 times for 171 yards and two scores. Gaffney only carried the ball 16 times in the loss to Utah, so it was expected the Cardinal would ride him and it sure did. The Stanford defense also played very well especially against the pass against a very good QB in Brett Hundley. The Cardinal picked Hundley off twice and only allowed 192 passing yards. The Cardinal defense will need to replicate that performance again on Saturday if it expects to beat the nations best passing attack in Sean Mannion and the Beavers.
Oregon St is coming off another impressive offensive performance that saw the Beavers put up 570 yards of total offense. QB Sean Mannion threw for 481 yards and four touchdowns and has now thrown for almost 3000 yards, 29 touchdowns to only three interceptions. Mannion will look to lead the Beavers to their first win over Stanford since 2009. The Beaver offense is pretty much a two man show with Mannion and WR Brandin Cooks leading the charge. Cooks already has 76 catches and 12 touchdowns through seven games. The Beavers have struggled to run the ball with any consistency, but will need Storm Woods or Terron Ward to get some tough yardage in the red zone against the Cardinal in order to keep the defense honest and allow Mannion some holes to throw in.
Prediction: Stanford will rely on Gaffney heavily to not only keep their drives going to score points, but also to keep the Oregon State offense on the sidelines. Mannion will find holes early and often against the Stanford defense that has struggled defending the pass this year. This will be a back and forth game with each team leading at different times in the game. The crowd will become a factor causing the Cardinal to punt and on the ensuing drive the Beaver duo of Mannion to Cooks will seal the upset win for the Beavers.
+Oregon State University 38 - +Stanford University 30
Upset Special
Penn St vs Ohio St
The Nittany Lions travel to Columbus and will look to knock off the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe for the second time in a row on Saturday.The Nittany Lions have prepared for this game for the last week after beating Michigan in four overtimes two weeks ago. Highly touted recruit Christian Hackenberg will lead the Nittany Lion charge on Saturday. Hackenburg has been efficient so far this year as a freshman throwing for over 1600 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has not only kept his team in games, but has also rallied the team as well so far this season. Hackenberg will look to get the ball in the hands of star WR Allen Robinson early and often against the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions will also look to pound the ball with RB's Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton. The two have rushed for over 700 yards and 11 touchdowns and will play a pivotal role in the Nittany Lion offense on Saturday. Expect both to get 20+ carries against to Buckeyes to keep each other fresh and wear the defense down. While the Nittany Lions are a better passing team than running team, they will attack the Buckeyes early and often with the run on Saturday.
The Buckeyes are coming off a so so performance against Iowa in Iowa City and will look to get their offense clicking again against the Nittany Lions. QB Braxton Miller was very efficient completing 22 of 27 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns against the Hawkeyes. Carlos Hyde also played extremely well rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Both Miller and Hyde will need to duplicate these performances against a hungry and determined Nittany Lion defense that has had a week to prepare for them. The biggest area for improvement is the Ohio St defense. The Buckeyes defense was shredded by Wisconsin and Northwestern and for three quarters against Iowa. While the Buckeye offense has been scoring at will, the defense has struggled and the Nittany Lions will look to replicate the Iowa game plan, which kept a less talented Hawkeye team in the game for 3 and 1/2 quarters against the Buckeyes.
Prediction: The Nittany Lions will try to come into the Horseshoe and punch Ohio St in the mouth early to see if the Buckeyes will fall. With an emphasis on clock management, while also taking some shots down field with Hackenberg, the Nittany Lions will be in this game throughout contest. Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde will have success of their own and keep the Buckeyes in a tight one in the fourth quarter. After a defensive stop, the Nittany Lions will have the ball with less than three minutes to go down 28-27. A couple of completions from Hackenberg put the Nittany Lions in field goal position. Zwinak busts a 10 yard run and another seven yard run to put the field goal attempt at the Ohio St 20 yard line. The attempt is good with no time left on the clock and the Nittany Lions stun the Buckeyes
+Penn State University 30 - +Ohio State Buckeyes 28
Last Week: 3-2
2013 Season: 27-13
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