5. West Virginia 1-0 @ Oklahoma State 1-0: To say that the Cowboys lost a few head of cattle last week would be a gross understatement; how about the whole herd was rustled; while they tossed, turned, and mostly slept walked through their game vs Tulsa! OSU comes into the 2020 season as the darkhorse to unseat Oklahoma as the B-12 Rodeo Champs. Based on what they showed last week, they couldn’t ride a 3 legged puppy!
Look it, Ok State is thought to have the most talented WR / RB combo in the country; Tylan Wallace @ wide out & Chuba Hubbard at running back, so where were they last Saturday? It should also be noted that the Cowboy O-Line is widely regarded as the 2nd best in the B-12, behind only OU! So one could also ask, where were they? Three points through 3 quarters?
Hubbard had 27 carries for 93 yards (3.4 YPC) and was held under 100 yards for the 1st time in 11 games!
Okie State’s, QB, Spencer Sanders, he led the cowboys to 3 points on their 1st drive, but was injured (ankle) on the first play of Cowboy’s 2nd possession. After Sanders went down, OSU did not put points on the board until the 4th quarter. This lack of offensive production, for a high performing offense, came against a Tulsa D that won 4 games in 2019 and gave up an average 31 PPG!
WR, Tylan Wallace had only 4 catches for 94 yards, 2 of the 4 receptions came in the 4th quarter, for one for 34 yards & another for 29 yards. This translated to 2 catches for 31 yards through the 1st 3 quarters! How is that possible? How is not targeted more than this? It is common knowledge that he gets separation as well as any receiver in the country!
Their were 2 positives in this game for OSU, 1) the defense played well and 2) the cowboys found a way to win, 16-7!
This week West Virginia presents a far greater challenge as the Cowboys begin the quest to win the B-12! OSU’s QB, Spencer Sanders, status is unclear as of Tuesday!
I am interested to see if the OSU staff & players are done reading about themselves and ready to prove they are who people think they are, and more importantly, prove they are who they, themselves, think they are?
West Virginia @ Oklahoma State / ABC 2:30 / OSU -8.5
4. Army 2-0 @ Cincinnati 1-0: Army comes into this game with 2 impressive wins, they hammered Middle Tennessee, 42-0 and blasted Louisiana Monroe, 37-7! While Cincy rolls in with a 55-20 win over Austin Peay (an FCS team from the Ohio Valley Conference).
The Bearcats are thought to be one of 3 or 4 Group of Five (G5) teams that have an outside shot at making the College Football Playoffs (CFP) in 2020. Their chances were reduced last week, when the B-10 announced their return to the field!
Army plays as an independent and the past few weeks have taken on C-USA (Middle Tennessee) and the Sun Belt conference (SBC), ULM and pushed them up and down the field. This week they are in with the American Athletic Conference (AAC), the best conference in the G5 realm and one of the best (if not the best … apologies to Central Florida) team’s in that league!
How good is Army? Is Cincinnati the best team in the G5 this year? Before we get to excited about the Cadets, please note, the 2 teams that Army beat are a combined 0-4; ULM is 0-2, losing to Army 37-7 & Texas State, 38-17 while Middle Tennessee, is also 0-2, losing to Army, 42-0 & Troy, 47-14!
For that matter, we don’t know much about Cincy either, the team they beat. Austin Peay, is 0-3 (lost to Central Arkansas 24-17, Pitt, 55-0 & the Bearcats, 55-20). Please note, AP scored more points against Cincinnati’s defense then they did vs. Central Arkansas & were shut out by Pitt’s D.
The winner of this game will be put into position make an early statement about where they are in the G5 hierarchy. UC needs to be mindful that Army played Oklahoma to overtime (OT), before falling, 28-21 in 2018 & lost to Michigan, in 2 OTs’, 24-21, in 2019.
Army needs to stop with this ‘being close’ stuff and win one of these games. I, for one, am interested to see if that happens come Saturday?
Army @ Cincinnati / ESPN 2:30 / Cincinnati -11
3. Miami 2-0 @ Florida State 0-1: This game used to be played with National Championships in the balance, now it reduced to one of the 5 most interesting games of week four! In part, because of what the game use to be, say ‘Wide Right’ and every college football fan in Florida knows exactly what you mean or if you see film of Bobby Bowden staring into the abyss, we all know what that means; he just lost another game to the U, on a miss FG.!
Miami leads the series, 34-30, the largest margin of victory is the Canes, 47-0 tail-whipping of the Noles in 1976. Miami comes in on a 3 game winning streak and FSU’s Head Coach, Mike Norvell, is out with Covid-19! These teams first met on Oct. 5, 1951, Miami won, 35-13 & last met on Nov. 2, 2019, Miami won that game as well, 27-10!
The home team is just 4-10 since 2006 & 15 of the last 18 games have been decided by a TD or less! Both of these teams are top 20 recruiting programs. The Seminoles are rated as the 15th best recruiting program in the country, while Miami 17th best on Sully’s College Football Page! See list below of the top 66 P5 teams! http://sullyscollegefootballpage.com/content.cfm?PageID=14
Florida State @ Miami, ABC / 6:30, Miami -11.5
2. Troy 1-0 @ BYU 1-0: You may be wondering why this game? The SEC begins, the B-12 is playing in conference, and so is the ACC. Some of those games will be address in the Best Games of Week Four and some of these 1st Conference meeting are simply not very good games!
This is a Covid-19 game! BYU & Troy have never met on the Gridiron, Saturday night will be their 1st encounter. Troy is one of the 42 FBS teams that the Cougars have not played in their 97 year history!
BYU absolutely annihilated Navy in their 1st game, 55-3! Impressive, especially when you consider the Midshipmen were down to Tulane, 24-0 in the 2nd half of last week’s game, before battling back to a stunning, 27-24, win!
The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) got off to an historic start in the opening week of the 2020 season, beating 3 B-12 opponents (Louisiana 34 Iowa State 13, Arkansas State 35 Kansas State 31, & Coastal Carolina 38 Kansas 23)! Best start ever!!
Given how strong BYU looked against Navy, a win here by the Men of Troy would send signals around the country that the SBC is no longer the weakest of the 10 FBS Conferences!
Troy @ BYU, ESPN / 9:15, BYU -15.5
#1. Alabama 0-0 @ Missouri 0-0: Not only did Bama not win the CFP in 2019, for the 1st time since its inception, the Tide did not make the cut! They are not happy and I, for one, am anxious to see how ‘unhappy’?
Missouri is 1st up. The Tigers joined the SEC on July 1, 2012 (with Texas A&M) and have faced off with the Crimson Tide 3 times, 2012, Bama won 42-10; 2014, the Tide won again, 42-10 (same score), and then in 2018, the Tide rolled yet again, 39-10 (almost the same score). I think it is safe to say Mizzou is stuck on 10!
That said, Missouri has beaten Alabama! The 1st meeting between these teams was in 1968, Bear Bryant was coaching Alabama and Dan Devine was @ Missouri, the Tigers won, 35-10! Mizzou other win was in 1975, 20-7, in Birmingham, AL! Bama won the remaining game the teams played as non-members of the SEC, in 1978, 38-20, in Columbia, MO! Bama leads the series 4-2!
Another point of interest is their new (kind of new) QB, Mac Jones, who in 2019 had the unenviable task of replacing perhaps the greatest Bama QB since Kenny (the Snake) Stabler, Tua Tagovailoa. How will he fair this coming season? He has great skill around him, at RB Najee Harris, @ WR Jaylen Waddle & DeVonta Smith, & the anchor of their defense, MLB, Dylan Moses, returns from a torn ACL!
Alabama brought in the 2nd rated high school QB in the country, Bryce Young! Many thought he would win the job for the 2020 season, but with no spring FB and limited summer camp, no surprise that the ‘guy’ is Mac!
Alabama @ Missouri, ESPN / 6:00, Bama -27
Enjoy the Games!!
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