By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com’s College Football Analyst
The Prognosticator has had to double check to be sure he has not pulled a Rip Van Winkle and slept through September and October into November, for this weekend there are two West Coast rivalry games, the Civil War and the Apple Cup. The next thing I know, Nick Saban won’t even be the Alabama coach.
But upon further review, this is simply college football today in which Oregon and Oregon State and Washington and Washington State are not even in the same league. Saban has given way to, well, the Washington coach, players transfer at the drop of an NIL offer and Texas is looking like a legitimate title team instead of one looking for another Vince Young moment.
So it is reassuring to know that some things remain unchanged. Notre Dame still teases its fans with a pot of gold and rainbows while actually possessing only fool’s gold. There’s overconfidence in Miami and panic on the Plains, USC has a quarterback and Texas A&M does not, there are Dawg days in Athens and heavy sighs of relief in State College.
Now onto this week’s games. All times Pacific because The Prognosticator lives on the West Coast.
Alabama at Wisconsin (9 a.m., FOX)
Kalen DeBoer got a quick first lesson on what it is to be the head coach at Alabama last week, and that is to never take a team lightly. He learned that Beat Bama is more than a button on fan, that opponents put everything they have into making it a reality. That will certainly be the case when the Tide rolls into Camp Randall into a sea of jumping fans. The Pachyderms have the talent to make them use their seats much of the time but will need to put the big boys up on the line rather than getting expeirence for others in order to send the fans to Essen Haus early for boots of beer. Winner: Alabama
Oregon at Oregon State (12:30 p.m., FOX)
Things haven’t been too civil in Eugene this year as super-high expections almost tuned fowl against Boise State. And now the Quackers go an hour north up I-5 to defend their state pride in the Civil War, a game normally reserved for the nerves of November. For some teams, Eugene is often where championship aspirations go to die but the Beavs are breaking in a new coach as well as a new quarterback and haven’t built a strong enough dam just yet to doom the Ducks. Winner: Oregon
Washington State at Washington (Peacock)
This is what a team gets after making the National Championship last year, its rivalry game on Peacock? That’s like getting a lighter when the other guy gets a car. The Sailgaiters are upset at a lack of respect for their program but it’s hard to get it when you are tucked away in the isolated Pacific Northwest and open the season playing the Charcoal Grills (Weber State) and birds from a directional school (Western Michigan). Okay, if this is where these Dogs of society howl, let’s hear you loud and clear. Winner: Washington
Texas A&M at Florida (12:30 p.m., ABC)
The wounded Cadets stagger into The Swamp with a tough-to-penetrate defensive line and an “okay boys just hold ’em” offense. Their survival may depend on how stubborn the Florida coach – already in the Gator jaws of the ever-impatient Florida fans – is with his quarterback. His pre-game decision has those fans ready to chomp down on him. If the visiting soldiers can do the same then it’s going to be a very hot seat in Gainesville. Winner: Texas A&M
Notre Dame at Purdue (12:30 p.m., CBS)
With the pot of gold out of reach and a fading rainbow, the Leprechauns hope the Whiskey Shots In A Beer Glass are not medallions that can turn them into stone. The hosts certainly won’t be drunk on thier success – they were 4-7 last year and did not play last week – tho the fans certainly load up before games. The luck of the Irish will prevail here, in part because Purdue has a long history of taking big-name teams to the brink only to blink at the end. Winner: Notre Dame
Georgia at Kentucky (4:30 p.m., ABC)
If it is possible in college football for a team to finish with negative points, then that’s what might happen to the less-than wild Cats, based on last week’s results in which they had almost as many penalties as they did completions. And that was South Carolina, not a bunch of salavating canines. Long before this one is over the Georgia transfer quarterback will probably be wishing he was back in the silver britches. Winner: Georgia
Indiana at UCLA (4:30 p.m., NBC)
The powered blue patrons in the Rose Bowl hope they don’t experience the familiar BBS (Battered Bruin Syndrome) with thier first game as a member of the Big 10. An “uh oh” squeaker in the opener against Hawaii and an off week last weekend has caused some cautionary winds to be blowing around the program. For the red-clad visitors, were Lee Corso coaching the team now he would have been able to fulfill one of his goals, of leading Indiana into the Rose Bowl. Tho this is the stadium, and not the game. Winner: UCLA
The Pigskin Prognosticator has covered college football for several years from coast to coast.
The Pigskin Prognosticator is now on YouTube!
Leave a Reply