We made it past one of the worst slates of college football, and we’ve finally got some conference matches.
Week four had a disappointing lineup of matchups, but week five has multiple games that could potentially shake things up in both the national and conference rankings.
First off, both Utah State University and Brigham Young University play Friday evening at 7 p.m. Mountain time. They aren’t playing each other yet, but Utah State will travel to San Jose State University to take on the Spartans on ESPN. BYU will stay at home and welcome Middle Tennessee State University on ESPNU. The University of Utah has a bye this week.
Both teams should be able to right their ships after losses in week four. Utah State will be able to start its attack on the Mountain West Conference foes as the Aggies look to win the conference in their first year.
Things in Provo should settle down when BYU’s sophomore quarterback Taysom Hill runs all over the Blue Raiders. He’ll be back to his “amazing” status Cougar fans were calling him after the Texas game.
As for the national level of games, there are some good competitions that are going to take place.
There are a couple great showdowns in the Southeastern Conference. One game is No. 6 Louisiana State University at No. 9 University of Georgia at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS. The other game has No. 21 University of Mississippi playing against No. 1 University of Alabama at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
I will go in depth about the LSU and Georgia game later, but Ole Miss has been playing some of its best football in a few years. I don’t think that will be enough to unseat Alabama on top of the SEC. Although, I won’t be surprised if this is a close game, but Alabama should win.
The Big Ten Conference has a huge early matchup in which No. 23 University of Wisconsin will travel to No. 4 Ohio State University. The game begins at 8 p.m. Saturday on ABC.
Ohio State has scored at least 40 points in each of its games. Wisconsin has allowed only 10.5 points per game this season, pitching two shutouts and losing on a controversial last play to Arizona State University.
Wisconsin has played a little bit better competition, but not much. So this is the first true test for both teams on the season. It will be interesting to see Ohio State’s backup senior quarterback Kenny Guiton against a real defense. I think this could be a really close game throughout. I will say Wisconsin comes out on top because of its defense.
The biggest game is Georgia at LSU. This matchup is between two high-powered offenses. Georgia totals 574 yards per game and LSU averages 480.3 yards per game.
I will admit I am on the Georgia bandwagon. I joined it during last year’s game against Alabama. Senior quarterback Aaron Murray has proved he is one of the best this season by throwing for 346.6 yards per game and completing 72 percent of his passes.
I have watched LSU score at will this year, though, so this game is a wonderful matchup. LSU has great balance on offense of both rushing and passing yards. Senior quarterback Zach Mettenberger has completed 65 percent of his passes and averages 256.5 yards per game.
LSU also has two great running backs who have played good football this year. Sophomore Jeremy Hill rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns last week. Junior Terrence Magee has 219 yards on the season also.
On defense, LSU allows 310 total yards per game, while Georgia allows 388.7 yards per game.
LSU has had a much easier schedule compared to Georgia. That gives Georgia an upper hand in the fact the Bulldogs have played tough teams already. It’s obvious the Bulldogs have the better quarterback, but the Tigers have two good running backs.
My bandwagon heart wants to say Georgia can beat LSU, but my head and gut say LSU will win this game because of its defense and running backs. It will be close until the end, maybe even going back and forth until the final whistle. LSU will win by four points, and it will be thanks to the defense holding the Bulldogs on their final drive.
Agree or disagree? Let me know at dixiesunnews.com or on Twitter @JAbel_News.
