Week 5 Preview

A lot of fantastic games coming up this weekend again. For the sake of time, I’ll just give a thought or two about each and a prediction. Too many to get too in depth, although one or two contests certainly warrant a little special treatment this week.

(24) TCU AT (2) Oklahoma – Sooners are the best offensive team in the country. Oklahoma 49, TCU 21.

Mississippi AT (4) Florida – Gators roll again. Florida 38, Mississippi 21.

Mississippi State AT (5) LSU – LSU gets one week to recover from the tough road win at Auburn before they go through murderer’s row and we find out what these Tigers are really made of. LSU 42, Mississippi State 14

(9) Wisconsin AT Michigan – The Wolverines are rebuilding, and the Badgers are on of only two decent Big 10 squads this year. Wisconsin 32, Michigan 24.

(22) Illinois AT (12) Penn State – Nittany Lions are the best team in the conference by FAR as of today. Penn State 45, Illinois 24.

Tennessee AT (15) Auburn – Auburn and Tennessee both have to recover off tough losses. If this one goes south for the Vols, it could be a very long season. Auburn’s D and the home crowd are enough in this one. Auburn 27, Tennessee 19.

Maryland AT (20) Clemson – Clemson seems to be back on track, but Maryland is wildly erratic so far. Clemson 32, Maryland 12.

(25) Fresno State AT UCLA – UCLA is one of the 3 worst teams in the Pac-10. Fresno State is one of the best teams in the WAC. Fresno State 27, UCLA 10.

North Carolina AT Miami – The Tar Heels will be without Yates in this one, and Miami shows signs of having more talent in this year. Miami 26, North Carolina 23.

Colorado AT Florida State – Florida State will have to regroup after a tough loss to Wake Forest. They’ll get the job done. Florida State 31, Colorado 23.

Virginia Tech AT Nebraska – Nebraska is quietly off to a strong start. Virginia Tech is loudly off to a poor start, although they helped themselves with a nice win against North Carolina last week. Home field wins this one. Nebraska 32, Virginia Tech 28.

Stanford AT Washington – NO PICK HERE because I am frightened at what that might portend for this game. Suffice it to say that this is Willingham’s biggest game as UW football coach, and I am rooting for him as hard as I possibly can. The home crowd will be an asset. The question here will be Washington’s inexperience at the skill positions against Stanford’s solid defense. If Washington can move the ball effectively, this should be a positive outcome for the Huskies.

Minnesota AT (14) Ohio State – The Buckeyes had better be on the upset alert this week. After a crushing defeat at the hands of USC last week, they’ll come out flat again. This team is on its way to a disappointing year, but they’ll have enough against the Golden Gophers. Ohio State 20, Minnesota 17.

Purdue AT Notre Dame – The Fighting Irish are looking semi-decent again this year, but my gut tells me that Charlie Weis will find a way to blow this. Purdue 30, Notre Dame 24.

(8) Alabama AT (3) Georgia – We come to the game of the week. A good old fashioned SEC barnburner should be in store for college football fans across the nation when Georgia breaks out the black jerseys to take on the Crimson Tide this Saturday. The Bulldog offense has sputtered at times early in the season, and this game marks the beginning of what is almost certainly the hardest schedule in the nation. Alabama has looked solid early in the year, but they haven’t had a test like this yet, and are inexperienced all over the football field. John Parker Wilson, while experienced, is not exactly the best of game managers. Georgia’s defense will make some plays in this one, even if Stafford and Moreno and company can’t get much going against a stout ‘Bama defense. This one goes down to the wire, but the Bulldogs will pull out a critical victory in the first of a string of Top-10 opponents. Georgia 27, Alabama 23.

There you have it football fans, Week 5 in a nutshell. Please feel free to tell me how wrong I am when everything comes crashing down on these picks when the real games are played. So far, it’s been an exciting season, and I fully expect Week 5 to continue to ramp up the excitement as we start getting into conference play in earnest. Enjoy the weekend!