Florida State @ Miami (FL)
To paraphrase the great Silky Johnson, what can we say about these two teams that hasn’t already been said about Afghanistan? They’re bombed out and depleted. The Seminoles and Hurricanes both have talent to spare, but any expert will tell you the problem here is a lack of execution. That said, somebody’s got to win this one and it’s awfully hard to go wrong picking against Florida State these days.
Miami 27, Florida State 20
#13 Auburn @ #19 Vanderbilt
These are strange days indeed when Vanderbilt sits alone atop the SEC East. Black is white, up is down, Chad Kroeger is the voice of a generation, and so on. Auburn has considerably more talent than the Commodores but still managed to look pretty bad in a win over Tennessee last week. I’m not convinced that Auburn belongs in the top 15, but at some point the law of averages has to kick in and their offense will put together a couple decent drives… right?
Auburn 17, Vanderbilt 14
#14 Ohio State @ #18 Wisconsin
Ohio State won its Big Ten opener over Minnesota without much trouble last week, and true freshman Terrelle Pryor looks to be worthy of all the hype. Meanwhile Wisconsin played a game to make Robert Louis Stevenson proud, failing to capitalize on a dominating first half in their loss to Michigan. Camp Randall is going to be rocking for the 8 pm kickoff, and if Bret Bielema can refocus his team after last week’s heartbreak, then they should have just enough to get by the Buckeyes.
Wisconsin 24, Ohio State 23
#23 Oregon @ #9 USC
Year after year, USC turns losing to a comically-inferior opponent into an artform. After destroying #3 Ohio State at home the Trojans went up to Corvallis and lost to an Oregon State team that wasn’t good enough to beat Stanford. Oregon is actually pretty good, but The Coliseum is where pretty good teams go to die. Not taking opponents seriously seems to be the Trojans’ only weakness, so as long as they don’t overlook the Ducks this game should be an easy win. Oregon’s only hope for victory is to get much, much better before Saturday or much, much worse.
USC 38, Oregon 24
#4 Missouri @ Nebraska
Nebraska joins Florida State and Miami as programs looking to recapture the glory years of its past. It wasn’t so long ago that Nebraska would crush the Tigers like clockwork every year on their way to a Big 12 Title. Now it’s Missouri’s turn to do the stomping. Chase Daniel leads one of the nation’s best offenses into Lincoln; although the Huskers’ defense has made great strides under Bo Pelini they may still need to look into PTSD counseling by the time this one’s over.
Missouri 42, Nebraska 20
Record so Far: 9-8
