College football games to look forward to in Week 6
Week 5 of the college football season is in the books and it definitely lived up to the hype. The best game of the weekend might have been one in which the Notre Dame Fighting Irish drove the field to beat the Duke Blue Devils. Now, Notre Dame will be involved in another featured matchup, with the team taking on the undefeated Louisville Cardinals. But the biggest game of this week has the Oklahoma Sooners meeting the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Showdown. I’ll get into those two exciting games, as well as five others, in this story. So, keep reading to see my Week 6 Games of the Week.
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Week 6 Games of the Week
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns (-6, 59.5) – Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX
The Red River Showdown will mean a little more this year. For the first time in a while, these rivals are arguably the two best teams in the Big 12. Oklahoma comes into this game with some more question marks than Texas, but the Sooners offense is explosive with Dillon Gabriel under center. And the team’s defense looks much better in Brent Venables’ second year. Oklahoma hasn’t yet faced an offense like this, but the Sooners are allowing just 10.8 points per game. And they have been especially strong against the run, giving up only 106.2 rushing yards per game. That should come in handy against Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks, who is doing his best Bijan Robinson impression lately. Over the last three games, Brooks has rushed for 488 yards with four touchdowns. Oklahoma is going to need to keep him in check, as Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers will surely make some throws here. And if the Longhorns are clicking in both the running and passing games, this could get out of hand. We saw this team go into Tuscaloosa and beat up on the Alabama Crimson Tide, so we know how good Texas can be. But the Sooners are 5-0 against the spread this season, and they are 4-1 in the last five meetings between these teams. Oklahoma is going to be hoping to get back to having that edge over Texas, and revenge will be on the Sooners minds after last year’s 49-0 loss.
Maryland Terrapins at Ohio State Buckeyes (-19.5, 55.5)
While Ohio State is the fourth-ranked team in the country, Maryland is currently unranked. However, both teams enter this Big Ten matchup with perfect records. And while there is a significant gap in talent when looking at these rosters, this isn’t the kind of game that the Buckeyes can take lightly. Maryland has won all its games by double digits this season, and the team is coming off a 44-17 win over the Indiana Hoosiers. That Indiana team gave Ohio State trouble in a 23-3 Buckeyes win in the opening week of the season. And overall, Maryland has one of the more explosive offenses in the conference. The Terrapins are averaging 38.6 points per game this season, which is the 15th-highest mark in the nation. With that in mind, Kyle McCord and the Buckeyes offense are going to need to come correct here. But so will the Ohio State defense, which is as good as any in the country this season. The Buckeyes have the second-best scoring defense in the nation this year, and they just shut down a very good Notre Dame Fighting Irish team. So, Ohio State does have the ability to keep Taulia Tagovailoa and Maryland down. But are the Buckeyes in for any sort of letdown after that emotional road win over the Irish? That’s one thing that could potentially trip Ryan Day’s team up.
LSU Tigers (-6.5, 63.5) at Missouri Tigers
LSU is another team that just might be in a letdown spot. But Brian Kelly’s group is in one because it’s coming off an emotional loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. With two losses on the year, it isn’t outrageous to think that LSU’s season could head into something of a tailspin now. Jayden Daniels and Co. had national title aspirations heading into the year, but it’s now going to be nearly impossible for LSU to make the College Football Playoff. And the team now has to go on the road and face a Missouri program that is 5-0 and really coming into its own. This school is searching for its first winning season under head coach Eliah Drinkwitz and winning this game would go a long way in securing that. This Missouri team has the seventh-best passing offense in the nation this year, and quarterback Brady Cook will be throwing against an LSU defense that is ranked 130th against the pass. With that in mind, Missouri should be able to move the ball pretty easily in this one. The question is whether Missouri can stop an LSU team that has the seventh-best scoring offense in the country. But I do think the fans in Columbia will help the defense out here. A few stops along the way should make the difference, and it’s worth mentioning that LSU is just 1-4 ATS as a road favorite under Kelly. But I believe this is a game that Missouri can very well win outright.
Washington State Cougars at UCLA Bruins (-4, 59)
Washington State has been one of the more surprising teams this season, as the Cougars are 4-0 and have wins over the Wisconsin Badgers and Oregon State Beavers. Now, Washington State will try to remain unbeaten in a road game against a good UCLA team. Both groups will be well rested coming into this game, as both teams are coming off bye weeks. So, the better team will win this one. And the result here could very well come down to which quarterback plays better. Washington State’s Cameron Ward has arguably been the best quarterback in college football this year, as he has thrown for 1,390 yards with 13 touchdowns and no picks. And he has also rushed for 109 yards and three scores. However, UCLA’s passing game is in good hands now that Dante Moore is under center. The talented freshman already looks like he throws one of the better deep balls in college football, and he has what it takes to take the Bruins to another level. So, this game should be exciting to watch, especially with it taking place at the Rose Bowl, the best venue in sports. I’m looking forward to learning a lot more about Washington State, which happens to be 14-5 ATS against Pac-12 opponents over the last three seasons.
Alabama Crimson Tide (-2.5, 50) at Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M is coming off a big win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, and quarterback Max Johnson looked solid in filling in for an injured Conner Weigman. Johnson threw for 210 yards with two touchdowns and only one pick, while also rushing for 57 yards in that game. If he can continue to play some decent football at the position, this Texas A&M team will continue to be dangerous. This week, the Aggies will be looking to beat the Crimson Tide in College Station. They beat Nick Saban’s team the last time these two met at Kyle Field, so this is definitely a game in which Alabama is in danger of losing. And the Aggies have covered in four of the last six meetings between these two. The X-factor in this one will be the play of Jalen Milroe for Alabama. The Crimson Tide have looked better since turning back to Milroe at quarterback, but this is still a team that needs to figure things out in the passing game. Until they do, they’re going to be in for some competitive games all throughout the SEC season.
Kentucky Wildcats at Georgia Bulldogs (-14.5, 48)
Georgia is one of the most talented teams in the country, but things haven’t quite clicked for Kirby Smart’s group. Georgia is 5-0 to start the season, but the team is 0-4-1 ATS. So, the Dawgs aren’t quite living up to expectations and separating themselves the way you’d expect. That makes it hard to believe they’ll blow out good teams. We just saw the Auburn Tigers lose a one-score game against Georgia, and this Kentucky team is better than Auburn. The Wildcats are coming off a 33-14 win over a decent Florida Gators team, and this team continues to play good defense. Kentucky has the 20th-ranked scoring defense in the nation, so the Wildcats will present some problems for quarterback Carson Beck, who has had an up-and-down year for the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, running back Ray Davis is coming off a game in which he ran for 280 yards and three scores against Florida. So, it’ll be interesting to see how he follows that performance up. The Bulldogs can be one of the best rushing defenses in the nation, so it’s entirely possible he won’t get it going. But the Tigers did run on the Bulldogs last week, so the blueprint is there. And I don’t think we’ve seen the best that Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary has to offer. He will need to make some throws in this game, and I think he’s up for the challenge. That said, I think this game will be closer than people think. And if Georgia keeps playing the way it has lately, the team is going to take a loss sooner rather than later.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-6.5, 51.5) at Louisville Cardinals
Notre Dame was able to earn a remarkable win over the Duke Blue Devils last week, with Sam Hartman leading a 95-yard touchdown drive when the team was down 14-13. The Fighting Irish ended up pulling out a 21-14 victory, which was a great way for Marcus Freeman’s team to bounce back from a tough home loss to Ohio State. However, the difficult matchups keep piling up for Notre Dame, as going on the road and beating Louisville is going to be very hard. The Cardinals are a perfect 5-0 on the season, and they’re coming off a solid road win over the NC State Wolfpack. Louisville’s defense has been especially impressive this year, with the team giving up just 17.2 points per game. I would expect the Cardinals to play well on that side of the ball, especially with the added adrenaline of playing at home. This atmosphere should be electric with this being a signature game for the Louisville program under new head coach Jeff Brohm. People expected the Cardinals to be solid this year, but moving to 6-0 with a win over one of the nation’s premier programs would be one heck of a statement. And I do ultimately think they’re going to get this victory.
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