College football games to look forward to in Week 7
Week 6 of the college football season is in the books and it definitely lived up to the hype. The best game of the weekend saw the Oklahoma Sooners driving the field late to beat the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl. This week, the most enticing matchup is surely the one between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies, but there’s a lot more on the slate. I’ll get into that one, as well as four others, in this story. So, keep reading to see my Week 7 Games of the Week.
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Week 7 Games of the Week
Oregon Ducks at Washington Huskies (-2.5, 67.5)
This matchup has the potential to determine a spot in the College Football Playoff. The winner of this game will suddenly look like a frontrunner to win the Pac-12, and the conference should have a team in the semifinals for the first time since 2014-15. Both of these programs enter this week undefeated, and both have Heisman candidates at quarterback. Oregon’s Bo Nix has made a push for the award in recent weeks, while Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. is the betting favorite to take it home. But Penix Jr. will be going up against an Oregon defense that is fifth in the nation in scoring defense. The Ducks are giving up just 11.8 points per game, while the Huskies are giving up 18.4 points per game. Meanwhile, Oregon has the second-best scoring offense in college football, while Washington sits in third. So, the Ducks defense could be the difference here. But the Huskies will have a big home-field advantage in this game. And they just so happened to earn a 37-34 win when they faced the Ducks in Eugene last year. On top of that, it should be noted that Oregon is 0-7 against the spread when playing on the road against teams that have a completion percentage of 62.0% or better over the last three seasons.
Iowa Hawkeyes at Wisconsin Badgers (-10, 36.5)
I’m not going to sit here and try to get anybody excited for this game. I’m well aware of the fact that this could turn into an extremely ugly game to watch. But the reality is that this result could decide who wins the Big Ten West this year. Every other team in the division is currently under .500, and I’m not sold on many of them turning their seasons around. These are the two best teams in the division and it should stay that way. So, this matchup in Madison is an important one. But it’s hard to imagine this game not going Wisconsin’s way. With Cade McNamara out, former Badgers commit Deacon Hill is the quarterback for the Hawkeyes. Hill looked awful in a win over Purdue last week, completing 6 of 21 passes for 110 yards, a touchdown and an interception. However, that was a home game and the Boilermakers offense is a nightmare. Of course, the Badgers haven’t been great offensively this year. But they offer a little more than Purdue does. And the home team also happens to be 5-1 straight-up and 4-2 ATS in this head-to-head series since 2017. And the one time the road team won in that span, it was the Badgers that got the job done. Iowa hasn’t won a game at Camp Randall since 2015.
USC Trojans at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-2.5, 60.5)
This is going to be the ultimate test for the Trojans. Last week, USC needed overtime to earn a 43-41 win over a decent Arizona team, but Caleb Williams and Co. haven’t faced a team with nearly as much talent as Notre Dame. And I have questions about how the Trojans will deal with this. There’s no denying that USC’s offense is incredible, with the team averaging 51.8 points per game — more than anybody else in the country. But Notre Dame is a good offensive team, averaging 34.1 points per game. And the Fighting Irish happen to have the 15th-best scoring defense in the nation. So, they will feel pretty good about slowing down the Trojans, especially with this being a home game. But can USC slow down Sam Hartman and Notre Dame? The Trojans have been miserable defensively this season. And it feels like that’s going to catch up to them at some point. Why not here? Notre Dame is going to be hungry after having lost to Louisville last week, and the home crowd should get in the head of Lincoln Riley’s team.
Miami Hurricanes at North Carolina Tar Heels (-3.5, 55.5)
This game would have been a lot more exciting if Mario Cristobal didn’t make the decision to rob his own team of a victory last week. Rather than taking a guaranteed win against Georgia Tech by having quarterback Tyler Van Dyke kneel with a four-point lead and 35 seconds remaining, the Hurricanes ran the ball and running back Donald Chaney Jr. lost a fumble. Then, the Yellow Jackets marched down the field and scored a touchdown to come away with one of the most shocking 23-20 victories in the history of sports. Despite all of that, this is still a game that should be extremely fun to watch — it’s just no longer a battle between two unbeaten programs. Both teams are still very much alive in the race to win the ACC, but the Tar Heels are suddenly playing for a bit more than that with their 5-0 record. Given their schedule, it isn’t outrageous to think that they can go undefeated. But this game and road games against Clemson and NC State are the three concerning spots. But it’s hard not to like North Carolina’s chances considering the team has the 30th-ranked scoring defense in the nation. That is plenty good enough to support Drake Maye and an elite Tar Heels offense. But the Hurricanes are also excellent on both sides of the ball. I just question whether they’ll get up for this one after the way they lost last week.
UCLA Bruins at Oregon State Beavers (-4, 54)
The final matchup between ranked teams on the slate features the Beavers hosting the Bruins. UCLA is coming off a huge home win over a previously unbeaten Washington State team. But going into Corvallis and beating Oregon State is going to be an even tougher challenge. Over the last three seasons, the Beavers are 6-0 ATS when playing at home against teams with winning records. And Oregon State is 11-1 ATS when playing at home in that span, in general. On top of that,, the Beavers are 5-1 both SU and ATS as home favorites of 7 or fewer points under head coach Jonathan Smith. So, they’re very comfortable in this situation. Oregon State also happens to have a great defense and a good running game, which is a good way to neutralize a Chip Kelly-led team. So, this is going to be an uphill battle for the Bruins. But UCLA has looked great with Dante Moore at quarterback, with the team’s only loss coming in a road game against Utah. Not much separates these two.
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