Let us recap Week 7, shall we?
Baylor (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) at No. 17 Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1)
Pregame rant: The Bears have a quarterback in junior Robert Griffin III who is flat out one of the best players in the nation. Check the numbers: 114-of-142, 1,520 yards, 19 touchdowns and just ONE interception. Once you get in conference play, teams do start to figure guys out, but A&M has its hands full with this guy.
Postgame commentary: Griffin threw for 430 yards, three touchdowns to one interception, but Texas A&M got an even better performance from its quarterback – senior Ryan Tannehill – and walloped the Bears, 55-28. Tannehill threw for 415 yards and six touchdowns to one interception. The Aggies helped their cause by rushing for 266 yards.
Kenjon Barner rushed for 171 yards and score to spark Oregon's 14-point win against Arizona State./AP Photo.
No. 24 Arizona State (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) at No. 9 Oregon (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12)
Pregame rant: Since its season-opening loss to LSU, Oregon has scored a whopping 224 points in four games. However, tailback LaMichael James dislocated his right elbow in last week’s win against California. Don’t care how good he is or how tight-lipped his coach, Chip Kelly, has been about the injury, James shouldn’t play this week and at least three more after that. The Ducks will run the same offense, but without James, they are ripe for the Sun Devils to take down.
Postgame commentary: James didn’t play, but the Ducks kept quacking and attacking without him and beat Arizona State, 41-27. Oregon ran for 327 yards as junior Kenjon Barner had 171 and a touchdown on the ground.
Daniel Herron returned from suspension due to NCAA violations to lead Ohio State an upset win at Illinois./AP Photo.
Indiana (1-6, 0-3 Big Ten) at No. 4 Wisconsin (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten)
Pregame rant: Hide the children from this game. Don’t want anyone to see the Badgers just run all over the Hoosiers.
Postgame commentary: This one got ugly. Wisconsin ran for 332 yards, averaged a stout 7.9 yards and rush and steamrolled Indiana, 59-7.
Ohio State (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) at No. 23 Illinois (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten)
Pregame rant: After blowing a 21-point, second-half lead in a 34-27 loss at Nebraska, Ohio State is 1-3 in its last four games and you have to wonder if what has happened off field is starting to catch up with the Buckeyes. The Illini could care less, though, as they are rolling.
Postgame commentary: Senior tailback Daniel Herron returned from suspension and it couldn’t have come a better time for Ohio State. He rushed for 114 yards and the Buckeyes forced three turnovers in beating Illinois, 17-7. Got to give Ohio State credit, but is this another case of the Illini teasing us only to bottom out again? If they struggle this week against Purdue, uh oh.
Here are three games worth watching in Week 8.
No. 19 Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) at No. 1 LSU (7-0, 4-0 SEC), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., CBS.
Not sure Michael Dyer and the Auburn Tigers are going to be smiling after Saturday's game at No. 1 LSU./AP Photo.
The defending national champions are going to Baton Rouge to take on current favorite to win it all. LSU is fourth in the nation in total defense so it should swallow up Auburn’s spread offense (ranked 86th in the nation). Can we just fast forward and start hyping up the Alabama-LSU showdown a week in advance?
No. 20 Georgia Tech (6-1, 3-1 ACC) at Miami (3-3, 1-2 ACC), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN.
What Virginia showed is that you can still beat Georgia Tech even if you give up 272 yards rushing against the Yellow Jackets. The key was the Cavaliers also ran for 272 yards to hand Georgia Tech its first loss of the season. Now can Miami pull that off? Not sure, but if the Hurricanes can hold up defensively, they have enough offense to stay in the game.
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio will have his hands full Saturday against No. 4 Wisconsin./AP Photo.
No. 4 Wisconsin (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) at No. 16 Michigan State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten), Saturday, 8 p.m., ESPN
Michigan State has the tough team, the tough head coach in Mark Dantonio and it’s got the Badgers in its backyard. Here’s the problem for the Spartans. Not only can Wisconsin pound the ball down your throat with its running game, it has a quarterback in senior Russell Wilson who can make you pay for selling out to stop the run. This season, he’s completing a career-high 74.2 percent of his passes for 1,557 yards and 14 touchdowns. Wilson has only been intercepted once and only sacked five times. Spartans got their hands full here.
Snooze on these, though.
Air Force (3-3, 0-2 Mountain West) at No. 5 Boise State (6-0, 1-0 Mountain West), Saturday, 3:30 p.m, Versus.
Averaging 44.3 points a game, Boise State is ranked seventh nationally in scoring offense. Air Force is 111th in the nation in scoring defense. The Falcons are giving up 35.5 points a game. It’s a wrap for Air Force. The Broncos just have to keep winning and get some help to land in the BCS title game.
Tennessee (3-3, 0-3 SEC) at No. 2 Alabama (7-0, 4-0 SEC), Saturday, 7:15 p.m., ESPN2.
Unless you’re an Alabama, Tennessee or LSU fan, you should bypass this one. Trust me, the most staunch UT supporters will change the channel if this goes according to plan. The LSU faithful should tune just to see if ‘Bama can beat the Vols as bad as the Tigers did last week. (Won 38-7).
USC (5-1, 3-1 Pac-12) at Notre Dame (4-2), Saturday, 7:30 p.m., NBC.
It’s a rivalry. It’s important, but are either one of the teams going to be in an BCS bowl went it’s all said and done? Doubt it. USC is argubly the fifth-best team in its own conference behind Oregon, Stanford, Arizona State and Washington. Notre Dame has won its last four games, but the Irish are not world beaters so USC has a chance in this one.