Pregame rant: This is pretty simple. The Irish win, they’re playing for a national title.
Notre Dame hasn’t won it all since the 1988 season, but hasn’t really contended for one since 1989 when it lost to No. 1 Colorado in the 1990 Orange Bowl.
So for the Irish, this is a long time coming. For USC, this is a season it’d like to forget.
The Trojans have lost four games, their best player – quarterback Matt Barkley – is out with a shoulder injury and they’re coming off a 38-28 loss to in-town rival UCLA.
Beating the Irish would sure wipe the slate clean for USC.
Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 13.
Game of the week: No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-0) at USC Trojans (7-4, 5-4 Pac-12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC).
Pregame rant: This is pretty simple. The Irish win, they’re playing for a national title.
Notre Dame hasn’t won it all since the 1988 season, but hasn’t really contended for one since 1989 when it lost to No. 1 Colorado in the 1990 Orange Bowl.
So for the Irish, this is a long time coming. For USC, this is a season it’d like to forget.
The Trojans have lost four games, their best player – quarterback Matt Barkley – is out with a shoulder injury and they’re coming off a 38-28 loss to in-town rival UCLA.
Beating the Irish would sure wipe the slate clean for USC.
Game of the week: No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama
Final score: Aggies 29, Tide 24
Pregame rant: Texas A&M has won seven of its last eight games since losing its opener. The Aggies’ two conference losses are to Florida and LSU.
Those defeats aside, Texas A&M has made a better adjustment to SEC football than Missouri has. So the Aggies will be ready Saturday. The question is will that matter against the Tide?
Alabama is No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (9.11 points allowed a game), but LSU exposed that D a little bit. The Aggies are fourth in the nation in scoring offense (44.67 points a game).
If freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel is on his game, the Tide will have their hands full. One of the most exciting players in college football, Manziel has 2,527 yards passing, 922 yards rushing and 31 total touchdowns (16 passing, 15 rushing).
Post-game commentary: Johnny Football was on his game as was his teammates.
As a result, No. 1 is no more for Alabama.
Manziel threw for 253 yards and two scores, ran for a game-high 92 yards more and was the difference Texas A&M stunning the defending national champions.
The Crimson Tide can still play for an SEC title if they take care of rival Auburn at home in two weeks. With the Tigers being 2-8 and coming off an embarrassing 38-0 home loss to rival Georgia, the Tide shoudn’t have a problem with them.
If somehow ‘Bama blows that game and Texas A&M gets in that conference championship game, the Dawgs will have their hands full.
Game of the week: No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma
Final score: Irish 30, Sooners 13
Pregame rant: This is the Irish’s toughest test yet. Oklahoma’s lone loss was to No. 4 Kansas State, which has risen to the top of the Big 12.
It’s a classic match-up. Oklahoma is averaging 488.17 yards and 44.67 points a game. Notre Dame is allowing just 280.71 yards and 9.43 points a game.
Something has to give.
Post-game commentary: The Irish didn’t give.
Oklahoma rushed for just 15 yards on 24 rushing attempts in falling to Notre Dame at home. The Sooners may have given up on the run too early, but they couldn’t have expected the Irish’s offense to hit them so many big plays last week.
Before this game, I thought all the talk about Notre Dame senior linebacker Manti Te’o winning the Heisman Trophy was a bit much.
After seeing how he leads the best defense in the nation outside of Alabama’s, I’m rethinking my votes. He had 11 tackles, a sack and an interception last week. Great player.
Game of the week: No. 8 West Virginia at No. 11 Texas
Final score: Mountaineers 48, Longhorns 45
Pregame rant: Could have easily chosen one of the two SEC match ups of Top 10 teams, but this Big 12 match-up is so intriguing.
Heisman Trophy front-runner Geno Smith is coming off an Megatron performance – 656 yards passing, 8 TDs – in last week’s 70-63 win against Baylor. However, the Bears came into the game ranked 113th out of 120 teams in pass defense.
Baylor is now last in the nation in that category.
Can WVU torch Texas, which is a modest 43rd in pass defense? Don’t think so, but I also don’t see the Longhorns slowing down Smith and Mountaineers, either.
Post-game commentary: Smith only threw four touchdowns for the Mountaineers in their Big 12 road debut against the Longhorns. Smith got some help from WVU’s run game in the form of Andrew Buie, who rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries.
On WVU’s game-sealing drive late in the fourth, Buie closed it out with five rushes for 42 yards and a touchdown. The Mountaineers are still suspect on defense, but made a big stop in the fourth to help them stay unbeaten.
Game of the week: No. 8 West Virginia Mountaineers (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) at No. 11 Texas Longhorns (4-0, 1-0 Big 12), Saturday, 7 p.m., WXFP-66 (FOX).
Pregame rant: Could have easily chosen one of the two SEC match ups of Top 10 teams, but this Big 12 match-up is so intriguing.
Heisman Trophy front-runner Geno Smith is coming off an Megatron performance – 656 yards passing, 8 TDs – in last week’s 70-63 win against Baylor. However, the Bears came into the game ranked 113th out of 120 teams in pass defense.
Baylor is now last in the nation in that category.
Can WVU torch Texas, which is a modest 43rd in pass defense? Don’t think so, but I also don’t see the Longhorns slowing down Smith and Mountaineers, either.
Game of the week: No. 14 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State
Final score: Buckeyes 17, Spartans 16
Pregame rant: First road of the season won’t be an easy one for the Buckeyes in their Big Ten opener. How well sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller handles this will determine if Ohio State remains unbeaten.
Miller has seven rushing TDs, seven passing TDs, but more importantly, he’s completing 61.2 percent of his passes. Last season, he only completed 54.1 percent of his passes.
He may find it much tougher to execute against the Spartans, who have only given up two passing touchdowns. Ranked sixth in the nation in total defense, Michigan State is giving up just 3.94 yards a play.
Post-game commentary: Michigan State intercepted Miller once, forced two more turnovers, but didn’t corral the Ohio State quarterback when it mattered.
Miller rushed for a game-high 136 yards, threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to give Ohio State a 17-13 lead late in third, but more importantly, picked up a big first down to help the Buckeyes close out the game.
Game of the week: No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0) at No. 20 Michigan State Spartans (3-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., WJET (ABC)
Pregame rant: First road of the season won’t be an easy one for the Buckeyes in their Big Ten opener. How well sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller handles this will determine if Ohio State remains unbeaten.
Miller has seven rushing TDs, seven passing TDs, but more importantly, he’s completing 61.2 percent of his passes. Last season, he only completed 54.1 percent of his passes.
He may find it much tougher to execute against the Spartans, who have only given up two passing touchdowns. Ranked sixth in the nation in total defense, Michigan State is giving up just 3.94 yards a play.
No. 23 Penn State (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten) at No. 15 Wisconsin (10-2, 6-2 Big Ten)
Pregame rant: Now the NCAA is getting involved in the whole Penn State situation surrounding former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Playing a game of football has been the best way for Penn State’s players to deal with what’s going on. The Nittany Lions will have to play one of their best games of the season to defeat Wisconsin. The question is can Penn State, which is ranked 106th in scoring offense (20.9 ppg.) score enough points to win?
Postgame commentary: The Nittany Lions couldn’t muster enough points nor stop Wisconsin in their 45-7 loss to the Badgers. Montee Ball ran for 156 yards and four touchdowns. The win puts Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. As for the Nittany Lions, the focus will remain on the actions off the field. Sad story on a variety of levels.
