Pregame rant: Some would say this is the national championship game.
The winner will likely be the favorite to beat Notre Dame in next month’s BCS title game. Alabama and Georgia are in this position because Oregon and Kansas State lost.
The Bulldogs are not as good on defense as Alabama, but have better skilled players on offense than the Tide.
So special teams could be the difference. If it is, edge Alabama.
The Tide have a senior kicker in Jeremy Shelley, who is 10-for-10 on field goals this season.
Georgia has a freshman kicker in Marshall Morgan, who is 8-for-12. He’s missed two of his last four attempts.
Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 14.
Game of the week: No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 SEC) vs. No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1, 7-1 SEC), Saturday, 4 p.m., Georgia Dome, Atlanta, WSEE (CBS).
Pregame rant: Some would say this is the national championship game.
The winner will likely be the favorite to beat Notre Dame in next month’s BCS title game. Alabama and Georgia are in this position because Oregon and Kansas State lost.
The Bulldogs are not as good on defense as Alabama, but have better skilled players on offense than the Tide.
So special teams could be the difference. If it is, edge Alabama.
The Tide have a senior kicker in Jeremy Shelley, who is 10-for-10 on field goals this season.
Georgia has a freshman kicker in Marshall Morgan, who is 8-for-12. He’s missed two of his last four attempts.
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.
Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 11.
Game of the week: No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies (7-2, 4-2 SEC) at No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 SEC), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., WSEE (CBS)
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).
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. 10 Clemson at No. 4 Florida State
Final score: Seminoles 49, Tigers 37
Pregame rant: So much talent on both teams here, but if the Seminoles are a national title contender, they’ll handle the Tigers.
Allowing just 103.33 yard a game and a total of three points, Florida State is first in the nation in total defense and scoring defense, but two of its three wins are against FCS schools Murray State and Savannah State.
Clemson will test that defense with its array of playmakers lead by junior quarterback Tajh Boyd, who is 63-of-86 for 747 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.
Post-game commentary: The Tigers just couldn’t keep up with the ‘Noles, who scored 28 straight points after falling behind 31-21 in the third quarter.
EJ Manuel had a sensational game, going 27-of-35 for 380 yards and three touchdowns. Too bad Clemson and FSU are in the same division in the ACC. Like to see a rematch of those two.
Game of the week: No. 10 Clemson Tigers (3-0,0-0 ACC) at No. 4 Florida State Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 ACC), Saturday, 8 p.m. WJET (ABC).
Pregame rant: So much talent on both teams here, but if the Seminoles are a national title contender, they’ll handle the Tigers.
Allowing just 103.33 yard a game and a total of three points, Florida State is first in the nation in total defense and scoring defense, but two of its three wins are against FCS schools Murray State and Savannah State.
Clemson will test that defense with its array of playmakers lead by junior quarterback Tajh Boyd, who is 63-of-86 for 747 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.
Pregame rant: After putting up 53 at Stanford, Oregon returns home to take the Trojans. USC sophomore receiver Robert Woods, who has 92 catches for 1,126 yards and 11 touchdowns, will get his shots to make big plays, but Oregon has too many offensive weapons.
Postgame commentary: Turns out the Trojans had the greatest equalizer in its 38-35 win at Oregon – a hot quarterback. Junior Matt Barkley was 26-of-34 for 323 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. Woods caught two of those scores, but freshman Marqise Lee tore up the Ducks with eight catches for 187 yards and a touchdown. Oregon’s valiant fourth-quarter comeback came up short.
No. 17 Nebraska (8-2,4-2 Big Ten) at No. 21 Penn State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten)
Pregame rant: The game is almost an afterthought. Penn State no longer has its head coach – Joe Paterno – or its president. The school’s board of trustees fired Paterno following former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, being indicted on charges of sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years. The backlash of that helped lead to Paterno being shown the door in his 46th season as head coach. Now the Nittany Lions must go out and play their final home game in an emotional state against a team coming off an embarrassing home loss to Northwestern. Should be a wild one.
Postgame commentary: Just a sad, yet engaging scene. In the end, Nebraska hung on to win 17-14, but the continual fallout for Penn State is growing like wild bushes. How all this ends is anybody’s guess.