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.
Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 12.
Game of the week: No. 14 Stanford Cardinal (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) at No. 1 Oregon Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC)
Pregame rant: The Ducks are No. 1 in both national polls and second in the BCS standings, but all that will mean nothing if they fall to Stanford.
They won’t, though. The Cardinal aren’t going into Eugene with a redshirt freshman quarterback and beating the Ducks in their final regular-season home game.
Don’t get me wrong. Kevin Hogan is good. Real good.
He was clutch in last week’s win against Oregon State in his first collegiate start. In addition, Stanford is first in the nation in rushing defense.
The Cardinal are allowing 58.60 yards on the ground. So they’re up to the challenge of stopping Heisman candidate Kenjon Barner, who is second in points with 120 (20 TDs) and fourth in rushing (136 ypg.).
Barner had what looked like a right hand or wrist injury against Cal. He’ll likely play Saturday, but if it keeps him from being the difference maker he is, the Ducks could be in the trouble.
The problem for Stanford is it will have the same problem every other team has had against the Ducks. You fall behind early and can’t go score for score with them.
Say Stanford trails 14-0 or 17-3 or 21-10 by the midway point in the second quarter. It will be down 42-20 going into the fourth.
No one can go score for score with the Ducks. No one.
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).
Pregame rant: Sheldon Richardson set it off by describing Georgia as playing “old-man football” following the Bulldogs’ 45-23 win against Buffalo.
“I watched that game. I turned it off, too,” said Richardson in a story by the Columbia Tribune. “It’s like watching Big Ten football. It’s old-man football.”
That’s big words, big fella.
Post-game commentary: The ‘Dawgs welcomed the Tigers into the SEC with a harsh dose of “grown-man football” as Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray called it. Georgia forced three turnovers and scored the game’s last 24 points to prevail.
Game of the week: No. 24 Boise State Broncos at No. 13 Michigan State Spartans
Final score: Spartans 17, Broncos 13.
Pregame rant: Since stunning Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Broncos have been giant killers. They’ve recently had signature victories against Texas Christian (2010 Fiesta Bowl), Virginia Tech (2010 opener) and Georgia (2011 opener).
What do all four of those wins have in common? They were on a neutral field. With quarterback Kellen Moore now gone, can’t wait to see how Boise State does in East Lansing against the Spartans, who were 7-0 at home last season.
Post-game commentary: This game shows just how important a quarterback is to a mid-major. Last season, Moore wins that game for the Broncos. Junior Joe Southwick was just 15-of-31 for 169 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
Penn State has the task of slowing down Houston senior quarterback Case Keenum./AP Photo.
What a way to start the work week in 2012.
Watch six bowl games from noon till midnight.
Don’t lose your job over it, but just take an extended lunch or dinner break to check out some really good bowl matchups.
Ticketcity Bowl (Dallas, Texas) – No. 20 Houston (12-1, 8-0 C-USA) vs. No. 24 Penn State (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten), noon, ESPNU.
The Big ?: Can Penn State’s 10th ranked defense, which allows 300.92 yards a game, slow down the nation’s top offense? Houston is averaging 599 a game.
My pick: Houston. Although the Cougars didn’t even win their conference title game, that’s far less to overcome than what the Nittany Lions have dealt this season. The Jerry Sandusky situation has changed everything at Penn State.
Outback Bowl (Tampa, Fla.) – No. 12 Michigan State (10-3, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. No. 18 Georgia (10-3, 7-1 SEC). 1 p.m., ABC.
The Big ?: Whenever an Big Ten teams plays an SEC team, the same question surfaces. Can the Big Ten school match the speed of the SEC school?