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.
Pregame rant: As good as this game will be, we don’t want to see the Tide and Tigers play in the national title game again.
Alabama hasn’t lost since it fell 9-6 in overtime at home to the Tigers. The Tide dominated LSU in the national title game, but the Tigers can avenge that loss and really put themselves in the national title picture.
The Tide are first in the nation in run defense. LSU is eighth. So the team that has the better quarterback should win Saturday.
Edge Alabama.
A.J. McCarron has thrown 18 touchdowns, no interceptions and can make all the throws. If Zach Mettenberger is called upon to beat the Tide, it’s not going down.
Post-game commentary: McCarron wasn’t his best until it matter most.
With that Death Valley crowd roaring and ready to pounce on him for predicting the Tide would win, McCarron was 4-of-5 for 72 yards and a game-winning touchdown pass with 51 seconds left to beat the rival Tigers.
Mettenberger actually played well. Was 24-of-35 for 298 yards and a touchdown.
Truth be told, the Tigers had this game won. They had more yards, won the turnover and time ouf possession battle and limited Alabama to 1-of-9 on third-down conversions.
So why did they lose? Penalties and bad play calling.
The Tigers had seven penalties for 51 yards and LSU coach Les Miles called a fake field goal on a 4th-and-12 play down 7-3 in the first half. It failed miserably.
Pregame rant: The Cardinal want to prove they’ve been more than Andrew Luck, but they’re going to need a lot of luck to get past the Trojans.
Barkley has 10 touchdown passes to only one interception and has only been sacked twice, but the Trojans haven’t been tested. If Stanford can take an early lead, it will be interesting to see how Barkley fares when the defense knows he’s passing.
Post-game commentary: No Luck needed in this one. The Cardinal pounded out 202 yards rushing with senior Stephan Taylor going for 153 and a score on 27 carries. As for Barkley, he was just 20-of-41 for 254 yards, no touchdowns and two picks.
The good news for USC is it lost early. The bad news is the Trojans still have to play Oregon. A loss Nov. 3 to the Ducks will end all hopes of an opportunity to play for a national title.
