Saturday Night Football: Missouri vs. Georgia, LSU vs. Washington, UCLA vs. Nebraska
By Ty Duffy
ESPN sent Herbie and Musburger to Texas A&M vs. Florida in the afternoon. That says about all you need to know about the night offerings.
Missouri vs. Georgia: We covered this game more extensively here. Georgia is 1-9 against Top 30 SRS teams the past two years. They are not good travelling, especially outside the Southeast. They have a suspension-depleted defense going against an unfamiliar, multifaceted, up tempo spread. Also Mark Richt. We like the Tigers.
LSU vs. Washington: Washington prepared for the Tiger. Can they handle the 90 degree heat? The Huskies don’t match up well, on defense or against the Tiger defensive front. Nice team with a very good quarterback in Keith Price, but this challenge is too much for them. LSU should win comfortably, but we’re interested to see how efficient they look. They did not impress, despite beating North Texas handily. Will this be an immensely talented team that competes for a BCS title or an immensely talented team that plays beneath the sum of its parts?
UCLA vs. Nebraska: Nebraska guaranteed themselves a Rose Bowl trip this season. Rex Burkhead will be a game time decision, though his understudy Ameer Abdullah is no slouch. Will Taylor Martinez complete 76 percent of his passes and throw for five touchdowns again? For UCLA, freshman Brett Hundley had a solid debut and tailback Johnathan Franklin ran for 214 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries against Rice. More worrisome is the kicking in what may be a close game. The Bruins had three extra points blocked against Rice.
Arizona vs. Oklahoma State: Many like Arizona to cover, if not pull off the upset after putting up some crazy yardage against Toledo. With that defense, we’ll believe it when we see it.
[Photo via Getty]