While Arkansas and LSU look to shake up the SEC with home victories on Saturday, there are at least a handful of intriguing matchups outside of the nation’s best conference. Here’s a closer look at some of those:
- Louisville’s Lamar Jackson goes off – The Heisman frontrunner does nothing to hurt his chances on Saturday when he leads the No. 7 Cardinals to a big road victory in an ACC game at Boston College. There’s nothing bold about that prediction, but don’t be surprised when Jackson accounts for 500-plus yards and 5Â touchdowns by himself. Boston College hadn’t won an ACC game in 700 days before last Saturday when it snapped a 12-game conference losing streak with a 21-14 victory at North Carolina State. The count begins again after Jackson and the Cardinals run wild in Chestnut Hill.
- No. 10 Nebraska at No. 6 Ohio State – This one’s a real head-scratcher. It’s a top 10 matchup between Big Ten powers. Both teams played Wisconsin to overtime. Both teams are 7-1. Both teams are 4-1 in conference play. This one has all the makings of a real nail-biter, yes? Vegas says not so fast. The Buckeyes are 17.5-point favorites to win this game. Wait, what? How? Where’s the mismatch? Ohio State hasn’t won a game by more than one score since thrashing Indiana at home (38-17) on Oct. 8. A person would have to be downright bold to predict a Buckeyes blowout. And since that’s the theme here, well, let’s say Ohio State wins … big.
- Jabrill Peppers’ time to shine – Michigan is a 30.5-point favorite against 5-3 Maryland. That’s a lot of room for someone to do a lot on the Wolverines’ side. The saying goes: “The games they remember are played in November,” so look for that someone to be Peppers. As Michigan reaches the end zone often, Peppers accomplishes the feat at least once while on offense and again in non-offensive fashion. He breaks 100 all-purpose yards, puts up 5Â solo tackles, including a sack, and causes a turnover. That’s one bold performance.
- Washington gets tangled in Cal’s Webb – It’s strength vs. strength in this Pac-12 showdown. Cal QB Davis Webb is 86 yards shy of 3,000 yards for the season. Only Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes (3,519), Toledo’s Logan Woodside (3,042) and Washington State’s Luke Falk (2,926) have thrown for more yardage. On the flip side, Washington leads the Pac-12 and is 10th in the nation in pass defense, giving up an average of just 171.9 yards per game. Webb gets the better of it at home. He has a big day to keep the Bears close and within range of a huge upset as the teams combine to score under 77 points.
- West Virginia walk – The Mountaineers suffered their first loss of the season in Stillwater last week. They’ll be in a foul mood when Kansas comes calling on Saturday. It won’t be pretty. West Virginia is giving 34.5 points, which means the Mountaineers need to score a mere 35 points to cover. That’s because the Jayhawks won’t sniff the scoreboard, and this concludes the bold predictions. This one sure looks like a no-brainer.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
