Ohio State @ Oklahoma
It’s a good thing that Ohio State has experience at quarterback with JT Barrett. Because if there’s one thing Oklahoma has been able to do so far this season, is have success against opposing running games. Even though OU lost to Houston, that game was about the Cougars making plays in the passing game. Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer noted this as well this week.
For OU, when is their running game going to get going? They’ve dealt with some injuries and decisions to throw the football on early downs so far this year…which explains why Samje Perine and Joe Mixon has thus far just combined for 38 carries. That should be 60-65 after two games. It’s a temptation that makes sense as Baker Mayfield is the nation’s 5th rated paser.
Mayfield creates such issues for teams defensively that the Sooners have put the ball in his hands more so than trusting their great running backs. But Ohio State’s most impressive unit thus far has been their secondary, with their D having already intercepted seven interceptions.
Ohio State might be more talented overall, but their young. And Norman is not a place you want to be young at. This should be a fun one.
Michigan State @ Notre Dame
Young players progress and improve over the course of their collegiate careers. Irish QB Deshone Kizer has taken another big step forward in his career and is doing the types of things that gets NFL scouts excited about his prospects.
Kizer is already big. Kizer can already move. Where Kizer has really improved is with how he’s taking care of the football.
2015: 2016:
62.9% passer 71.4%
21-10 (TD/INT) (7-1)
Kizer is the 4th highest rated passer in CFB. And given the Notre Dame schedule, this game against Michigan State sets them up to roll into mid October when they face Stanford in South Bend on Oct 15th. If the Spartans are going to sneak out an upset here, they’ll have to do it by attacking a Notre Dame secondary that has been decimated by injuries and some team disciplinary issues.
But who the Spartans are this year is certainly not clear, as they have only played a Furman team that hung around for way too long.
For anyone who thought that Notre Dame’s season was in trouble after a 2 OT loss in Austin…this thing is just getting started.
Bengals @ Steelers
The main talking point is about how bitter this rivalry is after the playoff loss last season when the Bengals came unglued. But there’s so much more to just that ballgame. This has been a series in which the Steelers have established themselves in the heads of Bengals players.
2013 (1-1)
2014 (0-2) Bengals lost 5 games this year, 2 were to Pittsburgh. 11-3-1 against everyone else.
2015 (1-2) lost 5 games, 2 of them to Steelers…including the playoffs.
Especially in 2015, the Steelers forced the Bengals into mistakes they simply don’t typically make. We brought up before how the Bengals in 2015 were one of the best teams in the entire NFL at taking care of the football…
…but that changes against the Steelers. Of the Bengals 17 total turnovers, 5 of them in the regular season came against the Steelers. 4 more came in the playoffs. The Steelers haven’t been exceptional on defense in recent years, but they create turnovers against the Bengals.
Packers @ Vikings
I love Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. I love the mentality that he coaches with and the way he has positioned his team to not give up on a long season because quarterback Teddy Bridgewater went down. Here’s the simple view of what Bridgewater was last year: he was good at being exactly what the offense needed. 14-9 INTS and just 3,200 passing yards.
That’s what the Vikings will be asking for from Shaun Hill, and eventually Sam Bradford. While Shaun Hill did not play at a Bridgewater level last week against Tennessee, he also didn’t turn the football over.
Making life miserable on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is what the Vikings will attempt to do once again as they did to win the division last season. The Vikings sacked Rodgers a total of 7 times last season, including 5 times in the deciding game at Lambeau field.
The Vikings got the benefit of 2 defensive touchdowns last week… they have to find a way to create some easy points against the Packers until their quarterback play gets back up to an average NFL standard.