Predicting Week 6’s Highly Anticipated Matchups

Picture from Mickey Welsh, Montgomery Advertiser

Kingston, Rhode Island (PSF)- As we approach the mid-season mark in the college football season, the rankings continue to fluctuate every week with the outcomes of prime-time matchups. Over the past two weeks we’ve seen some great games, incredible upsets, and overall games that shook up the rankings drastically, and this weekend should be no different. Here I’m going to do my best to predict the outcomes for this upcoming weekend’s prime-time college football matchups.

Picture from Texassports.com

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns

One of the oldest and best rivalries in college football, known as ‘the red river rivalry’ looks to be a hotly contested game this year, with potential playoff implications. 12th ranked Oklahoma travels to 3rd ranked Texas to play what will be the most competitive matchup between the two teams in a long time, having both teams be ranked in the top 15 is reminiscent of the mid to late 2000’s where so many of these matchups had massive implications. Both teams come into this matchup undefeated, with explosive high-powered offenses that are capable of breaking off a big play at any moment, however I think that defensively Texas has a slight advantage. While Oklahoma has blown out all of their opponents thus far, the level of competition they have played against is less than stellar, whereas Texas has beaten both Alabama and Kansas, who are both excellent Teams this season. Texas possesses an immense amount of star power on the offensive side of the ball, with star quarterback Quinn Ewers, breakout running back Jonathan Brooks, receiver duo Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, and stud tight end JaTavion Sanders, which should prove tough to stop for the Sooners defense. With both teams possessing such exciting offenses but Texas having proven that they can contain good teams with their defense, I think the Longhorns get the win at home.

Picture from Kansascitystar.com

LSU Tigers vs. Missouri Tigers

This will be one of the most interesting games of the weekend, with two SEC teams with Tiger mascots duking it out to see who does the mascot the most justice. All jokes aside, this is a matchup that I am eagerly anticipating and expect to be a high-scoring affair. Missouri is a team that has surprised many so far, coming into this weekend undefeated and ranked 21st on the back of their unbelievably efficient air raid offense. Quarterback Brady Cook has made himself a star for Missouri starting out the season 5-0 with incredible stats, throwing 11 touchdowns and no interceptions so far. His number one target Luther Burden III has been unbelievable as well with his connection between him and Cook being noticeable and promising for Missouri the next couple of years. LSU however has been the opposite of consistent, looking incredible in some games and sloppy in others, they come into this game ranked 23rd, and one more loss probably puts them out of the rankings for a while to say the least. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels has certainly not been the problem, with him being remarkable so far this season, the defense has been the Achilles heel that has caused them their two losses. Letting up 55 points to Ole Miss and 45 points to FSU is a big change from the dominant LSU defenses under Ed Orgeron just a few years ago. With both offenses coming into this game firing on all cylinders, I think Missouri wins this one at home and kicks LSU out of the rankings.

Picture from Jack Ellis, Cougcenter.com

UCLA Bruins vs. Washington State Cougars

With the Pac-12 being extremely highly contested this year, UCLA might be the best unranked team in the country, while 13th ranked Washington State has proven themselves to be a legitimate contender in the conference. UCLA fell out of the rankings after a loss to Utah, but have still been a formidable opponent, especially offensively under freshman quarterback Dante Moore. Their defense possesses some excellent playmakers as well with outside linebacker Laiatu Latu looking like one of the best defensive players in the country, having a jaw dropping amount of pressures along with 4 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Washington State’s offense will be no easy task to stop however, with quarterback Cameron Ward throwing for video game-like numbers this far with 1,390 passing yards and 13 touchdowns to 0 interceptions through 4 games. With the momentum that Washington State has coming into this game, I think that their offense continues to dominate, and they get the win in Los Angeles.

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Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Texas A&M Aggies

Despite Texas A&M being unranked heading into this game, this game will be one of the most highly anticipated games of the season for both teams due to the bad blood between the two highly esteemed head coaches of Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. Having won a national championship together at LSU in 2003, the two coaches were once friends who had tremendous respect for each other; but after a 2022 incident where Saban was recorded talking about how Fisher bought all of his recruits, to which Fisher responded extremely harshly to Saban, things are not the same. Both coaches say they have put their feud to bed to the media, but everyone knows that that is not true. Over the past two seasons, the Aggies have struggled under Fisher, however in 2021 Fisher and the Aggies upset the highly ranked Alabama, and their matchups seem to consistently be extremely close games. Both teams have one loss on the season coming into this game with Alabama having lost to Texas and Texas A&M having lost to Miami, uncharacteristically to Saban’s Alabama teams, the 11th ranked Crimson Tide have looked inconsistent with a lack of solidity at the quarterback position. The Aggies have looked solid so far, especially defensively, and would likely be ranked if not for the loss to Miami week 2, however they are without a doubt right on the verge of getting ranked. I think that Alabama ultimately will be able to pull off the win in College Station, but I don’t expect the Aggies to make it easy.

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Georgia Bulldogs vs. Kentucky Wildcats

Despite their number 1 ranking, the George Bulldogs have not looked themselves so far this season, eking out close victories against unranked conference opponents Auburn and South Carolina. While the Bulldogs are still ranked number 1 and undefeated, they have underperformed to their sky-high expectations, whereas the 20th ranked Kentucky Wildcats have outperformed what many thought they were capable of so far this season. Starting out 5-0 and coming off of an upset win against the Florida Gators, Kentucky has looked strong, with transfer quarterback Devin Leary running the offense, and stellar running back play from Ray Davis and JuTahn McClain both averaging over 5 yards per carry with 7.8 and 5.5 respectively. Although Georgia has not lived up to their expectations to dominate thus far, they are certainly still no slouches, with the strength of the team currently looking like the passing game offensively and the secondary defensively. Georgia’s secondary has allowed an average of only 173.8 passing yards per game and has come up with 8 interceptions through 5 games, and if they are able to shut down the Wildcats passing game and force them to run against Georgia’s big defensive line, it could be a tough day for Kentucky. With all of these factors taken into account, I think Georgia comes out with the win, although I think it will be much closer than a lot of people think.

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Louisville Cardinals vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 

Coming off of an impressive comeback win over Duke, the 10th ranked Fighting Irish look to stop what has been a surprisingly good Louisville team thus far. Coming in ranked 25th, Louisville is undefeated through 5 games against mostly weaker competition, whereas 10th ranked Notre Dame is 5-1 having suffered an embarrassing overtime loss to Ohio State due to a miscommunication that saw the Fighting Irish having only 10 players on defense. Louisville has relied heavily on the play of two of their key players thus far this season, quarterback Jack Plummer and defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte. Plummer has been able to air the ball out for the Cardinals spreading the field and creating a high-scoring offense, all though he has struggled with turnovers at times, Plummer has played solid in big games against BC and Indiana. Gillotte has been dominant on the interior of the defensive line for the Cardinals, racking up 5 sacks and a forced fumble through 5 games along with plenty of total pressures on opposing quarterbacks. Notre Dame has been no slouch either though, with their offense being dominant under the command of Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman. The combination of Hartman and powerful running back Audric Estime has been too much for most teams to handle thus far, and despite Louisville’s strong start to the season, I think it will be too much for them to handle as well.