No. 6 Oklahoma at No. 21 Texas: Owen Pustell
Final Score Prediction: Oklahoma 21, Texas 35
Oklahoma is holding onto their top 10 status by a thread. Yes, they’re 5-0, but they have only one win of more than one possession despite playing a schedule full of unranked teams. Spencer Rattler, who came into the season as the Heisman favorite, has been playing below expectations and has fans calling for his backup. The Sooners certainly have the talent to make a playoff run, but have been lacking execution and will face their hardest test of the season on Saturday when they visit the Longhorns. Texas comes into this game at 4-1, with their loss being to an Arkansas team which has played surprisingly well and put themselves as the No. 13 team in the nation. Texas has an elite offense that runs through sophomore running back Bijan Robinson, who honestly looks like he could start for a number of NFL teams. True freshman receiver Xavier Worthy gives the offense a deep threat which keeps defenses from stacking the box, opening up the ground game even further. If Oklahoma’s defense plays up to their ability, this game will be close, but if they show the same energy that they’ve had through the first five weeks, expect Texas to run up the score.
No. 13 Arkansas at No. 17 Ole Miss: Aidan Gallardo
Final Score Prediction: Ole Miss 48, Arkansas 32
This is an interesting game because it’s between two teams looking to bounce back after losing for the first time this season.
Ole Miss and Arkansas both suffered losses last week against the nation’s top two teams: Alabama and Georgia.
The Rebels look to rejuvenate their offense after a subpar showing against Alabama. Even though Matt Corral didn’t play horrible, Ole Miss just couldn’t find a way to move the ball down the field against a polished Alabama defense. The Rebels weren’t able to convert on fourth downs, going just two for five.
Ole Miss’ defense didn’t look good. They couldn’t find an answer in stopping Alabama’s running game. They allowed Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr. to rush for 171 yards and four touchdowns.
As for Arkansas, they didn’t look all that great either. They lost to Georgia 37-0 and Georgia’s starting quarterback J.T. Daniels was out for the game. Granted, Georgia looks like the best team in the country, but it’s no excuse for Arkansas to not even put any points on the board.
It seemed as if the Razorbacks were rattled playing in a full house in Athens. Arkansas committed 13 penalties for 100 yards. A couple of those penalties came from false starts and it looked like the crowd noise was overwhelming for Arkansas’ quarterback KJ Jefferson as he only threw for 65 yards.
This game will be close, high-scoring and entertaining. How will Corral respond to Arkansas after throwing six interceptions against them a season ago? How will KJ Jefferson bounce back after a poor performance against Georgia? Can Lane Kiffin get the Rebels back on track in the win column? I think he can.
No. 2 Georgia at No. 18 Auburn: Catherine Jeffers
Final Score Prediction: Georgia 38, Auburn 10
Coming off of a win in Death Valley for the first time since 1999, Auburn might seem like a good underdog victory, but does a win over LSU really mean anything this year?
Bo Nix might’ve just been the luckiest quarterback in the world on Saturday night. That fourth down sideline-to-sideline scramble that led to a touchdown was one of the craziest plays I’ve seen in a while. There’s no way in heck Nix can pull that off again, especially against this Georgia defense.
Georgia is strong and fast and their defense hasn’t given up a touchdown with the exception of a late play against South Carolina when they were already up 40-6. Georgia is the real deal, and Auburn almost lost to Georgia State two weeks ago (talk about embarrassing).
When Bo Nix gets to his usual scrambling, prepare for Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith from Georgia to absolutely light him up.
As much as I’d love to see an upset, there’s just no chance it will be against Georgia. It will be interesting to see if Auburn can even score, with their less-than-ideal offensive performance against Georgia State and LSU, but I have some faith that they can at least tack on a TD and a FG.
No. 4 Penn State at No. 3 Iowa: Ruby Draayer
Final Score Prediction: Iowa 21, Penn State10
There is a reason Iowa City will be hosting College Gameday this weekend, and it isn’t because Kirk Herbstreit likes corn.
Penn State travels to Iowa on Saturday for a much anticipated top-five matchup. Both of these teams have been making headlines and causing a lot of question marks for what the College Football Playoff will look like come January. It is early in the season, but this matchup will change the way the rest of the rankings look.
The Iowa defense has been phenomenal so far and have forced numerous turnovers a game, including seven turnovers against Maryland. This defense has been able to win ball games for them, despite having a pretty vanilla offense. The Hawkeyes have not shown a lot of interest in the run game this weekend, averaging only 126 yards on the ground. They aren’t overly impressive on offense, but thanks to chances created by their incredible defense, they’re in the top-five. (They also play in the Big Ten Conference but I don’t think everyone is ready to talk about that just yet).
Penn State has only allowed three turnovers on the year but has no offense to be able to show up on the road for a game like this. The Iowa defense is too good, Penn State doesn’t run the ball and they have to play in Iowa City.
I don’t think that this game will really be an especially fascinating one, but at least it will knock someone out of the top five. This one goes to Iowa because defense wins games, and they’re at home. Go Hawkeyes!
