Week 9 doesn’t feature the kind of marquee matchup between top 5 teams we’ve been spoiled by this October in college football, but there are still some big games on the schedule that will have serious conference and playoff implications. As we move into the back half of the season, teams can now see the finish line and the task only gets tougher as expectations get heavy and it can get harder and harder for coaches to keep players from thinking too far ahead. This week features a handful of ranked matchups, as well as some rivalry games and a few trap spots as we’ve already seen some big programs get tripped up this season.
The Game Of The Year (Of The Week): No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 24 Navy (12:00 p.m. ET, ABC)
Notre Dame has gotten its season back on track after it somehow lost a football game to Northern Illinois (remember that!?), as the Irish have won five in a row and have gotten some style points in the process. But now, Marcus Freeman has to get his boys ready to play a team that is undefeated and has won every game by double-figures: Navy.
Yes, the Midshipmen continue to have a lot of the limitations that you should expect out of a service academy. No, that has not been a gigantic problem for them this year, because when they get going on offense, Navy is capable of scoring in bunches behind their standout quarterback Blake Horvath, who is third nationally in QBR and doubles as the team’s top rushing threat. The good news for Notre Dame is that they have a good group of linebackers and a fast, aggressive, well-coached defense, so Horvath is going to need his A+ game and the Midshipmen need to be able to run the ball to open up shots down the field.
On the other side of things, expect the Irish to bank on the fact that they are just a bigger football team in the trenches. Their top three rushers (Jeremiyah Love, Riley Leonard, Jadarian Price) are all averaging six yards a carry, while Leonard hasn’t really got going as a passer since he made his way to South Bend. I don’t expect them to suddenly try to air raid the Midshipmen defense, especially because the strength of Navy’s defense is its ability to take the football away from you — the unit has 10 interceptions in six games, and has three pick sixes on the year.
Lock Into This One: No. 20 Illinois vs. No. 1 Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
The Illini are starting to garner a little bit of buzz as a Big Ten darkhorse, as they responded to a close loss on the road at Penn State with a high-scoring win over Purdue and a win over Michigan. Now, they’re heading to Autzen Stadium for their biggest test of the year against the top-ranked team in the nation, and Illinois is almost certainly going to try to muck this up and lean on the fact that they’re battle tested as they take on the Ducks, which are flying high and are playing in their building for the first time since their thrilling win over Ohio State a few weeks back that had them ascend to the top of the polls.
Both of these teams are going to rely on veteran quarterbacks, reliable pass catchers, and running games that are good at consistently churning out 4-5 yards on the ground. The Ducks are a better and more talented football team, and this game is happening in their building, so I fully expect Dan Lanning to get his guys fired up and ready to take it to Illinois. But few coaches are better at finding ways to keep his team in a game than Bret Bielema, and while my gut says Oregon wins, I’m very interested in what happens if this game is close heading into the fourth quarter.
Under-The-Radar Banger: Michigan State vs. Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET, BTN)
Michigan are 5-point favorites despite the fact that they have some of the most wretched vibes in the nation right now. They’ve lost two in a row, and the questions about the program under Sherrone Moore are slowly starting to ramp up. A good way for Moore and co. to fend that off is to beat the Spartans under the lights in the Big House, and while Michigan State is likewise figuring things out under a new coach, they’re coming off of a 12-point win over Iowa that put the wind in their sails a bit following a losing streak. An oversimplification: If Sparty’s talented young signal caller, Aidan Chiles, can avoid catastrophic mistakes, they win. If not, the Wolverines are gonna get a ton of short fields and should be able to at least kick field goals.
Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week: No. 5 Texas vs. No. 25 Vanderbilt (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
This is not on here because I think Texas is going to lose to Vanderbilt — even after last week’s stinker against Georgia, I think the Longhorns are just way too talented to lose, regardless of whether Diego Pavia possesses a sort of magic that I have not seen out of a quarterback in a long time. No, we’re locking in on the Texas QB situation, because Quinn Ewers was awful last week and the calls for Arch Manning (who didn’t get an especially fair shot when he got into the game, but didn’t do very well, either) are getting louder and louder. If Ewers gives us a few three-and-outs to start the game, those calls are going to get deafening.
Who Won The Heisman Last Week?: Bryson Daily, QB, Army
The troops are ROLLIN this year, both in West Point and in Annapolis, as Army and Navy are ranked for the first time in decades. Both teams picked up lopsided wins over the weekend, but we’re going to focus on Bryson Daily who is putting up some insane numbers this season. In a 45-28 win over ECU, he rushed for 171 yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries, while adding 147 yards and another touchdown through the air on 7-of-10 passing. For the season he has 909 rushing yards and a hysterical 19 touchdowns, while throwing for 629 yards, seven touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Watching a quarterback who has mastered the triple option run that offense is a thing of beauty, and there’s no one doing it quite like Daily right now — and he’s a threat to throw too, which makes them impossible to deal with.
Best Bet (4-4): Miami (-21) vs. Florida State (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Look, usually I’m all for taking a big dog in a rivalry game, but this FSU team just flat out stinks and Miami is going to be looking to embarrass the Noles. The last time they played down in Hard Rock Stadium, Mike Norvell had the boys run it up on Mario Cristobal to the tune of a 45-3 FSU win. I don’t think the Canes have forgotten about that and will be looking to return the favor and kick the Noles while they’re down. On top of the rivalry aspect, Cam Ward has a Heisman Trophy to try and win, and this is a great opportunity to put up some big numbers in a primetime spot. Lay ’em.