College Football Week 9 Preview: On the Precipice of Playoff Elimination

Week 9 already. How the college football season seems to fly by.

Happy Halloween to all of you! I hope it’s an extra spooky one. For many of college football’s biggest programs, this Halloween sets up to be just that: spooky.

USC sees their playoff hopes on the line this weekend as they host the “world famous Ohio State Buckeyes”. Jayden Maiava and Lincoln Riley will need to figure out this elite Ohio State defense if the Trojans want their playoff hopes to make it into November.

Texas Tech hosts Brent Brennan‘s Arizona Wildcats in what unexpectedly looks like a playoff elimination game for them. I don’t see a 10-2 at-large Big 12 team getting in this year, especially one who doesn’t make the conference championship game and has a loss to a middle-tier conference team like Cincinnati. The Red Raiders need to rebound quickly and may tap into more of what Thomas Castellanos can do this week to try to keep pace with Noah Fifita and the high-flying Arizona offense.

And finally, we’re here again with Texas who welcomes in a Kamario Taylor-less Mississippi State after their big one against Ole Miss. Longhorn fans will be on the edge of their seat seemingly every game the rest of this regular season as this team is so unpredictable, and one more slip up could have Steve Sarkisian screaming about 9-3 yet again.

Really this Week 9 slate is just an appetizer for the behemoth we’ll be staring down come the first Saturday in November. Week 10 is so enticing you might want to use some of this Saturday to do what you need to do to fully prepare for 6 to 7 must watch games next weekend. I’ll still be fully dialed in this week, but I won’t blame you if you somewhat check out as this slate isn’t the best. Heck, some top teams like Miami and BYU may be looking ahead to next week also and will end up getting upset tomorrow! So if you do check out, just make sure you’re checking scores on your phone because you never really know what to expect going into a weekend.

Games of the Week

Arizona at Texas Tech

I think this one here is the game of the week for me. It’s a shame it’s an 11 AM local kick in Lubbock because this one in primetime would be electric. This Wildcats offense is absolutely scorching hot right now as they haven’t scored less than 34 in their last four outings. QB Noah Fifita has already thrown for 2000 yards on the season, but fortunately for Texas Tech (6-1), the recipe Cincinnati used to beat them last week was primarily dominating on the ground, and the Arizona (6-1) offense is much weaker running the ball. That matchup should be the crux of this game. Will Noah Fifita be able to do to this Texas Tech secondary what he has been doing all year to less talented secondaries? The Red Raiders may also try to do some tricky things at quarterback as it’s been rumored Thomas Castellanos will have much more involvement this week as they try to bounce back from a sluggish performance in Cincinnati. Truthfully, I think that Arizona is just a better team, and this Wildcats offense keeps rolling as Texas Tech does not have the elite defense they had last year and gets exposed in this spot.

Predictions

David Tomlinson: Arizona 45 – Texas Tech 34

Cheech Jones: Texas Tech 28 – Arizona 24

Wisconsin at Iowa

If you want to skip this preview or this game entirely, I don’t blame you. It’s not truly an Iowa football season if there isn’t a game with an over-under below 40 points, right? I’ll skip right to what I think determines the outcome of this game, and it’s the loss of Kamari Moulton for Iowa (5-2). Moulton has been the linchpin of this Hawkeyes offense so far this year (not that that’s saying much) and without him, they don’t have a reliable option on the ground which hampers this Iowa offense even further. It looks like it will be Jeremy Hecklinski yet again at quarterback, who will need to distribute the ball well to Tony Diaz and Reece Vander Zee to get anything going as the Badgers’ elite linebackers will have this rushing attack stifled all day. As long as Wisconsin (5-2) quarterback Colton Joseph can take care of the ball and Iowa doesn’t get their usual dynamic Special Teams plays, I think that the Badgers can overcome the crowd at Kinnick Stadium as they have the better unit on both sides of the ball in this matchup.

Predictions

David Tomlinson: Wisconsin 23 – Iowa 19

Cheech Jones: Wisconsin 17 – Iowa 13

Florida vs Georgia

The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party heads indoors this year for a temporary stop in Atlanta. The Dawgs (6-1), fresh off a bye week, look to avenge the absolute stinker they put up last time out at home in Sanford Stadium against rival Auburn. Florida (5-2) also comes in off a free week as they bounced back huge against Texas after dropping two SEC games in a row. Aaron Philo checks back in at quarterback for the Gators after Jon Sumrall’s brief experiment with Trammell Jones Jr at the helm. I think we get some back and forth action on the turf and indoors in this one, but this Dawgs defense is too talented to be outscored in a track meet. They’ll make enough negative plays and force a couple of turnovers to swing this one in Georgia’s favor. Even after the stumble against the Tigers, I still think this is the best team in the nation at this time. Make sure you hit that Chick-fil-A that’s only open like three times a year if you’re headed to this one.

Predictions

David Tomlinson: Georgia 38 – Florida 28

Cheech Jones: Georgia 31 – Florida 21

Northwestern at Oregon

Another gross Big Ten game. At least I’m sparing you from hearing about Minnesota at Indiana by covering this one instead. Is Oregon (4-3) just truly a dead team at this point or is there the smallest bit of life left? I’m going to believe the former as Illinois (who they lost to last week) is just not a good team this year. Putting up 10 points against a bad Illini defense is just wholly unacceptable. Northwestern (6-1) comes in having everything to play for in this one as it seems no one is even looking at them still as a possibility to make the College Football Playoff, but they’re right in the mix. I expect the Northwestern offense to continue to play complementary football in this game as Aidan Chiles has vastly improved and taken care of the ball (1 interception) this year while Caleb Komolafe and Co. have gashed teams on the ground. Northwestern will outwork and out-physical the Ducks in their own building in this game. If David Braun’s team can really get out of Autzen Stadium with a win is that more of an indictment on the Ducks or a triumph for Northwestern? I think the Wildcats deserve their flowers, regardless of the state of the Ducks program.

Predictions

David Tomlinson: Northwestern 20 – Oregon 14

Cheech Jones: Oregon 21 – Northwestern 20

Ohio State at USC

Freshman Luke Fahey takes the reins for the Buckeyes (6-1) in our first full look at the Ohio State offense sans Julian Sayin. Fortunately for him this time out, he has time to prepare off a bye week and faces a paltry Trojan defense instead of a menacing Indiana front seven. USC has their backs against the wall here as they can nay afford another loss if they want to achieve their season goals and salvage coach Lincoln Riley’s job. Whole the Trojan offense has been great this year on the ground and through the air, they haven’t seen even close to the caliber of defense that the Buckeyes possess. Their closest comparable happened last week against Wisconsin, and they could only muster 7 points. I think Ryan Day will keep Fahey in situations where he can play in structure and limit mistakes on the road. He’ll distribute the ball well enough to their elite playmakers to get the job done on offense. Expect the Ohio State defense to step up large here and take over the game.

Predictions

David Tomlinson: Ohio State 20 – USC 17

Cheech Jones: Ohio State 24 – USC 10

David’s Underdog of the Week

Cincinnati 37 – Utah 30

I have been projecting the Utes downfall for a while, and I think this time it finally comes to fruition. Both teams come off of huge wins last week, but Utah has to hit the road while the Bearcats wait to strike down another top 10 team from the comfortable confines of Nippert Stadium. Cincy QB JC French (only 2 INTs so far this season) will be able to take care of the ball and exploit Utah’s weakness which is their #96 ranked pass defense. The Utes’ soft opening schedule finally catches up to them and another top 10 team falls this Saturday.

Cheech’s Underdog of the Week

Wisconsin 17 – Iowa 13

Winning football usually comes down to who can run the ball and tackle, two areas in which Iowa has had great success. The catch this week is that Wisconsin can beat the Hawkeyes at their own game by bullying them in the trenches and keeping the offense ahead of the chains. The Badgers are a dangerous team, with their only two losses coming against undefeated UCLA and highly ranked Notre Dame. The real wild card, however, is Kinnick Stadium, where the fans are hostile and ugly, gritty football is the norm.