Please use this as today's college football open game thread. I will be in and out today (me and kiddies have a date at Cedar Farms in Mississippi for a little corn-mazing, hay-riding, petting-zooing fun!), but have at it.
Given that today is a BYE week for the Dawgs, I've chosen the WSU / UCLA all-Hot Seat Bowl as the featured game of the week. Here is a quick run down of the day ahead:
Arizona Wildcats at Oregon St. Beavers
The Beavers have had pretty good success against Mike Stoops. However, the Wildcats are seriously due. While they have major rebuilding to do in the trenches, their losing streak has encompassed multiple games against the likes of the Cardinal, the Ducks, the Cowboys of OKST, and the Trojans. I'm betting that they are all over what is truly one of their more winnable games in a year and that Nick Foles dominates.
Washington St. Cougars at UCLA Bruins
The coaching hot seat angle has been played up times over. That said, the more interesting take is the QB situation for WSU. Marshall Loebbestael is in over a presumably ready Jeff Tuel. Is Wulff all-in on Lobster for at least this one game or is he willing to shatter the young man by pulling him in favor of Tuel at the first sight of trouble? Regardless, I don't see WSU handling the UCLA rushing attack and I see Richard Brehaut putting together a good game.
Utah Utes at Arizona St. Sun Devils
Nobody circles the wagons like Kyle Whittiingham. I'm not terribly concerned about the QB situation at Utah given how bad Jordan Wynn was with one arm. The bigger question is whether or not ASU can stop Utah's rushing attack and whether or not Utah can handle the speed of the ASU defense. Both teams are beat up and both are feeling under respected in a South Division that is starting to get treated like the armpit of the Pac 12. Tough call.
Colorado Buffaloes at Stanford Cardinal
Colorado comes into this one as an emaciated football team. Its secondary is in tatters, its D-Line is in disarray, its entire offense is off-kilter and its coaching staff is smarting over the fact that the term "Cougin' It" can now be rephrased as "Buffin' It". This won't be pretty.
Other interesting games today:
Oklahoma vs Texas
Florida vs LSU (upset alert?)
Air Force vs Notre Dame
Texas Tech vs Texas A&M (set the over/under at 120)
Auburn vs Arkansas
Ohio State vs Nebraska
ENJOY!