College Game Day Preview: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Temple Owls

If you had told any college football fanatic that the Temple Owls would be an undefeated program at 7-0, they would have glared at you with disgruntled confusion. To think that the Owls would be any different than yesteryears counter parts would be a dubious proposition at best. Yet, despite these radical and justified beliefs, Temple has finally found a way to emulate their winning program from 2009, who's surprising success was based on a smash mouth defense that easily stifled any opposing offense they faced. While on the surface it seemed that Temple's glowing 9-4 record was indicative of their weak schedule rather an a opportunistic defense, this year has proven that the Owls are a legitimately great team. Between a decisive victory over in state rival Penn State in their home opener and a defensive lockdown of one of the most prolific passers in college football in Cincinnati's Gunner Kiel (4 INT's for Owls defense in 34-26 win), the Owls have asserted themselves as a fearless force to be reckoned.

However, even with Temple's improbable rise to greatness, they have yet to face a well balanced offense like that of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Having running back C.J. Prosise alone would be enough to justify the Irish's chances to defeat the Owls on the road. Add to that a star studded quarterback in DeShone Kizer (65.4% completion percentage, 10 TD's), and it seems that the Owls have their work cut out for them.

Ultimately, the Owls will have to rely on their relentless pass rush and prolific running game if they hope to pull off one of the most spectacular upsets of the season. Although P.J. Walker is capable of methodically moving his offense down the field, the Owls are at their best when their running game is effective thanks to their shifty running back Jahad Thomas. When Thomas isn't breaking tackles in the open field for massive chunks of yardage, he's running down the throats of tenacious defenders in the red zone. Simply put, Thomas is the crux that allows this offense to extend drives to put his team in a position to score on successive drives.

Notre Dame may be the favorite to win (rightfully so), but the Owls have persevered to achieve a team accolade that is more than just a fantastical fluke. Although it will take everything Temple has and then some to win this game and remain undefeated, it couldn't happen on a better night than Halloween, where the bumps in the night become your worst fears.  Tonight, the Temple Owls will be more than a cliche figment of a child's wild imagination, they will be the imposing and cunning monster that comes ready to play.

Final Verdict. Fighting Irish 23 Owls 26  

Trouble in Paradise: Is Ohio State Vulnerable without J.T. Barrett?

The Ohio State Buckeyes have undoubtedly been the best team in college football ever since they won the inaugural college football playoff championship with a third string quarterback. Thanks to the perceptive eye of coach Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes have become one of the most proficient teams on offense (38 points per game, tied for 15th in NCAA) and defense (15.1 points allowed per game, 9th in NCAA). However, no matter how resilient the Buckeyes have proven to be this season, the untimely suspension of breakout quarterback J.T. Barrett has unveiled a chink in the Buckeyes seemingly impervious armor. Although backup quarterback Cardale Jones isn't a push over by any means, his discombobulated statistical woes have been head scratching to say the least.

In his first two games of the season, Jones went from completing 52.6% of his passes against Virginia Tech in game one to completing 66.7% of passes in his second start against Hawaii. While Jones certainly has the size and athleticism of a great overall player, his decision making from game to game has been a frustrating blemish on this quarterbacks otherwise flawless resume. Although Jones has tried to utilize his physicality to bull doze opposing defenses via the rush, it hasn't been nearly as effective for him as it was last season when he was still a relatively unknown third string passer. This lack of versatility and consistency from Jones could allow an underrated Minnesota Gophers team to pull off the ultimate upset on the road.

While Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner has been an average passing threat at best, he has a dual threat rushing attack that is more than capable of picking up the slack. Although freshman running back Rodney Smith gets the lions share of the carries, freshman Shannon Brooks has proven that there is more than one tenacious youngster on the Gophers rushing squad that can be as equally prolific at busting through merciless Big Ten defenses. Between his eye popping seven yards per rush attempt and his ability to get to the end zone consistently (three rushing TD's in four games), Brooks is the spark that allows the Gophers to remain competitive especially when their passing game inevitably fails to get the offense going.

However, the question remains of whether the Gophers can take advantage of J.T. Barrett's absence and dethrone the Buckeyes while garnering a huge win that would put them one step closer to bowl eligibility. Realistically, the Gophers will still have to be at their best even without Barrett orchestrating this high scoring offense. Even though Cardale Jones hasn't been nearly as productive this season, he is still a superior passer compared to the Gophers current starter. On top of that, the Buckeyes have a formidable rusher in Ezekiel Elliot and a physically sound defense, a nearly unstoppable tandem that has prevented even the most well-coached teams from succeeding. And yet, despite all of these glaring advantages, the Gophers are a pesky albeit stubborn team that may have just enough spunk to hand Ohio State their first loss of the season.

 

College Gameday Preview: Miami Hurricanes vs. Duke Blue Devils

While this matchup may seem like a stepping stone for a Duke Blue Devil team that's on the rise (6-1), the woeful Miami Hurricanes (4-3) will look to redeem themselves on the road after losing to Clemson 58-0 at home. Despite this demoralizing shut out, the Hurricanes have proven that they can make up for their defensive shortcomings from time to time thanks to sophomore quarterback Brad Kaaya. Although Kaaya's 10 touchdowns to 2 interceptions ratio may seem indicative of a game manager, Kaaya is at his best when he is able to get the ball down the field (8.06 yards per passing attempt). However, this aggressive downfield mentality is only effective when Kaaya's receiving corps is able to exploit opposing defenses coverages, which has been to be more of a headache than it should be. 

 For the scrappy and tenacious Blue Devils, going up against a pure pocket passer plays right into their defenses hands as their potent pass rush has proven to be relentless since the start of the season. On top of that, Duke has one most opportunistic secondaries in the game (5 INT's, 6 TD's), which makes the prospect of Kaaya being the Hurricanes savior all the more unlikely. 

If the Hurricanes hope to have any chance of being victorious, they'll have to find a way to hold Duke's dynamic passer Thomas Sirk to minimal gains in both of the passing and rushing game. Unfortunately for Hurricanes, Sirk has become a master at utilizing the read option, which caters perfectly to Duke's run and pound mentality (180.4 rushing yards per game, 56th in NCAA). However, Duke isn't solely reliant upon their rushing game to wear down a defense. Although Sirk's 60.1% completion percentage and 6.71 passing yards per pass attempt won't wow anybody, his confidence in his ability to get the ball down field when a opportunity presents itself has been a huge part of how this team deflates an opposing teams confidence. Thanks to a stout and consistent offensive line, Sirk almost always has enough time to make these big passes all over the field, especially to senior wide receiver Max McCaffrey (14.4 yards per reception, 360 yards and 3 TD's). 

In the end, the prospect of the Hurricanes potentially upsetting the Duke Blue Devils seems like a wishful pipe dream at best. While Brad Kaaya certainly has the arm and ability to get his offense going, he has had trouble going up against disciplined defenses that are effective at interrupting his rhythm via a potent pass rush. While Duke's nagging weakness of getting their offense going in the 1st half may open up a small window for the Hurricanes to gain the upper hand initially, they don't have enough playmakers or resilience to outlast a Blue Devil Defense that is ranked 6th in the nation in points allowed per game (14.1).

Final Verdict:

Hurricanes 17 Blue Devils 35