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Nebraska (4-1) at Missouri
(4-0) 9:15
PM ESPN
Why to Watch: What
was originally considered a showdown for
the North title, has now lost a little
of its luster, but it's still a great
matchup that'll go a long way to
determining the final Big 12 pecking
order. Missouri finally gets a chance to
show the world it's for real, or at
least, it's not that bad, while Nebraska
can turn around its quickly nosediving
reputation. The Huskers have only lost
one game and that was to USC, no shame
there, but the last two weeks have been
a struggle against Ball State and Iowa
State. Meanwhile, the Tigers beat
Illinois in the opening weekend, didn't
get any love for easily beating Ole Miss
in Oxford, and then throttled Western
Michigan and Illinois State. This is a
respect game, but it's more about
survival. The Big 12 North has suddenly
become nasty, and there's no margin for
error for these two, with Mizzou going
to Oklahoma next week, and Nebraska
still having to go on the road to face
Texas, Kansas and Colorado. Missouri has
beaten the Huskers the last two times in
Columbia, but before that, 1973 was the
last time over the Big Red.
Why Nebraska Might Win: Marlon
Lucky. Missouri has been decent at times
against the run, but it was ripped apart
by Mississippi's BenJarvus Green-Ellis
for 226 yards. Mostly the Tiger
secondary has been the issue, especially
in the second half when teams start
chucking it around in comeback mode, but
the Huskers can come out and start
blasting away with Lucky on the ground,
take the the Mizzou crowd out of the
game, and keep the Tiger attack off the
field. Lucky started out the season with
a sensational opener against Nevada,
tearing off 233 yards and three
touchdowns, and has rushed for over 100
yards in the last two games. If he gets
rolling early and keeps things close,
the Tigers might get tighter and
tighter, having to deal with their first
tough test this year.
Why Missouri Might Win:
Something's missing from the Nebraska
defense: production. It's looked fine at
times, and a blowout loss to USC is
hardly the proper indication of how good
a D is, but the Huskers have struggled
mightily against the run, getting pushed
off the ball way too easily, with too
many runners getting to the second level
without a problem. Missouri has a
balanced attack that does a little of
everything well, but it all stems from
QB Chase Daniel. He'll get plenty of
time against the anemic Husker pass
rush, he'll pick apart the defensive
back seven with ten-yard passes, and
Tony Temple will find plenty of open
running lanes as the game goes on. In
other words, the offense should hum on
all cylinders.
Who to Watch: This needs to be
the national showcase game for Daniel.
An unknown by most fans, and
non-existent in the Heisman chase, he's
currently fifth in the nation in total
offense as the ringleader for the
high-octane attack. He's been fine over
the last few weeks, but he threw two
interceptions against both Western
Michigan and Illinois State, and needs
to keep the turnovers to a minimum, if
not be perfectly clean. Missouri has the
better team, is at home, and should win
without a problem. But if it starts
screwing around, and if Daniel isn't on,
the Huskers will pull it off.
What Will Happen: America,
welcome to Missouri. Nebraska will have
its moments, and Missouri's defense will
give up just enough points to keep this
interesting, but the Tiger machine will
get rolling for good early in the second
half on the way to a stunning victory.
CFN Prediction:
Missouri 41
... Nebraska 27
... Line:
Missouri -7
Must See Rating: (5 Paris on
Letterman - 1 Singing Bee) ...
4
Colorado (3-2) at Baylor
(3-2) 7:00
PM
Why to Watch: All
of a sudden, everything has changed for
Colorado after a dominant defensive
performance in the 27-24 win over
Oklahoma. With the toughest game on the
schedule out of the way, now the Dan
Hawkins era has officially taken off,
and the Buffs are living, breathing
players in the Big 12 race. However,
they can't take this game lightly after
suffering the indignity of being on a
two-game losing streak to the Bears.
Baylor has been able to rock against the
lousy, and hasn't done a thing against
the good, losing to TCU and Texas A&M by
a combined score of 61 to 10. Things
don't get much easier for BU over the
next five games, and this might be the
best chance at a win before the season
finale against Oklahoma State.
Why Colorado Might Win: All Baylor
can do is throw, Colorado has one of the
nation's best pass defenses, ball game.
This is a huge hitting CU secondary,
while the defensive front is coming off
its best game of the year, getting into
the OU backfield and pressuring QB Sam
Bradford all game long. BU might be able
to dink and dunk a little bit, but the
timing should be off from the start, and
after completing passes, the Buffs will
blow up the receivers. Offensively, CU
should be able to run the ball on a BU
defense that couldn't stop the TCU
ground game, and wasn't eve close
against Texas A&M.
Why Baylor Might Win: It's not
like the Colorado offense is going to
throw 50 points on the board. The Buffs
fed off the momentum of the fourth
quarter against Oklahoma, but the
overall passing game is still
inconsistent and shaky, and the running
game, while phenomenal against Miami
University two weeks ago, has to prove
it can control things on the road
against a decent team. Baylor is decent
at getting into the backfield, and while
the D will get run over from time to
time, it'll have a few tackles for loss.
Who to Watch: At the moment,
there might not be a better linebacker
in America than Colorado senior Jordon
Dizon, who might be an undersized
225-pound defender, but he hits like a
ton of bricks and doesn't miss a tackle.
He leads the Big 12, and is third in the
nation, with 64 stops, and he can also
get into the backfield and make plays
against the pass. His stats might not be
impressive against BU, since the Bears
don't run, but he'll make an impact on
short to midrange passes.
What Will Happen: Colorado suffer
a little bit of a letdown, but Baylor
simply doesn't have the offensive talent
to get by a tough Buff defense.
Don't expect many offensive fireworks.
CFN Prediction:
Colorado 26 ... Baylor 17
... Line:
Colorado -8.5
Must See Rating: (5 Paris on
Letterman - 1 Singing Bee) ...
2
Iowa State (1-4)
at Texas Tech (4-1)
7:00 PM
Why to Watch: This
is as about as must win is to get to for
Texas Tech, after losing its opening Big
12 game of the season two weeks ago to
Oklahoma State 49-45. There can't be a
slip up of any sort here, with the South
big boys still ahead, and a road trip to
Missouri to worry about. Coming off a
75-7 win over Northwestern State,
everything is humming on offense, and
now it's time for the defense to show it
can play a little. Iowa State is looking
for any sign of life, as the good
feelings of the Iowa win have quickly
faded after losses to Toledo and
Nebraska. The Cyclones are competitive,
but they simply haven't been very good.
There isn't a breather in the bunch the
rest of the way, so it's all about
improving and getting better week by
week for Gene Chizik's club, and it's
all about trying to keep pace with the
nation's highest octane offense.
Why Iowa State Might Win: The
defense is playing better than it's
getting credit for. The offense is the
issue, not the D, that's allowing a mere
179 passing yards per game and has only
given up one 200-yard game, coming last
week against Nebraska. Texas Tech is
going to get its yards through the air
no matter what, but this should be the
first time all season long that the Red
Raiders will actually have to work to
steadily move the ball. Unlike the
Oklahoma State game, Tech won't be able
to rip off 600 yards, so can it throw
for 350 yards against a decent defense
and still win? Probably, because ...
Why Texas Tech Might Win: ...
Iowa State doesn't have enough scoring
pop to keep up any sort of a pace. If
the Red Raiders can score on their first
few drives, it'll be over. The Red
Raider defense is just good enough
prevent this from being the time when
the Cyclones attack finally breaks out
against a decent D. It did a great job
of moving the ball against Toledo, but
the Rockets can't play defense, and Iowa
State still lost. Simply put, Iowa State
can't outscore Tech.
Who to Watch: The only chance
Iowa State has of keeping this close is
if the running game is rumbling, since
the passing game simply isn't working,
but that could be a problem if top back
J.J. Bass is out for the second straight
week with a shoulder injury. At best,
he'll be able to split time with Jason
Scales, who ran for 115 yards and two
touchdowns on Nebraska last week. Scales
is a small, quick back who could break
off a few big runs here and there, while
Bass is a big, fast back able to carry
the offense.
What Will Happen: The Texas Tech
offense won't blow up like it has over
the first several weeks, but it'll go on
a midgame run of points that Iowa State
won't be able to overcome.
CFN Prediction:
Texas Tech 38 ...
Iowa State 17
... Line:
Texas Tech -24.5
Must See Rating: (5 Paris on
Letterman - 1 Singing Bee) ...
2.5
Big 12 Week
Five Predictions, Part 1
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