Week 4 - The Call Sheet

A no-no from Norvell – News flash: You’re not allowed to spend the whole week posturing and preaching respect, only for your team to go out and rack up 176 penalty yards and cheapshot your way to a loss. Clown behavior from Norvell and CSU.

Trouble in Tuscaloosa - From the QB controversy to Lane Kiffin’s comments about who’s calling the defensive plays, things aren’t rosy for Sweet Home Alabama. But amidst all the drama, I think the not being talked about enough is how bad the offensive line looks. You can flip a quarterback situation in a year; you can’t do that with an offensive line. Saban looks really unhappy right now. I wonder if he’s considering retirement if this mess doesn’t sort itself out.

Dogs gotta eat - In case you’ve missed it, Washington looks damn good right now. They beat the hell out of a team in a lot of disarray right now, but my point stands. The eyes of that conference are on USC and Colorado right now, but the real top dog might be UW.

Boomer Sooner – I think OU is going to slow and steady their way into an 11-1 record. I’m calling it now. Their schedule the rest of the way looks dreadful, sans that big matchup against UT.

What the hell, Cincinnati? – Cincy’s 31-24 home loss to Miami (OH) sort of got lost in the shuffle Saturday night, but man that’s a weird one. Tough one to swallow for Scott Satterfield.

Pittboss in peril? – BYU went on the road and knocked off Arkansas 38-31 on Saturday night. This is starting to become a trend for Pittman and the Hogs. They’ve simply not looked good this year. Supposedly his buyout drops if he goes below .500. Might be one to keep an eye on.

Stanford stumbles – We all collectively acknowledged that Stanford would probably struggle this year, but losing at home to Sac State (the school that you poached your coach from) is a tough, tough scene. I’m sure Troy Taylor didn’t have that on his Bingo card.

FSU vs. Clemson

Call it a bit of a #hottake all you want, but I think there’s been a big overreaction to the downfall of Clemson. And look, I participated in that early. I made fun of the fact that Dabo won’t welcome the modern aspects of the game. And yet the Tigers are still going to be pretty good and a hard out in the ACC.

Albeit against inferior competition, Clemson has quietly got their offense humming in the last few games and has scored 66 and 48 points respectively. Now that OC Garrett Riley and quarterback Cade Klubnik have had a few games to understand each other, I expect Clemson to look a lot better on Saturday than they did against a good Duke team in Week 1.

On the other side, we’ve got the darling Florida State Seminoles, who quietly struggled and almost lost to a woeful Boston College team on Red Bandana Day. Quarterback Jordan Travis got a little dinged up against the Eagles, but a win is a win and the Noles keep it moving.

I’m excited for this matchup. I’m really curious to see how the WR-DB battles shake out on both sides. Clemson does not appear to have a special wide receiver room, so I’m curious to see if FSU can clamp them up and force them to rely on the run game. On the flip side, the Noles have a star-studded receiver room and I think they could get going against the Tigers’ secondary.

Colorado vs. Oregon

Coach Prime and Colorado have experienced a meteoric rise to prominence and Hollywood status in just three games, but I fear the rent is coming due against Oregon.

Shedeur Sanders is a good quarterback, and give him credit for making plays on a consistent basis and getting them out of tough situations. That said, he holds the ball way too long and has a suspect offensive line, which is a recipe for disaster when you face a team with a plan to get after that ass. Oregon is the 13th-ranked pass defense so far this season, and I think they’re going to try and make life hard for Sanders–especially since he’ll be without two-way standout Travis Hunter.

For Oregon, I think this will be the game Bo Nix reminds the country how good he is and exposes how suspect Colorado’s defense is. I expect Bo to bomb the ball all over the field. That means Shiloh Sanders and others are going to have to play their A-game to keep the Buffs in it.

Ole Miss vs. Alabama

Ole Miss-Bama is gonna be the most memeable game of the weekend slate and I’m not sure it’s close. From the rat poison jokes to Nick Saban getting pissy on the sideline and the sorority mid-game camera shots…this one should have a bit of everything.

On the field, I don’t really know what to expect with this one. A lot of words and ink have already been spilled about the QB issues for Alabama, but with Jalen Milroe back at the helm I think things will settle a bit? Shocking I know.

Here’s the deal: There’s no way that things will be as bad as they were last week from the Tide. Tommy Rees got his hand slapped by Daddy Saban and they’re done dickin’ around. I detailed above how I have a lot of concerns about the Bama offensive line, but if they can run the ball against Ole Miss they have a chance to win.

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart has been quietly cooking this year, racking up 852 yards and 7 TDs in the air with another 213 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. The Rebels will need a big day out of him and RB standout Quinshon Judkins if they hope to steal one in Tuscaloosa.

All the momentum feels like it’s riding in the Rebels’ direction, but this is still Nick Saban we’re talking about here. Bama simply doesn’t lose many home SEC games. I lowkey think Bama can win this and get back on track.

Oregon State vs. Washington State

Calling my shot now that this will be the drunkest, most fun game of the weekend. The Lonely Island boys are facing off in what should be a doozy of a game between ranked teams and PAC 12 truthers.

The Beavers have been an absolute menace at the lines of scrimmage this year. They currently sit 15th in rushing offense and 7th in rushing defense. That’s music to my ears. I think for Oregon State, the game plan has to be to ground and pound Wazzu out of the game. Clemson transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has looked solid behind a good ground game and I think he can make some things happen in this game.

Wazzu likes to handle their business in an entirely different way, by leaning on their own standout transfer quarterback Cameron Ward. Ward has been sensational this year, racking up 9 TDs and almost 1000 yards in the air, and adding another two touchdowns on the ground. He goes as they go, and against a solid schedule thus far they’ve kicked it into high gear.

Wazzu has already notched a signature win with their victory over Wisconsin. Can they do it again here? Hard to tell. This one feels like a wild one that’ll come down to the end. I’m just happy both of these teams are kicking ass again.

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

Drink it in, boys. This is gonna be a good one. Without a doubt, this is the biggest, juiciest matchup of the weekend slate.

Tradition? Check.

Big, big brands? Check.

National title hopes? Check.

I’m calling my shot now: I think this is the game that will put Sam Hartman squarely in the front of the queue for the Heisman Trophy. And frankly, if he performs well, he deserves it. He’s been a killer quarterback for years and now he’s finally getting his chance to ball out on the big stage.

It kind of sucks to admit, but I think Notre Dame is pretty dang good. Hartman is awesome, and Audric Estime has been dragging fools en route to 521 yards and 5 TDs. Most notably, though, is that he’s averaging 8.3 yards per carry and that is in large part due to Notre Dame’s experienced and supremely talented offensive line.

That transitions nicely into what I think will be the matchup of the night – the Notre Dame offensive line versus the Ohio State defensive line. I think whichever team wins this, probably wins the game.

As much hype as this game has, there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered. How will Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord play in his first real test? How will Notre Dame’s secondary hold up against Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka?

I’m kind of leaning Notre Dame here but I think both teams can make a huge statement with a win.