College Football Week 13 Preview (Rivalry Week)

#1 Oregon and their high flying offense take on #21 Arizona in a Pac-10 clash. The Ducks offense was held to a season low 15 points last week vs Cal and they hope to rebound. Nick Foles and Arizona have other things on their mind. Foles will need to hit big receiver Juron Criner and the Arizona defense will need to step up in order to get the win. Overall I see Darren Thomas and LaMichael James too much and Oregon should rebound scoring at least 30 in the win.

#2 Auburn takes on #11 Alabama is the “Iron bowl” on Friday. The past few years Auburn has been the major underdog but this year it looks to be Alabama’s uphill battle. Auburn needs this win in order to stay alive in the National championship picture but this one will be very tough. Auburn is going though all of these Cam Newton allegations and everything and I believe that’s why the Crimson Tide will get another big win. Alabama will need Greg McElroy, Mark Ingram, and Julio Jones all to play big in this one.

#3 Boise St takes on #19 Nevada in a big WAC matchup on Friday night. Both teams are coming off of huge wins and both have been on a roll all season. Boise is being led by quarterback Kellen Moore and receiver Titus Young while Nevada has one of the nation’s leading running backs in Vai Taua. Both teams have strong offenses so this game will come down to defense. Whoever wins the defensive battle will win the game. I take Boise by a couple of scores as they keep rolling through another season.

#4 TCU takes on a 1-10 New Mexico team. Andy Dalton should lead the Horned Frogs to another convincing win in their last game of the season. After that it’s up to college football and the BCS if they make it to the National Championship.

The defense of #5 LSU will need to step up again big time as they face Ryan Mallett and #12 Arkansas. Patrick Patterson and the rest of the LSU secondary will need to have a great game if they are going to stop the third ranked pass offense in the country. LSU will also need Stevan Ridley to come up big on the ground if they want to still be in the Nation Championship picture after this week.

Andrew Luck and #6 Stanford take on Jacquizz Rodgers and Oregon St. I don’t think Oregon St will be ready for Andrew Luck and the Stanford offense so I think the Cardinal should win by two or three touchdowns.

#7 Wisconsin looks to continue their strong Rose Bowl Resume as they face Northwestern. The past two weeks have been stellar for the Badgers, racking up 83 points two weeks ago and then 48 a week later. Both of these games they didn’t have John Clay put still had huge days on the ground. Look for that to continue Saturday in Madison.

#8 Ohio St takes a Michigan in arguably the biggest rivalry in sports. Ohio St is looking to keep their BCS bowl hopes alive while Michigan is looking to beat Ohio St for the first time since 2003. Dernard Robinson will be the key to Michigan’s upset hopes.

#9 Oklahoma St takes on #13 Oklahoma in Stillwater in a battle for an appearance in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma St is hoping that the nation leading receiver Justin Blackmon will return for them. On the other hand Oklahoma will need all of their offense leaders to step up for them; Landry Jones, DeMarco Murry, and Ryan Broyles in order to get the win.

Kirk Cousins leads #10 Michigan St into Happy Valley as they take on Joe Pa and Penn St. Evan Royster will need to have a lot of touches in order for Penn St to get the win while Michigan St is hoping to continue their great season with a win and possibly BCS Bowl appearance.

#14 Missouri will take on a Kansas team that is struggling this season at 3-8. I see the Tigers easily getting past the Jayhawks and moving on to 10-2 on the season.

After their loss to Texas A&M rumors were flying around about Taylor Martinez possibly leaving #15 Nebraska and then more gruesome talks about them leaving the Big 12. A loss to Colorado Friday would just put icing on the cake to a terrible week for the Cornhuskers. Colorado is looking for a bowl game while Nebraska is still looking for that Big 12 title. Martinez still may have that ankle injury that kept the Cornhuskers from winning last week and if so watch for running back Roy Helu Jr to get a load of carries and carry Nebraska past Colorado.

#16 Virginia Tech will take on Virginia in a big in state rivalry. Tech has dominated this rivalry in recent years but Virginia will try and stop the Hokies nine game win streak. Ryan Williams and Tyrod Taylor should lead the Hokies past the Cavaliers for their tenth straight as they head into the ACC title game.

#18 South Carolina takes on the other South Carolina powerhouse in Clemson. South Carolina looks to keep on rolling as they head into the SEC title game while Clemson is look to get their record to 7-5. Look for the Gamecock’s offense, led by Marcus Lattimore, Stephen Garcia and Alshon Jeffery, to overpower the Clemson D and lead them to a big rivalry win.

#20 Utah takes on a BYU team that has won four straight. BYU is led by star freshmen Quarterback Jake Heaps who has really stepped up during this streak and they hope it continues into this one. Watch for BYU to pull off the upset over Utah on Saturday.

Chris Ponder and #22 Florida St take on Florida in a big powerhouse rivalry with recruiting implications and season implications. Florida is having a solid second half of the season while Florida St has been up and down. Look for Florida’s athleticism at speed too be too much for Florida St to handle.

#23 North Carolina St. takes on Maryland Saturday in College Park. Look for Russell Wilson to again have a great game for the Wolf Pack as they should get past Maryland. Maryland will still be happy with a bowl game after an awful 2-10 season last year.

#24 Iowa is looking to rebound after two straight losses and 2-9 Minnesota is a great team to rebound against. Ricky Stanzi should have a big game and running back Adam Robinson should have a big game on the ground for the Hawkeyes.

#25 Mississippi St takes on in state rival Ole Miss Saturday. Both teams almost pulled off upsets last week but this week they both look to bounce back and what a better way than against your rival. Jeremiah Masoli needs to be careful with the ball if Ole Miss wants to win while Vick Ballard needs to have a big game on the ground and Miss St’s defense needs to force turnovers.