First meeting. The Ducks have a new head man in former OC Helfrich and easily dispatched FCS Nicholls St LW 66-3 as they rolled up 772 yds incl 500 rush yds as they had 3 100-yd rushers in a gm for the first time in schl hist. UVA LW upset BYU 19-16 despite being outFD’d 21-14 and outgained 362-223. QB Watford struggled but the D and ST’s made plays when they had to. While the Ducks will get the win, I think the Cavs play w/a lot of emotion here and Oregon is making a rare trip to the East Coast.

OSU is 3-0 vs SDSt with the L/gm in ’05. LW despite racing out to a 23-0 1Q lead, the Bucks found themselves up only 10 in the 3Q (30-20) before putting the Bulls away 40-20. Heisman frontrunner Miller dealt w/some leg cramps but still threw for 178 yds (68%) w/a 2-1 ratio while adding 77 rush yds (4.5). LW, SDSt lost to FCS E Ill 40-19. The gm was much closer than the final indicated as it was tied at 19 in the 3Q while the Aztecs finished w/a 24-21 FD edge but were -3 in TO’s. The Bucks simply have too much talent here and Meyer will want better execution from his team after a sloppy L3Q’s LW. 

After SJSt won 3 in a row from ‘98-’00. Stanford has now taken control of the series going 9-1. LY SJSt almost got the upset win. In fact, SJSt had a 287-280 yd edge and had the ball down 20-17 when they were int’d at the SU45 in the final minute. An interesting matchup again will be Fales (NFL prospect) against one of the best D’s in the entire country. SJSt does have the game under belt adv after a 24-0 win over FCS Sacramento St. While clearly the Cardinal have the talent edges, I think this game for the 2nd year in a row may be closer than the “experts” think.

SC won its 3rd str game vs UGA LY for the very first time in a series that dates back to 1894. They also had their largest MOV ever (28) vs the Bulldogs. Both tms are off big non-conf gms. SC raced out to a 17-0 1Q lead before holding on in a 27-10 win. DE Clowney and the entire SC D did have conditioning issues against an up-tempo off. UGA despite a 545-467 yd edge lost to #8 CU 38-35 on the road. Despite the loss LW, the Bulldogs still have plenty to play for as the winner here takes a firm lead in the SEC East race and I will call for them to get the bounce back win.