Overall, a fairly mundane slate of games this weekend. Well of course, with the exception of:
THE GAME OF THE CENTURY
The headliner outside of the Game of the Century is Penn State traveling to Minnesota to face PJ Fleck's Golden Gophers. Highly unusual for both these clubs to face each other this late in the season with something on the line, as both are undefeated. Do I know enough about either team to break this one down? Obviously not. I've seen PSU play a little this year and only highlights of the gold-plated varmints. I will tell you that both have been in a ton of close games, but in looking at the outcomes, I'd have to say that the difference should be that the most points the Nittany Lions have given up is 21, to Michigan. Minnesota has been consistently involved in the 35-32 type shootouts. Sandusky U however, doesn't score a lot themselves. Give me:
Penn State 18
Minnesota 15
Closer to home, Kelly Bryant leads his Mizzou Tigers into the Waste Treatment Plant in Athens to face the stinkin' dawgs. FUGA had a mid season hiccup with their loss to the Cocks. Mizzou, on the other hand, handled the Cocks like a $20.00 hooker. That's about where the comparisons end. FUGA is still supremely talented, while the Tigers have been Jekyll and Hyde all year. They come in at 6-3 and have looked pretty darn skippy in those wins. Then they balanced out that record with a whole lot of WTF in losses to Wyoming, Kentucky and....ahem...cough....Vanderbilt. It seems like every year, Missouri comes up with one game that nobody saw coming and bitch slaps someone they shouldn't. Please let this be the one. But...
FUGA 33
Mizzou 17
Please see the above bolded, in-you-face reference to this game. The key for me is what we've all been hearing it for 2 1/2 weeks now. If Two-er plays....
Honestly, I believe that's the whole difference between a true game of the month, and Bama continuing their dominance over the Bengal Tigers. Obviously, we have a pretty damn good defense. And that D did as well as anybody could against LSU on the road when our offense was all but stagnant for over half the game. Bama's offense won't be. I think LSU's defense is not what they've been used to and lived on in the past. And while they've been scored on a good bit in a couple of contests, I think they're better than most think. But they are down a starting LB after Michael Divinity left the team this week. Plus, they're facing a little different animal in Bama than they did vs. the Auburn Kitty Cats led by Mr. Accuracy and Gus Malzahn.
Likewise, Bama's D is not the be all, end all of college defenses. Not up to 92' standards. But in the end, I think they can keep Goat Boy & Co. under 30 while finding the end zone more than enough times.
Bama 42
LSU 28
What say you?
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