here are some games of note to keep an eye on as Week 7 of the College Football season rolls around today.
Texas A&M is at No. 19 Tennessee, Arkansas visits No. 11 Alabama, No. 10 Southern California tests No. 21 Notre Dame, or No. 25 Miami and No. 12 North Carolina square off to name a few.
But, the game I’m looking forward to is an afternoon PAC-12 showdown between No. 8 Oregon and No. 7 Washington.
They’re all going to have to go some to beat Houston’s initial win in the Big 12 on Thursday night, coming on a 49-yard Hail Mary completion from quarterback Donovan Smith into Stephon Johnson’s arms, via the tip drill in the end zone, as time expired. West Virginia had taken a 39-35 lead just moments earlier and looked to have secured the win.
Looks sometimes are deceiving.
But, back to the Huskies and Ducks throw down today, matching a couple of undefeateds (5-0) coming off a bye, and featuring two of college football’s premier quarterbacks in Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix.
Also known as the Border War as Eugene (Oregon) and Seattle are separated by just 285 miles of interstate.
Washington is No. 1 averaging 569.4 total yards per game, and Penix Jr. is 2nd in yards and 1st in yards per pass, while Oregon is right behind at 2nd overall with 555.8 yards on average working on offense.
Nix, in his second season at Oregon, after transferring from Auburn, came into the season as one of the top preseason Heisman Trophy candidates, along with last year’s winner USC’s Caleb Williams. Nix is completing 80.4 percent of his passes for 1,459 yards and 15 touchdowns with only one interception in five games.
Besides being first in total offense, Penix Jr., the current betting favorite to win the 2023 Heisman, is completing 74.7 percent of his passes for 1,999 yards and 16 touchdowns with only two picks. Penix Jr., a transfer from Indiana prior to the 2022 season, led the Huskies to an 11-2 record.
He was the FBS leader in passing yards for the regular season, averaging 357 yards per game and became the Huskies all-time single-season passing leader with 4,641 passing yards during Washington’s 27-20 Alamo Bowl victory over Texas last Dec.
The Arkansas-Alabama SEC game opens my day’s viewing schedule at 11 a.m., while Texas A&M and Tennessee go head-to-head with Oregon and Washington at 2:30 in the afternoon.
A couple of key evening matchups feature Miami at North Carolina on ABC, and Southern Cal at Notre Dame on NBC, both starting at 6:30.
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