Will the real South Carolina please reveal itself? Are the Gamecocks the program that barely scraped by against Old Dominion, earning a four-point win on opening day of the season? Or are they the one that went into Lexington and belted Kentucky, introducing the Wildcats to a hard reality?
The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is back again, this year in Athens. UGA has dominated this series as of late, and apart from a couple of flukey plays, UGA would be nearly undefeated in the last 15 years against the Plainsmen. As 23 point favorites, Vegas expects UGA to comfortably roll again this year. A quick glance at 2-3 Auburn and #5 UGA would make everyone think a blowout will ensue. There may be more that meets the eye with this matchup.
A classic tale of two halves, but the result ultimately didn’t change. UGA started slow, yet again, and then came out firing midway through the 3rd quarter. They took the lead for all of about 15 seconds before giving up a long touchdown to WR Ryan Williams on the first play of the subsequent drive. The Dawgs moved the ball down the field again, only for Carson Beck to throw a pick in the end zone on a ball intended for WR Colbie Young
Do the Buckeyes have their minds where they need to be for this game? Ohio State has the talent to dominate Iowa, but the Buckeyes have a major problem on their hands: Oregon. The trip to Eugene to face the Ducks looms large next week, and Ohio State has to make sure that it’s not focused on that potential Big Ten title game preview.
Is anything going to stop the SMU march to the ACC title game? If it’s not Louisville, the answer might be a hard no. SMU’s schedule was always thought to be a difficult start to ACC life before giving the Mustangs a glide path to Charlotte if they could survive it.
Texas A&M hasn’t allowed more than 23 points since Notre Dame in Week 1, and the Aggies haven’t allowed more than 20 in any of their four wins. If the Aggies can get a lead while Missouri sleepwalks through the first half again, this might be the upset the Tigers have avoided to this point.
Two games into its first Big Ten campaign, and UCLA has to be wondering if this was really such a good idea. Leaving aside the travel nightmare of going out to central Pennsylvania and to New Jersey over a span of three weeks, UCLA just hasn’t been any good.
September is over, and historically, that’s been bad for Syracuse. September Syracuse has been a thorn in its opponents’ sides, which was why the Orange were regularly able to win five to seven games a season.
When Jonathan Smith took the job at Michigan State, this is probably the last place he thought he’d find himself. Once again, Smith finds himself heading back to Autzen Stadium on the visiting sidelines, this time wearing green instead of orange.