It’s our week 8 college football preview! We break down Penn State/Ohio State, Tennessee/Alabama, Duke/Florida St, and more. Jake and Alex are back to break it all down including blogs for Duke/FSU and Penn State/Ohio State below!
8:30 – Penn State/Ohio State
33:30 – Tennessee/Alabama
and the rest of the top 12 in between!
Alex’s Pick
#16 Duke at #4 Florida St
A battle of two ACC title(and one national title) hopeful programs take center stage for the only ranked matchup for the conference this weekend. The Duke Blue Devils have never won against FSU. Ever. 19-0 since 1992, the year the Seminoles joined the ACC. They head to Doak Campbell Stadium as 14.5 point underdogs for a prime-time matchup. If Duke wants any shot at the ACC Championship this game is a must-win for them.
Duke
The Blue Devils have been one of this season’s biggest and best surprises. Kicking the season off with a massive win against a top-10 Clemson team and jumping out to 4-0 before a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame at home. They rebounded in week 7 to beat rival NC State and sit at 5-1 facing another top 10 opponent. The biggest question mark entering the game is if star QB Riley Leonard will be playing or not, as he battles a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss last week.
In his place QB Henry Belvin IV played ok, going 4/12 for 107 yards and 2 TD/ 1 Int. If Duke really wants to have a shot though they’ll need Leonard and the first-round talent he brings to the table. Duke has an average rank as the 51st-best offense by ppg but has the 4th-ranked defense, 17 spots higher than the next closest ACC team (FSU). The defense will need to be on top of their game and try to cause opposing QB Jordan Travis to make some uncharacteristic mistakes with the ball if they want to pull off the upset.
Florida St.
I have not been overly impressed by FSU all season but here they sit, 4th in the country and primed for both an ACC title (last was in 2014) and CFP appearance (was in the first in 2014). QB Jordan Travis has been great, having 17 total TDs and only 1 Int on the year.
He’s led the Seminole’s to the 5th ranked offense in the country and so far a perfect record.
Backed up by help from future All-ACC hopefuls RB Trey Benson and WR Keon Coleman. On the defensive side of the ball, they have the 21st ranked unit and are led by LB Kalen Deloach, the team leader in sacks and tackles. On paper they look great, and have performed well.
The issue is there have been major moments where it seems that it’ll all fall apart. Week 3 at Boston College was a narrow escape winning 31-29 after BC committed 18(!) penalties. Then a week later at Clemson they need OT to handle business and win 31-24. A win is a win, but they must be perfect to beat a strong defense and talented Duke team.
FSU wins but doesn’t cover
Jake’s Pick
#7 Penn State @ #3 Ohio State
The two teams have played annually since 1993 with Ohio State leading the series 23-14. They won the 8 games prior to meeting annually. Penn State’s last win against the Buckeyes was in 2016 in a huge upset victory en route to a Big Ten title. Since then, the Lions have played some excruciatingly close games against Ohio State, but to no avail. Will Saturday be different?
Penn State
Penn State has passed every test so far this season, but the entirety of the schedule has been leading up to this moment.
All eyes are on Drew Allar. The sophomore has yet to have a breakout game and yet to be asked to have one. Could Saturday in Columbus be the day? Allar is an Ohio native so it’s safe to assume that most of his friends and family will be in attendance. Will he rise to the occasion, or struggle in this environment? Penn State’s season could literally hinge on it.
Aside from the QB, the run game needs to be dominant for Penn State’s offense to truly click. Kaytron Allen has taken over as the lead back, which provides an opportunity for game breaker Nick Singleton to make a difference as he has struggled during the year.
The Penn State defense has been tops in the nation all year long but faces their biggest test by far in Marvin Harrison JR. Will the D-line continue to dominate? The formula for a Lions upset is a lot of QB hits and 3 and outs, potentially a few turnovers and eliminating MHJ’s big game potential. The Lions have the best defense they have had in years. Time to put it to the test.
Ohio State
Kyle McCord. That is the difference between a win and loss. The defense will keep the Buckeyes in the game. But McCord has yet to have a true breakout. MHJ has been able to get loose and help his QB, but McCord faces the best defense in the land and needs to have his best game of the season at home for the Buckeyes to keep their Big 10 and national title hopes in their hands.
Penn State 20, Ohio State 16