College Football Watching Guide (Week 10 2024)
Fun size.
There’s a difference between “creepy Halloween” and “fun Halloween.” The former’s haunted houses, macabre movies, buckets of blood—no thank you. Scares, spooks, and tricks are not my thing.
But treats? That’s where it’s at.
When you’re a kid, dressing up and asking your neighbors for sweets is the awesome part of Halloween. At some point, though, everyone started handing out reeeeeeeeeeally small treats to the young-uns. Those “mini” candy bars were disappointment incarnate.
But somewhere between the letdown-y nothingness of those mini candies and the excess of full size chocolates rested “fun size” delicacies. Just big enough to seem substantial, while being significantly smaller than their sold-individually-in-stores counterparts.
Appropriately, we’ve got a “fun size” week of football here. It’s compact, but there’s a good deal of goodness, and it’ll taste delicious. Check it out!
Really quick, before we get started…
Last year, for the first time in ten years, my Playoff Eliminator failed. Florida State, an undefeated conference champion, didn’t make it.
But a 90% success rate of perfectly predicting the Playoff teams? I’d call that pretty good.
This year, the Playoff’s grown up, and so has the Eliminator.
Next week, I’ll introduce the new and improved PLAYOFF ELIMINATOR, giving you an inside track on which teams are set to compete for college football’s top prize, so you can sort through the nonsense that ESPN’s hype machine pumps out.
But to get access, you HAVE TO SUBSCRIBE, so click the button above!
FREE SLATE
Middle
Weird! This year college football’s mostly been good about saving the true blockbusters for later in the day. Not this Saturday, though. So take your break from TVs here, and go outside before it gets too cold.
EARLY SLATE
Big Screen
Ohio State at Penn State
12:00pm/11:00am (FOX)
Maybe the biggest game of the day. The Buckeyes have a slight edge, despite visiting Happy Valley. Their offense is balanced and efficient, and their defense is top 10 in every major metric. The one obvious weakness is an inability to control the ball. It shouldn’t hobble them much when they hold opponents under 12 points a game. Ohio State has a single loss, to top-ranked Oregon, by one measly point. A win here would likely set them up for a Big Ten title berth.
Same thing for Penn State, who enters this game undefeated, but with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the program. Starting quarterback Drew Allar sustained an injury last week and is a game time decision, and if he can’t play, who knows what the Nittany Lions will look like on offense? On defense they’re great, though. Expect a low-scoring, grind-it-out affair for conference dominance.
Small Screen
Ole Miss at Arkansas
12:00pm/11:00am (ESPN)
Oxford is the silliest place in FBS college football, for my money. And they’ve got a silly good offense playing there. As usual, Lane Kiffin’s marshaled a dominant squad that’s unexpectedly as good on the ground as through the air, with Henry Parrish Jr. and Ulysses Bentley IV (what a name) splitting carries. And the Rebels have the best rushing defense in college football. They don’t have a secondary though, so if opponents can pass the ball, they’re usually fine.
With a QB that racks up an average of 354 yards a game, the Razorbacks are built to test Ole Miss. Despite some messy losses to the SEC’s best, Arkansas’s firmly a top-flight team, poised to embarrass a few folks. Taylen Green’s flying under the radar as an impressive SEC gunslinger. But while the offense is solid, the defense could get better. It’ll need to, and fast.
Watch The Score
Duke at Miami (12pm/11am, ABC)
Virginia Tech at Syracuse (12pm/11am, The CW)
Minnesota at Illinois (12pm/11am, FS1)
MIDDLE SLATE
Big Screen
Indiana at Michigan State
3:30pm/2:30pm (streaming on Peacock)
The Hoosiers are optimistic their offensive leader Kurtis Rourke, who’s fueled their unlikely rise, is back to fulfill the prophecy of #9WINdiana. They’re undefeated, and tearing teams to shreds with a combination of balanced offense that chews up yards and a defensive line that doesn’t move an inch. Watch out, because they’re a legitimate Big Ten title contender.
The Spartans already halted Iowa’s title hopes two weeks earlier. They’d love to spoil Indiana’s fun. Aidan Chiles is decent under center, but the offense really isn’t all that great. But Michigan State are masters at stopping opponents. Their defense is near-elite, and keeps them in most games. This one could get messy.
Small Screen
Florida at Georgia
3:30pm/2:30pm (ABC)
The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville writes another storied, potentially drunk chapter. The Gators have started figuring things out after a rocky start. DJ Lagway only needed seven passes to rack up 259 yards against Kentucky last week, and tailback Jadan Baugh totaled five touchdowns. The defense even looked serviceable. Was it a one-off, or the start of a trend?
The Dawgs are hoping for the former. They can’t afford a letdown that drops them further down the SEC’s pecking order. This year’s Georgia model relies heavily on passing, but struggles in the secondary. Yet it still overpowers nearly every squad it faces, and probably thinks this week will be no different.
Watch The Score
Oregon at Michigan (3:30pm/2:30pm, CBS)
NIGHT SLATE
Big Screen
Pitt at SMU
8:00pm/7:00pm (ACC Network)
These two teams are both ranked, and potential Playoff contenders. I am not joking. You’ve probably missed it, but the Panthers are undefeated. They had the advantage of a weak schedule prior to this matchup but they’ve taken care of business, primarily thanks to phenom running back Desmond Reid and an exceptional front seven on defense that makes teams one-dimensional. If you can’t pass on Pitt, you’re dead meat.
The Mustangs can pass, sure. They’re now starting Kevin Jennings under center, and he’s just competent enough to distribute the ball to their Baylor-style air raid attack. A hallmark of that offense is, paradoxically, a lethal run game. And SMU has it. Brashard Smith’s two touchdowns helped the ‘Stangs survive an overtime game with Duke last Saturday. As for defense, well, it’s a lot like Pitt’s: strong up front, with a nonexistent secondary.
Small Screen
Texas A&M at South Carolina
7:30pm/6:30pm (ABC)
After thumping LSU, the Aggies are somehow atop the SEC with a few lowlights between them and an end-of-season test against Texas. This one’s a trap game. Conner Weigman just hasn’t lived up to billing at QB, to the point that Mike Elko’s resorted to bringing Marcel Reed off the bench as a mobile option to spark the offense. Last week it resulted in three TDs. Elko just needs to let Reed start. If he does, Texas A&M has a stingy defense that’s good at everything but pass defense.
South Carolina’s the dictionary definition of what my friends Ty and Dan call a “half-team.” The offense just isn’t there. The best it can do is chew up clock. But on the other side of the ball? That’s where the Gamecocks make wins happen. In every one of their wins, they’ve held teams under 10 points with pressure-heavy pass rush and gap-filling run stops. If they can make this a low-scoring game, there’s no telling who wins.