Games of the Week Big Ten Game of the Week: Ohio State at Michigan State Saturday, Nov
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Bowletin Insider Games of the Week Big Ten Game of the Week: Ohio State at Michigan State Saturday, Nov. 8, 5 P.M. PT/8 P.M. ET (ABC) Weekly Polls It’s the first November night game in the history of Spartan Stadium, which tells you all you need to know page 2 about the most anticipated Big Ten regular-season game of the season. If you’re going to brave the East Lansing November cold, you might as well layer up as you watch two teams that haven’t lost a regular-season conference game in two years lay into each other. Ohio St. (7-1, 4-0) has lost only one game to a conference TV Schedule opponent since Urban Meyer took over in 2012 – to Michigan St. in the Big Ten title game last year. Michigan Week 11 St. (7-1, 4-0), meanwhile, hasn’t lost to a conference opponent since November 2012. Ohio St. is running on page 3 every conceivable cylinder right now, averaging a national-fourth-best 45.6 points a game and cracking 50 in five of its last six games. QB J.T. Barrett has Buckeyes’ fans barely missing incumbent injured starter Braxton Miller, completing 65 percent of his passes for 1,856 yards and 23 TDs and mixing in a running game that has Weekly News produced at least 200 yards in its last six games. That will clash with a Michigan St. defense that has held five page 4 of its eight opponents to 17 or fewer points – but has been overshadowed by an offense averaging a tick below the Buckeyes at 45.5 points a game. QB Connor Cook, who enjoyed his first career 300-yard passing game in This Week in the that Big Ten Championship game last year, has built on that success, throwing for 17 touchdowns this season and 39 in his last 22 games. That’s nicely balanced by RB Jeremy Langford (841 yards, 10 TDs), who has run Big Ten/Pac-12 for 100-plus yards his last five games. Not surprisingly, the winner of this game will not only remain unbeaten page 5 in conference, but plant a big flag for a Big Ten representative in the four-team playoff. Pac-12 Game of the Week: Notre Dame at Arizona State Saturday, Nov. 8, 12:30 P.M. PT/3:30 P.M. ET (ABC) Notre Dame QB Everett Golson accounted for 533 yards and six touchdowns – three passing, three rush- ing -- against Navy last week. He threw for 315 yards and spurred the Irish to three fourth-quarter touch- downs. Ho-hum you say? It’s only Navy, you say? Well, the 49-39 Notre Dame victory tells you otherwise, because Golson and the Irish needed every one of those touchdowns to hold off a Navy team that racked up 336 yards on the ground, 23 first downs and overcame a 21-point deficit. No. 10 (CFP) Notre Dame (7- 1) has allowed 113 points in its last three games, with the only defeat coming against defending champion and No. 2 Florida St. last month. Now, the Irish, who have given up 30 or more points for three consecutive games, face an Arizona St. team averaging 483.6 yards a game – the highest-ranked offense – yes, even better than Florida St. – Notre Dame will face all year. What makes No. 9 (CFP) Arizona St. (7-1) even more dangerous is its defense. Since needing a Hail-Mary on the last play of the game to take out USC, 38-34, on Oct. 4, the Sun Devils have allowed only 36 combined points in victories over Stanford, Washington and Utah, the latter coming in overtime. The balance coming from Arizona St. is coming at the right time. The Sun Devils jumped five spots in the CFP poll and were ranked one spot ahead of Notre Dame based on their more convincing victory against a common opponent – Stanford. With both of these teams perched where they are now, the stakes for this game are simple. It’s a playoff elimination game. Lose and you’re out. National Game of the Week: Kansas State at TCU Saturday, Nov. 8, 4:30 P.M. PT/7:30 P.M. ET (FOX) Welcome to the Stealth Bowl. While you were paying attention to every twitch in the SEC West and the Perils of Notre Dame, these two teams were doing nothing but staying under the radar and creeping up the polls every week Of course, it’s harder for TCU to stay under the radar, because the No. 6 (CFP) Horned Frogs are averaging 48 points a game – second in the country. In last week’s come-from-be- hind victory over West Virginia, TCU (7-1) scored 10 points over the final 7:33, capping the victory with a 37-yard field goal as time expired. QB Trevone Boykin has 843 yards and 10 TDs in his last two home games. And in case you think TCU is all about the points, the Horned Frogs lead the nation with 26 forced turnovers. That said, No. 7 (CFP) Kansas St. (7-1) is arguably the most dangerous team you haven’t seen this year. Behind QB Jake Walters (1,878 yards, 11 TDs) and WRs Tyler Lockett and Curry Sex- ton, the Wildcats haven’t lost since dropping a close game (20-14) to Auburn in September and have won four of their last five road games against top-25 opponents. On top of that, they are undefeated against TCU since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12. So with the Big 12 title probably on the line here, staying under the radar will be easy for only one of these teams after Saturday. The one which loses. 1 Weekly Polls Associated press College Football USA today Coaches Playoff 1. Mississippi St. 1. Mississippi St. 1. Mississippi St. 2. Florida St. 2. Florida St. 2. Florida St. 3. Auburn 3. Auburn 3. Auburn 4. Alabama 4. Oregon 4. Alabama 5. Oregon 5. Alabama 5. Oregon 6. TCU 6. TCU 6. Michigan St. 7. Michigan St. 7. Kansas St. 7. TCU 8. Notre Dame 8. Michigan St. 8. Notre Dame 9. Kansas St. 9. Arizona St. 9. Kansas St. 10. Baylor 10. Notre Dame 10. Baylor 11. Arizona St. 11. Ole Miss 11. Ohio St. 12. Ole Miss 12. Baylor 12. Arizona St. 13. Ohio St. 13. Nebraska 13. Ole Miss W 14. LSU 14. Ohio St. 14. Nebraska 15. Nebraska 15. Oklahoma 15. LSU 16. Oklahoma 16. LSU 16. Oklahoma e 17. Georgia 17. Utah 17. Georgia 18. UCLA 18. UCLA 18. UCLA 19. Clemson 19. Arizona 19. Clemson e 20. Utah 20. Georgia 20. Duke 21. Arizona 21. Clemson 21. Arizona 22. Duke 22. Duke 22. Utah k 23. Marshall 23. West Virginia. 23. Marshall 24. West Virginia 24. Georgia Tech 24. Wisconsin 25. Wisconsin 25. Wisconsin 25. West Virginia Dropped from rankings: East 1 Carolina 1 The Associated Press Poll is compiled from votes by 60 sportswriters and broadcasters from across the country. The USA Today Coaches Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at FBS schools. The panel is chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents, from a pool of coaches. The CFP ranking is compiled by a 12-member selection committee. The selection committee mem- bers meet weekly, in person, on Mondays and Tuesdays to produce rankings. The committee’s rank- ings will be announced on ESPN each Tuesday evening beginning October 28 and continuing for the next five weeks and will ultimately determine the match-ups for the inaugural College Football Playoff. 2 TV Schedule Week 11 (All times listed below are ET and subject to change) Thursday, November 6 Saturday, November 8 Continued Bethune Cookman at Norfolk State, 7:30 pm (ESPNU) Washington State at Oregon State, 4 pm (PAC-12 Network) Clemson at Wake Forest,7:30 pm (ESPN) DII: West Alabama at Mississippi College, 4 pm (ESPN-GP) Grambling at Mississippi Valley, 7:30 pm (espn3) Williams at Amherst, 4 pm (NESN) North Dakota State at Northern Iowa, 5 pm (CSNC *5) Idaho at San Diego State, 6:30 pm (FSSD / RSNW / RSRM) Friday, November 7 Virginia at Florida State 6:30 pm (ESPN) Fordham at Bucknell, 6:30 pm (CBSSN) Boise State at New Mexico, 7 pm (CBSSN) Memphis at Temple, 7:30 pm (ESPNU) Hawaii at Colorado State, 7 pm (ESPNU / WatchESPN) Utah State at Wyoming, 8 pm (ESPN2) Towson at Villanova, 7 pm (NESN+ / SNY / ASN) UCLA at Washington, 7 pm (FS1) Louisville at Boston College, 7:15 pm (ESPN2) Saturday, November 8 Florida at Vanderbilt, 7:30 pm (SECN) COLLEGE GAMEDAY ON ESPN, 9 a.m. Kansas State at TCU, 7:30 pm (FOX) Ohio St. at Michigan St. Alabama at LSU, 8 pm (CBS) Baylor at Oklahoma, 12 pm (FS1) Colorado at Arizona, 8 pm (PAC-12 Network) Georgia at Kentucky, 12 pm (ESPN) Louisiana Lafayette at New Mexico State, 8 pm (ALT+) Iowa at Minnesota, 12 pm (ESPN2) Ohio State at Michigan State, 8 pm (ABC) Louisiana Tech at UAB, 12 pm (NESN+ / CSNC *5 / ASN) Oregon at Utah, 10 pm (ESPN) Penn State at Indiana, 12 pm (BTN ) San Jose State at Fresno State, 10:30 pm (CBSSN) Presbyterian at Ole Miss, 12 pm (SECN) SMU at Tulsa, 12 pm (CBSSN) Wagner at Robert Morris, 12 pm (ESPN-GP / espn3) Wisconsin at Purdue, 12 pm (ESPNU) UTSA at Rice, 12 pm (FSN Affiliates) Duke at Syracuse, 12:30 pm (ESPN-GP / espn3) Georgia Tech at North Carolina State, 12:30 pm (ESPN-GP) Yale at Brown, 12:30 pm (DTV: 608 / FCSA (cable) Columbia at Harvard, 1 pm (ESPN-GP) Wofford at Chattanooga, 1 pm (ESPN-GP / espn3) Montana at Eastern Washington, 3 pm (RSRM / RSNW) Army vs.