Feature Articles

College Football: Week 9 Preview By Michael Rauch

Atlantic Coast
The weekend gets kicked off tonight in a big ACC game between Clemson and Virginia Tech. The game will be played in Blacksburg where the Hokies are always tough, especially on Thursday night national telecasts. Clemson has more on the line in what has been a somewhat down season for heavyweights Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech. The Tigers need the win to keep the pressure on Boston College for supremacy in the conference’s Atlantic Division.

Georgia Tech, coming off a horrible game at Clemson last week, looks to get back on track against Miami. The Hurricanes will be back to full strength after getting back the players suspended for their participation in the FIU debacle two weeks ago. The Yellowjackets hope to amend for last Saturday’s pathetic performance in which all-everything wideout Charles Johnson was held without a reception for the first time in his career.

Big 12
Missouri faces Oklahoma in the conference’s marquee match up, featuring two ranked teams. The Sooners will be in their second game without All-American RB Adrian Peterson while Missouri has lost leading sacker Brian Smith for the season with a hip injury. The Tigers need a victory to keep pace with Nebraska in the North division as Oklahoma looks to remain in contention in the South.

Texas tries to keeps its national title hopes alive when the Longhorns travel to Lubbock to face the Red Raiders. On paper, this looks to be an easy victory for Texas, but Texas Tech is always up for this game, especially at home. The Red Raiders seem to be back on track offensively after a couple of dismal performances earlier. Combine that with Texas’ secondary’s penchant for giving up big plays and that’s a recipe for trouble. Another thing to keep an eye on is the Longhorns’ place kicking situation.

A much improved Baylor teams takes on Texas A&M in another South battle. Surprisingly the Bears are 3-1 in conference with the only loss being at the hands of #5 Texas. A&M is also 3-1. Both teams are coming off high-scoring, close victories. Baylor was down 35-17 to start the fourth quarter and got three Shawn Bell TD passes to beat Kansas 36-35. The Aggies, meanwhile, needed overtime to knock off Oklahoma State 35-34, securing the victory with a blocked FG in OT.

Big 10
The Big Two continue their respective cakewalks toward the November showdown with Michigan hosting a surely demoralized Northwestern team and Ohio State entertaining the faithful at the Horseshoe with a probable defeat of Minnesota.

Southeastern Conference
The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party commences for another year in Jacksonville when Georgia and Florida take the field. Georgia has fallen out of the Top 25 after consecutive losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt earlier in the season. Florida hopes to keep its championship aspirations alive after being knocked from the ranks of the unbeatens two weeks ago against Auburn.

Other
No real games of note out of the Pac 10 or Big East. USC travels to Oregon State and Rutgers hosts Connecticut. West Virginia and Louisville are idle Saturday before their big game Thursday, November 2 at Louisville.

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