College Football Week 8 Bold Predictions

Week 7 went poorly.  Let's see if my luck can turn around in week 8.

1. Five or more ranked teams lose to unranked opponents

There wasn't much chaos in week 7, so why not week 8?  There's only one game on the schedule featuring a match-up of ranked teams, which means a lot of teams will be taking on foes they should probably beat.  But it's never quite that straightforward in college football.  Teams that should be on upset alert: #4 Utah at USC, #6 Clemson at Miami, #7 Michigan State vs Indiana (more on this game below), #9 Florida State at Georgia Tech, #10 Stanford vs Washington, #17 Oklahoma vs Texas Tech, #20 Cal at UCLA, #22 Temple at East Carolina, #23 Duke at Virginia Tech, and #25 Pittsburgh at Syracuse.

2. Baylor tops season-high score with 71 points or more against Iowa State

The Bears are averaging a ridiculous 63.8 points per game, with their lowest offensive output of 56 points coming against SMU in week 1.  Their highest scoring performance was 70 points against Rice in week 4, but I think they exceed that against an Iowa State team that just allowed a combined 111 points in consecutive weeks to Texas Tech and TCU.  It will be interesting when Baylor faces a team with a halfway decent defense, which might not be until the college football playoffs, but until then they will continue to put up video game numbers.  72 - 21, Bears.

3. Ohio State punts two or fewer times against Rutgers

The punter isn't the most glamorous position on a football team, but he can be a valuable asset or a liability (just ask Michigan).  Cameron Johnston has been a weapon for the Buckeyes this season, with his best performance coming last week against Penn State. He flipped the field position early in the first quarter with a 56-yard punt and kept it in OSU's favor the rest of the night, artfully dropping each of his remaining 4 punts inside the Nittany Lions' 10 yard line.  Ohio State has relied on Johnston all year, as they have averaged almost 5 punts per game, but I don't think they will need him much against Rutgers.  The offense is clicking with J.T. Barrett at QB and the offensive line is playing their best since last year's playoff run.  Barrett will be able to scramble to convert possible third-and-long situations, or at least turn them into manageable fourth-and-shorts.  Either way, I don't see the Buckeyes punting much en route to another blowout victory, 52 - 17.

4. Michigan State suffers letdown loss to Indiana at home

Michigan State's miraculous win in Ann Arbor shocked the sports world.  The Spartans are beat up and emotionally drained after a physical contest with the Wolverines that ended in spectacular fashion.  On paper, they should get an easy win with the Hoosiers coming to town.  But upon closer examination, I think MSU could have their hands full.  They've struggled against lesser opponents before, with narrow victories over Purdue and Rutgers earlier in the season.  And Indiana has lost 3 straight after starting the year 4-0, so they'll be desperate for a win.  With all the attention on last week's game against Michigan, I wonder if the focus will be there for this week's game.  I think Indiana comes away with the upset, 31 - 27.

5. Brady Hoke explains he would've tried to score more points, make less mistakes against Spartans, if still coach at Michigan

Since the Wolverines' inexplicable last second loss to Michigan State, just about everybody has been weighing in on that final play and whether or not Harbaugh made the right decision to punt, including former Michigan coach, Brady Hoke.  Hoke reasoned that he would not have punted in that situation, and would have instead put the defense to the test.  The Wolverines are off this week, but I don't think that will stop the ex-coach from going one step further.  "See, the problem," he will say, "is that they didn't score enough points.  Michigan State scored more points and that's why they won.  I know hindsight is 20-20, and all that, but if I were still the coach at Michigan, I would have tried to score more points.  And make less mistakes.  I definitely would have told our guys not to fumble the ball with 10 seconds left in the game."  One can only hope that Michigan will listen to this voice of reason and attempt to get Hoke back to Ann Arbor to save this program, just like he did in his first year there.