Week 4

College Football Week 4 First day of fall and conference season is beginning in earnest this weekend with some much anticipated SEC matchups. Every week is a battle in a conference that has won the past five BCS national titles and this week features a much anticipated top ten battle with the defending champs taking on a Heisman front-runner in a matchup of top ten teams. Before we get to that game there is a couple of intriguing undercards. Georgia @ Miss St (-1): Georgia QB Aaron Murray looked his best last week in the fourth quarter at home vs. Arkansas and only a Heisman like drive by Ryan Mallett kept the Bulldogs from forcing overtime. Still without suspended AJ Green, Georgia will continue to try to establish the run and take the pressure off Murray. Miss. St. has improved under coach Dan Mullin, but is still looking for a breakthrough win in SEC play. A last minute home loss to Auburn earlier this year showed that the Bulldogs are close and playing in Starkville at night should be enough for freshman QB Tyler Russell to get Dan Mullin a big SEC win and push Georgia coach Mark Richt closer to the exit in Athens. South Carolina @ Auburn (-3): Auburn needed an OT penalty a missed OT kick to hold off a very physical and un-ACC like Clemson team last week. South Carolina will bring a physical run game and one of the best RB's in the county in freshmen Marcus Lattimore. Auburn defense will be better after last week and Auburn QB Cam Newton showed he can play in some pressure. The SEC West is the stronger overall especially on defense and Auburn will prove that this Saturday. Alabama (-7) @ Arkansas: The best game of the weekend, featuring a Heisman QB against a defense that is better than about five NFL Ds. Arkansas' offense will be the talk of the week, but the Arkansas defense will have to play its best game of the year to slow down the Ingram/Richardson run game. I think Ryan Mallett will have some success against the Saban D and can keep this game interesting, I will take the points at home but the Tide will stay unbeaten. Oregon State @ Boise St (-17): Mike Riley has made a habit of playing good teams tough during his tenure in at OSU, as well as developing good college quarterbacks. Ryan Katz is playing at a high level and showed very well at Texas stadium vs. TCU and the best D he will play all year. Boise knows what is at stake in this game and will try to make an impression for the rest of the year. Kellen Moore is too tough to beat at home, but the 17 points make the Beavers the play. VTech (-4) @ Boston College: Boise State will be pulling for VTech big time as they open their ACC schedule in Boston. VTech got their first win of the year last week vs. ECU, but in the process lost RB Ryan Williams to a hamstring injury. VTech is one of the few teams that can replace a runner like Williams and Darren Evans and David Wilson will fill in this week. BC QB David Shinskie was 1-12 for 4 yds and 2 INTS last year @ VTech. The Chestnut Hill setting should be better for Shinskie this year, but the VTech defense will continue to present problems. Tyrod Taylor should be the better QB making VTech the play. Stanford (-4.5) @ Notre Dame: Andrew Luck has been the best QB in the nation this season and a national TV audience vs. ND is the perfect chance for him to make a national statement. ND has been bludgeoned on the ground two straight weeks and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh will game plan enough to keep the ND defense on their heels and allow Luck to have a big day. The Irish offense under Brian Kelly has been a pleasant surprise and will put up points on Saturday, just not enough to stay close to Luck and a better Stanford team. Central Florida @ Kansas State (-7): KSU RB Daniel Thomas leads the country in rushing and has a favorable matchup vs. Central Florida's defense. Central Florida freshmen QB Jeff Godfrey has been a spark, but turnover issues are a problem and solving those problems in Manhattan will not be easy. Thomas should wear down the Knights defense and the second half making KSU the play.