Top questions heading into games of Week 7
Much of the focus on Week 7 of the college football season will be on the showdown between No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia.
And, rightfully so. It’s the biggest game of the regular season from a ranking perspective since the Crimson Tide faced Florida State in the opener of the 2016 season.
However, there are other story lines worth watching.
Tennessee looks to rebound against Kentucky after losing to Georgia. Central Florida can vault back into the New Year’s Six race by winning at Memphis.
On the heels of a key win against Florida, Texas A&M takes on Mississippi State and the Bulldogs’ floundering offense.
And Miami (Fla.), also smarting after last week’s defeat against Clemson, needs to get itself together quickly to stay in the ACC title race and possibly earn a rematch with the Tigers.
Five questions will decide how
Week 7 plays out:
Will offense or defense decide Alabama-Georgia?
Georgia’s blueprint worked perfectly in the second half of last weekend’s win against Tennessee, when the Bulldogs turned a 21-17 deficit into a 44-17 win behind a strong running game, opportunistic passing game and aggressive pass rush.
Alabama’s style through three games has been to simply outscore the competition, as in the 63-48 win at Ole Miss. There is a slight contrast in styles at play.
Can Alabama’s defense rally and slow down Georgia’s running attack? If the offenses dictate the tempo, can the Bulldogs keep pace with the Tide?
The game comes in the wake of Alabama coach Nick Saban testing positive for COVID-19.
... And will the loser stay in the playoff chase?
Without a doubt. The only scenario that really hurts the loser is a massive blowout, and even that wouldn’t necessarily eliminate one of Alabama or Georgia from College Football Playoff contention.
Overall, losing by 20 or more points would be damaging but not fatal should one of the Tide or Bulldogs then run the table to earn a rematch in December.
But with the Big Ten returning next week, an ugly result could drop the loser behind as many as four teams: Ohio State, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Penn State.
There would be plenty of time and opportunity to make up that lost ground.
How will Miami bounce back? Clemson’s 42-17 win last Saturday showed how far Miami is removed from the elite teams in the Bowl Subdivision. The good news (of a sort): Clemson is better than just about everybody.
So the key for the Hurricanes is to avoid a similar letdown against Pittsburgh, which is reeling after two straight losses by a single point. Miami’s defense matches up well with the Panthers’ offense, especially if the defense can rekindle the pass rush that paced wins against Louisville and Florida State.
However, the offense will be in for a slog against a Pitt defense that has been superb against the run (allowing 1.66 yards per carry) and leads the ACC in yards allowed per play.
Can Mississippi State’s offense get back on track?
It all seemed so easy in Mike Leach’s first game with the Bulldogs. They piled up 632 yards and beat LSU in an impressive start for the coach and his Air Raid offense.
After consecutive losses to Arkansas and Kentucky where Miss State managed 14 offensive points, it seems the defeat of last year’s national champions was simply a mirage. Saturday brings the opportunity to change that perspective with No. 11 Texas A&M coming to town.
The Aggies allowed Florida’s Kyle Trask more than 300 yards passing. Alabama’s Mac Jones eclipsed 400 yards.
Bulldogs quarterback KJ Costello should have the opportunity to come close to those numbers.
A win would silence questions about the sustainability of Leach’s offense. Another lackluster effort would be sure to indicate the rebuilding in Starkville is going to take a lot longer than expected.
Who gets knocked out of the New Year’s Six race?
Both Central Florida and Memphis already have one conference loss, leaving the loser of this week’s matchup effectively eliminated from the American Athletic championship race with the league now a one-division entity.
The road back would be long and leave no margin for error. So those are the stakes for the Knights and Tigers. Memphis will be looking for a measure of revenge after losing a total of four times to UCF during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, including twice in the conference title game.
To reverse recent history, the Tigers will have to get off to a better start than their loss to SMU, when they fell behind 21points before losing the game on a late field goal.
The story was the opposite for the Knights against Tulsa as they were outscored 22-3 in the second half at home in their loss two weeks ago.