Buckeyes to face tough test from Spartans
If all goes according to form, Ohio State would face Michigan on the last Saturday of the month, with a division title in the balance.
Before that, though, the Buckeyes have other challenges.
This week, it’s Michigan State that stands in the way, and although Ohio State routed the Spartans 48-3 a season ago, there have been enough tight games in this series lately that Saturday’s matchup should have the No. 10-ranked Buckeyes’ attention. The No. 18 Spartans will be at home, and they still have a lot to play for themselves.
The rivalry with Michigan can wait: Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. was apparently willing to solicit help from Wolverines QB Shea Patterson while preparing for this matchup with Michigan State. Haskins said he and Patterson have known each other since eighth grade from football all-star games and camps, and they’ve spoken about the Spartans.
“I hit him up asking how they played defensively, and he just gave me some tips going into this week,” Haskins said.
No. 5 Georgia can’t slip vs Auburn
The Georgia Bulldogs are in position to reach all their goals.
Assuming they don’t slip up in the Deep South’s oldest rivalry.
No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1, No. 5 CFP) is a two-touchdown favorite for its 123rd meeting with Auburn, a team that has endured a disappointing season after starting out in the top 10.
If the Bulldogs can win their remaining regular-season games — after Auburn, they’ll also be big favorites against UMass and Georgia Tech — it would set up a rematch with top-ranked Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game and a conduit to the College Football Playoff.
“We go at it even harder because we know we’ve got so much at stake,” Georgia offensive lineman Solomon
Kindley said. “We know that they’re coming in here to try to ruin our season.”
This will be third meeting between these teams in the last 12 months.
Auburn (6-3, 3-3) romped past the Bulldogs during the 2017 regular season, but Georgia rebounded with an emphatic victory in the SEC title game.
Extra points NO. 13 SYRACUSE 54, LOUISVILLE 23: Moe Neal
rushed for a career-best 159 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Eric Dungey ran for two more scores and passed for another, and the Orange took advantage of five Louisville miscues to rout the visiting Cardinals.
The Orange (8-2, 5-2 ACC, No. 13 CFP) scored 27 points off five Louisville (2-8, 0-7 ACC) errors, rushed for 292 yards and accumulated 518 yards of total offense. Syracuse finished the season unbeaten in six games in the Carrier Dome for the fourth time since the building opened in 1980.
The Cardinals were penalized 17 times for 125 yards, and Syracuse picked off two Louisville passes. Louisville also lost two fumbles and their quarterbacks, under pressure most of the game, were sacked five times.
COLORADO: Star sophomore Laviska Shenault Jr. indicated on Instagram that he’d be back on the field Saturday when slumping Colorado hosts No. 8 Washington State.