Today's Schedule of Games
It's Separation Saturday. Time to see who will stay in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot, and who will fall away into the deep green sea.
At Noon: Michigan State - Ohio State (ABC). I want Ohio State to beat Michigan State by 100 points, for 2 reasons:
1) Because, LOL, Sparty loses a big game by 100 points.
2) To disabuse our coaching staff of any notion that they can try to do the "body-blows-to-soften-them-up-for-the-fourth-quarter" thing against Ohio State. Ohio State is not Washington or Wisconsin or Penn State. They will not cooperate by only scoring 10 points while we dork around for 3 quarters running into stacked boxes, punting, and playing defense. Purdue put up 31 points on Ohio State . . . and still lost by 4 touchdowns.
Ohio State won't win this game by 100, but it will feel like it.
Also at Noon: Wake Forest - Clemson (ESPN). Does this game count? The ACC does this thing where there are games in the conference that don't count in the ACC standings. Hell, if we are going to start not counting conference games, I have a list. Starting with a certain game in East Lansing. Even the replay refs now agree it should not have counted. Anyway . . . in this game I think Clemson will "Wake" up and win it.
Also at Noon: Texas - West Virginia (ESPN2). This is a pure schadenfreude game, for Texas stealing Xavier Worthy (and they did actually illegally steal him). WVU is a tough place to play, and Texas appears to have checked out. Sark may not last much longer than Jimmy Lake at Washington. We may see Xavier Worthy again in the Transfer Portal . . . if we would even take him.
In the afternoon at 3:30: Michigan - Maryland (BTN). This is a trap game, no matter what anybody says. In fact it's a trap sandwich, with uninspiring Maryland in between a huge road win at Penn State and a (hopefully) huge home game against Ohio State. It is impossible to get up for a game like this at PSU / OSU levels. It just is. And Taulia in tempo is the kind of QB that has given us trouble in the past. So don't be surprised if we are punched in the mouth early. It may take until the second half for Michigan to get back into full focus. I think it is actually a good thing that this game is on the road, so as not to get too comfortable and complacent after a big win. Michigan will keep Maryland in it for a while - give up the notion that our starters will just rest for the second half - but they will eventually wear Maryland out.
Also at 3:30: Nebraska - Wisconsin (ABC). Adrian Martinez is a monkey with a bazooka, randomly blasting holes in everything that moves and pretty much blowing up his own house. But one of these days . . . he's going to randomly hit the right thing and blow up the other guy's house. I'm just saying.
Also at 3:30: SMU - Cincinnati (ESPN). This is likely the last chance for someone to knock off Cincinnati. If Cincinnati goes undefeated they are going to be in the CFP for "fairness" reasons. There is a lot of support for doing this in the sports media. So a win today against SMU, even a tepid win, keeps them on track. And that is what will happen today.
Also at 3:30: Arkansas - Alabama (CBS). People are sleeping on Alabama too much. They are still the Death Star until proven otherwise when they are not caught by surprise. The Empire strikes back against Arkansas today. Little shards of planet Woo Pig will be flying all around space.
At night at 7:30: Oregon - Utah (ABC). This game is "practice" for the the Pac 12 Championship game, which will be these same two teams again. So Utah has two shots to take down the Ducks. I think this is the one at Rice-Eccles finishing at night is where they get it done.
Finally, late at night at 10:30: Your Pac 12 After Dark Special - meaningless crazy football just for the fun of it - Arizona State - Oregon State (ESPN). When I think "Pac 12 After Dark" I think a night game in Corvallis. It's the Pac 12 After Dark-iest of all games. Straaange things can happen. Ask Utah. Abandon all hope, ASU.
AWAY HOME TIME TV
NOON:
Charleston Southern at #1 Georgia 12:00 PM SECN
#7 Michigan State at #4 Ohio State 12:00 PM ABC
#10 Wake Forest at Clemson 12:00 PM ESPN
Iowa State at #13 Oklahoma 12:00 PM FOX
Prairie View A&M at #16 Texas A&M 12:00 PM SECN
Tennessee State at #25 Mississippi State 12:00 PM SECN
New Mexico State at Kentucky 12:00 PM SECN
Florida Atlantic at Western Kentucky 12:00 PM -
Florida State at Boston College 12:00 PM ACCN
Wofford at North Carolina 12:00 PM ESPN3
Purdue at Northwestern 12:00 PM BTN
Rutgers at Penn State 12:00 PM BTN
UMass at Army 12:00 PM CBSSN
Texas at West Virginia 12:00 PM ESPN2
South Florida at Tulane 12:00 PM ESPN+
Kent State at Akron 12:00 PM ESPN+
AFTERNOON:
Texas State at Coastal Carolina 1:00 PM ESPN+
Illinois at #17 Iowa 2:00 PM FS1
Arkansas State at Georgia State 2:00 PM ESPN3
Georgia Tech at #8 Notre Dame 2:30 PM NBC
Washington at Colorado 3:00 PM PAC12
#21 Arkansas at #2 Alabama 3:30 PM CBS
SMU at #5 Cincinnati 3:30 PM ESPN
#6 Michigan at Maryland 3:30 PM BTN
Nebraska at #15 Wisconsin 3:30 PM ABC
Virginia at #18 Pittsburgh 3:30 PM ESPN2
UAB at #22 UTSA 3:30 PM ESPN+
Marshall at Charlotte 3:30 PM -
Old Dominion at Middle Tennessee 3:30 PM ESPN+
Minnesota at Indiana 3:30 PM BTN
East Carolina at Navy 3:30 PM CBSSN
Appalachian State at Troy 3:30 PM ESPN+
#14 BYU at Georgia Southern 4:00 PM ESPN+
Syracuse at #20 NC State 4:00 PM ACCN
Florida at Missouri 4:00 PM SECN
Rice at UTEP 4:00 PM ESPN+
UConn at UCF 4:00 PM ESPN+
Louisiana at Liberty 4:00 PM ESPNU
Kansas at TCU 4:00 PM BIG12|ESPN+
Temple at Tulsa 4:00 PM ESPN+
UCLA at USC 4:00 PM FOX
#11 Baylor at Kansas State 5:30 PM FS1
EVENING:
Auburn at South Carolina 7:00 PM ESPN
North Texas at Florida International 7:00 PM ESPN3
California at Stanford 7:00 PM PAC12
#3 Oregon at #23 Utah 7:30 PM ABC
Vanderbilt at #12 Ole Miss 7:30 PM SECN
South Alabama at Tennessee 7:30 PM ESPNU
Virginia Tech at Miami 7:30 PM ACCN
#9 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech 8:00 PM FOX
Wyoming at Utah State 8:00 PM CBSSN
UL Monroe at LSU 9:00 PM ESPN2
New Mexico at Boise State 9:00 PM FS1
LATE NIGHT:
Arizona State at Oregon State 10:30 PM ESPN
Colorado State at Hawai'i 11:00 PM -
November 20th, 2021 at 11:10 AM ^
Here's a fancy schmancy schedule link with some nice aesthetically pleasing graphics:
November 20th, 2021 at 11:18 AM ^
In the SEC, it's not Separation Saturday...it's ChickenShit Saturday. The day SEC teams play a non-con rollover prior to their rivalry game. Here's a list of SEC opponents today:
- Charleston Southern
- Prairie View A&M
- Tennessee State
- New Mexico State
- South Alabama
- Louisiana-Monroe
SURPRISINGLY, Alabama & Auburn are not taking part in ChickenShit Saturday today as the SEC actually scheduled them conference opponents. I don't even know how long it's been since those teams had to play a conference opponent the week before the Iron Bowl.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:40 AM ^
I just looked it up...other than 2020 (because, well, 2020) the last time Alabama or Auburn played an SEC opponent the week before the Iron Bowl was 2006. That's 13 consecutive seasons of playing a nobody prior to their rivalry game. 13!!
November 20th, 2021 at 11:43 AM ^
ChickenShit Saturday was last weekend for Bama, think they played NMSTU
New Mexico State U…
November 20th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
I hope you are wrong about Maryland and they come out flat. It's been way too long since we've had a game I can feel comfortable watching. My nerves need a break before OSU
November 20th, 2021 at 11:58 AM ^
I think we're going to beat Maryland by 3 TDs, even though we spent almost no time practicing for them this week. They're just not that good this year.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
At the beginning of the year, I suspected that today's game could be a trap for Michigan...a road game against a potentially sneaky good team in between big games against PSU & OSU.
...but this Maryland team is not capable of pulling it off.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:25 AM ^
Honestly, I'm right there with you.
Except I still think it could be if matyland doesn't shoot themselves
November 20th, 2021 at 11:37 AM ^
Aaarrrrrrr…matyland
November 20th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
You're not a Michigan fan. Every game is a trap game for us until we establish a dominant culture unfortunately. We've seen too many close losses and bad breaks over the past 20 years to take anything for granted.
Enjoy your NFL-lite team (yes, I'm jealous, but eventually we'll get a voodoo win over you shits)
November 20th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
If you don’t want to watch Bucky v Sparty (as I’ve seen expressed in the Game Day thread), here’s why you should watch and root for Harvard over Yale in the noon game today on ESPNU: Coach Tim Murphy is a Harbaugh mentor, having been head coach at Cincinnati with John Harbaugh as Assistant. He runs a run-first offense built on Counter-Trey with a sprinkling of inside zone, and two tailbacks with differing styles that he refers to a “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”. H-Back/TE are featured (remember the “Wolverine of Wallstreet”?) and this year’s main target is named Adam West (NTAW). Beat Yale.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
Yes, today is also traditional rivalry week for the Ivy League and for other games like Stanford - Cal and USC - UCLA in the Pac 12.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
Two games that matter: MSU @ OSU and Mich @ MD.
GO BLUE!!
November 20th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Well done and thanks M Dog.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
Thanks! It should be an interesting day.
I always ask myself "What is the under-the-radar game that I'm skipping that will wind up being one of the big games of the day?"
Is it Iowa State at #13 Oklahoma? #11 Baylor at Kansas State? Or even Georgia Tech at #8 Notre Dame?
We know it will likely be somebody.
November 20th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
I stopped reading after the WVU vs. TX blurb....but YES! Ten times YES! We would take Worthy back tomorrow if he wants to un-make his mistake going to Austin.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
I agree with most of this except for two games:
1) Clemson's QB DJ U has thrown 8 TDs all year, and Sam Hartman from Wake threw 8 TDs the last two games.. Clemson is a hot mess, and I don't see them taking down Wake.
2) ASU, which has a good amount of talent but no discipline, goes into Reser Stadium to play Oregon State, a team that beat Utah, the Pac South Champion, but loses to Cal and Colorado, 2 very bad teams, and they suck at stopping the run. Rachaad White is the real deal for ASU, runs a 4.4 forty, and is hard to bring down. Sun Devils in a tight one.
And no, we wouldn't take Xavier Worthy, but he'd be nice to have.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
OSU offense looks ridiculous. Expose Sparty as a fraud and hope for some shit weather next week and a rock fight.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
They are averaging like 10 yards per play. Sparty is playing defense to take a stand in the red zone . . . and then OSU scores on 1 play. Yeesh.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
We need wind, rain, and monsoon next week. Rock fight please football gods.
We deserve a break after 2 decades!
November 20th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
I see an absolute ass whipping taking place here for Sparty. Hopefully the big house can be half as hostile as the shoe is right now and cause Stroud some issues. Cause I don’t see us slowing them down if they look like they did on that first series. Also, McDonald shit the bed with his game plan against state.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
OSU - MSU: it's still early, but so much "bend but don't break" defense for MSU.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
It looks like Sparty is in for a major ass raping in Columbus! I wish both teams nothing but the worst!
November 20th, 2021 at 1:17 PM ^
Ass raping ? A huge understatement, Jesus, those WRs and that passing game
November 20th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
Welp, that might be game. You punt, you lose.
It's like men's tennis, you only get a couple of chances to break serve. If you fail to do it, it's all over.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
We personally know what OSU does to pretenders. Just think back to Michigan's last 2 games vs OSU. This will be nothing different.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
As much as absolutely loathe OSU, maybe this will shut some of the asshole state Tucker suckers. All the portal and juco players in the world can’t match 5 stars across the field. Day knows spartys pass D is hot shit and he’s exploiting it. OSU knows their offense is basically Walker and they’re committed to stopping him.
November 20th, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
It doesn't matter but how was that ruled incomplete?
November 20th, 2021 at 1:32 PM ^
It appears as though the Death Star is fully operational in Columbus a judging from the nearly 40-0 first quarter rout. Sigh.
November 20th, 2021 at 2:07 PM ^
Well Mr. OP, you certainly nailed the OSU thrashing of MSU!!!