Guest Post: College Football Marquee Matchups Week 7

The college football season is half over as week seven rapidly approaches. The title contenders are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the pack as conference play continues. There are only a handful of top 25 matchups this weekend with two of those contests being historic rivalries. Let’s take a closer look at some of the more compelling college football matchups for week seven. #5 West Virginia Mountaineers at Texas Tech Red Raiders – The West Virginia Mountaineers have put up impressive numbers the past two weeks against Big 12 competition. It will be interesting to see if the Mountaineers can continue to score seemingly at will against their opponents when they travel to Lubbock, Texas to face the Red Raiders. While West Virginia is among the best in the country in terms of total offensive yards per game and passing yards per game, the Texas Tech defense ranks number one in terms of passing yards per game allowed. Something will have to give when these two teams meet on Saturday. #17 Stanford Cardinal at #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish – The Stanford Cardinal will travel to South Bend, Indiana to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in one of college football’s most storied rivalries. Stanford is coming off a 52-48 overtime thriller against the Arizona Wildcats last weekend. Quarterback Josh Nunes had his best game of the season completing 21 of 34 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns. Nunes was receiving a lot of criticism for his play against the Washington Huskies two weeks ago, but has seemed to silence the critics for now. Running back Stepfan Taylor had a great game against Arizona as well, rushing for 142 yards on 31 carries. Taylor will have his work cut out for him though this week as Notre Dame boasts one of the stingiest run defenses in the country. Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson was praised for his play last Saturday by head coach Brian Kelly. Even though Golson only threw for 186 yards and zero touchdowns, the young QB made improvements in his decision making abilities that helped the Fighting Irish defeat the Miami Hurricanes 41-3. Golson will have to have another excellent game if Notre Dame is going to easily knock off Stanford at home this weekend. #15 Texas Longhorns vs #13 Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas, Texas – The Red River Rivalry is renewed this Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas as the #15 Texas Longhorns will face their bitter rival #13 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. This game is a must win for both teams as Texas and Oklahoma have already dropped a conference game this season. The Longhorns lost 48-45 last weekend to West Virginia and will be looking to get its defense back on track. Many experts believed the Longhorns had one of the best defensive units in the country this season, but Texas has yet to show it in conference play by giving up 36 points two weeks ago to Oklahoma State and 48 points last week to West Virginia. Quarterback David Ash has been good so far for the Longhorns but will face his toughest competition this week against Oklahoma. If Ash is able to continue his stellar play, the Longhorns will have a great shot at beating the Sooners. The Oklahoma Sooners are coming off an impressive 41-20 road win at Texas Tech where the defense intercepted Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege three times. Oklahoma was in desperate need of a good performance last week after dropping their Big 12 opener to Kansas State. A win over rival Texas would go a long way in helping the Sooners get their season back on track and re-enter the national championship picture. #3 South Carolina Gamecocks at #9 LSU Tigers – In this week’s lone top ten matchup, the South Carolina Gamecocks will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face the LSU Tigers. South Carolina is coming off an impressive 35-7 victory over Georgia in which the Gamecocks dominated the play from the opening kickoff. Quarterback Connor Shaw had a decent game throwing for 162 yards and two touchdowns while running for an additional 78 yards and a touchdown last week against Georgia. Running back Marcus Lattimore carried the ball 24 times for 109 yards and one touchdown as well in the victory. South Carolina will need similar efforts out of its two offensive stars if they hope to go into Tiger Stadium and come away with a win. LSU will rely on its defense once again this week to win a game as the offense appears to be struggling this season. On the road last week, the Tigers managed to score only six points against the Florida Gators while mustering just 200 yards of total offense. South Carolina is a more efficient offense than Florida, and should be able to put up more than 14 points against LSU. LSU will need its defense and home field advantage to come through in this game if they hope to spring the upset this Saturday night. By Don Phan - Just another sports enthusiast.