College Football Marquee Matchups Week 11

While the college football season is starting to wind down, the conference races are just starting to heat up. Several teams in each conference still have a chance to win their conference title, which should make for another exciting weekend of college football. No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies at No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide – The Alabama Crimson Tide can wrap up the SEC West and take another step towards playing for their second consecutive national championship with a win over the Texas A&M Aggies this Saturday afternoon. After clinching a come from behind victory in the final minute of the game against their rival LSU Tigers, it may be a bit of a challenge for the Crimson Tide to focus on the Aggies. If Alabama is not careful, the Aggies could come into Tuscaloosa and walk away with a victory, damaging the Crimson Tide’s hopes of playing for a national championship. Aggies’ quarterback Johnny Manziel continues to play very well in the SEC. Last week against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Manziel threw for 311 yards while also running for another 129 yards and two touchdowns. Texas A&M will rely on Manziel to lead the offense against a very talented Alabama defense. The highly flying offense of the Aggies ranks fifth nationally, averaging 559.6 yards per game. In last week’s win over the LSU Tigers, Alabama’s run defense was not as stout as it normally is, allowing 161 rushing yards to the Tigers. Alabama will need to shore up its run defense this week against the eleventh best rushing offense in the country. With the defensive minded Nick Saban at the helm, the Crimson Tide should have no problem refocusing on their defense and preparing for a very good Texas AM offense this week. No. 11 Oregon State Beavers at No. 14 Stanford Cardinal – The Stanford Cardinal recently announced that Kevin Hogan will take over the starting quarterback position for the ineffective Josh Nunes. Hogan came into last week’s game against the Colorado Buffalos early in the first quarter after Stanford’s first two drives stalled and led the Cardinals to a productive offensive day. Hogan ended up with 184 passing yards on 18 completions along with two touchdowns. In addition to the passing yards, Hogan ran the ball seven times for 48 yards. Hogan should provide a spark on offense for the Cardinal as Stanford looks to stay alive in the Pac 12 North race. Oregon State quarterback Cody Vaz became the starter when Sean Mannion went down with an injury October 6th. When Mannion returned against the Washington Huskies two weeks ago, he promptly threw four interceptions in the team’s lone loss of the season. After the Washington game, Mannion was benched in favor of Vaz who went on to have another good game last week against the Arizona State Sun Devils. In that game, Vaz threw for 267 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception while leading the Beavers to a 36-26 victory. Oregon State will be counting on Vaz to have another solid game this Saturday as both the Beavers and Cardinal vie for a conference title. Any hopes of catching the Oregon Ducks for the Pac 12 North division title and the right to play in the conference championship game hinge on this week’s game as both Oregon State and Stanford have yet to play the Ducks. The team that loses on Saturday will be eliminated from the Pac 12 North race and will see one of their team goals go unfulfilled. Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 16 Nebraska Cornhuskers – The Penn State Nittany Lions will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a pivotal Big Ten conference showdown. The Penn State Nittany Lions would love nothing more than to march into Memorial Stadium and upset the Cornhuskers to continue their surprising season. Many analysts left the Penn State program for dead after the NCAA handed down some harsh sanctions at the beginning of the season and several key players decided to transfer to other schools. However, as a testament to the team and head coach Bill O’Brien, the Nittany Lions have not given up on this season and continue to fight for each other. Quarterback Matt McGloin has been a pleasant surprise this year as he continues to improve week after week. In last week’s win over the Purdue Boilermakers, McGloin threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns. The Nittany Lions will need McGloin to have another productive game on the road if they hope to upset the Cornhuskers this Saturday. Nebraska currently has the inside track to the Big Ten Legends Division title as they own the tie breaker over the Michigan Wolverines. A last minute touchdown last weekend against the Michigan State Spartans saved the Cornhuskers season as it appeared Nebraska was going to lose that game. Quarterback Taylor Martinez was excellent again against the Spartans as he threw for 160 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions while adding 205 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. If Martinez is able to run the ball the same away against the Nittany Lions, Nebraska should have no problem beating Penn State in front of its home fans. By Don Phan - Just another sports enthusiast.