CigarSmokinFootball

Week 8

Its midway through the season and no one knows who is going to make it to the Championship game. There are some in the great state of Texas that believe Baylor or TCU will earn a spot. Of course, if they do, then strength of schedule and conference championship games will mean nothing. Just saying. Ohio State fans have a lot of drama going on, but they’re still confident they’ll make the playoffs. Out west, the glory teams, USC, UCLA and Oregon, have all sustained defeats, but its newest member, Utah, looks like they could make it. Could the Utes win the PAC-12, and make the playoff, or will they fall to Stanford? Don’t know, but can’t wait for that game. In the East undefeated Florida State is still hanging around, but, let’s be honest, no one really wants them to make it through the season unscathed. Which brings us to the mighty SEC, where LSU is still undefeated because they have this monster running back who is hard to stop, (obviously he rents pigs). (50 bonus points to all who get that reference. If you don’t get it, stop what you’re doing and go watch Lonesome Dove!). There are two one-loss schools, Stanford, of the PAC-12, and Alabama from, well, Alabama, who are probably playing better than anyone else. Here at CigarSmokinFootball we are biased toward the Crimson Tide. At least we’re honest. It’s still a long way to go before we find out who gets what, so let’s take a look at what’s in store for this weekend.

Tennessee vs. Alabama- After a humbling loss to Ole Miss, the Bama players held a players only meeting in which the leaders spoke their mind. 10 bucks says it was not a nice, polite meeting, more along the lines of Drill Sergeants chewing out the troops. Whatever transpired, the Tide has been playing solid ball. They have beaten two top ten teams on the road, now they will host rival Tennessee. There is no love lost between these two schools, as a matter of fact, they hate each other with a passion. The way Alabama has been playing, they should dispatch the Vols and move on to LSU, but therein is the rub. The Tide cannot get caught looking ahead and fall to UT. Tennessee has shown they have trouble stopping the run up the middle, and the way Henry and Coker are running, the Vols should be in trouble. Side note:- after the way QB Coker ran the ball against A&M, he has earned a new nick name, “Vanilla Vick”. Thought that was funny cause Vick would never lower his shoulder and deliver a blow like Coker. Tennessee enjoyed a bye week in their preparation for this game. The Blue Ticks have shown they can play, they came on strong against several teams but couldn’t hold the lead and faded. Then against Georgia they mounted a comeback and won the game. Of course, Dawgs lost their star player, but still, the Vols won. Can UT mount that type of offensive production against the number one defense? Doubtful. Let’s be honest, if Alabama plays like they have been playing, they will walk all over the Vols. The hope of Tennessee fans is that Bama is looking ahead to LSU. I think not. Alabama rolls for ninth straight year. Roll Tide!

Ole Miss vs. Texas A&M– why is this game so important, beside the fact that my big brother is an Ole Miss Alum and The Daughter is a hard core Aggie who has her heart set on being at College Station next year? The answer is that Ole Miss has not had a loss in the SEC West and still holds the tie-breaker over Alabama! I might have mentioned CSF is biased toward the Crimson Tide. Ole Miss has had two stinging defeats, one to Florida and the other to unranked Memphis. The Rebels are in trouble, plain and simple. The offense is one dimensional, because they have no running game. If UM could develop some sort of a running threat it would open up their elite passing game. Instead, no one fears their running backs so they pressure QB Kelly who has trouble completing passes while lying on his back. The Land Sharks are a good defense, but they’re not given enough time on the sidelines to catch their breath before they’re called back into action. A&M has got fight in them. They were getting beaten by Alabama, but they never gave up. They capitalized on miscues and kept fighting. Now that they’ve had a loss, they cannot lose that fighting spirit. The defense is suspect against the run but that shouldn’t be a factor on Saturday. Those two big defensive ends need to have the game of their lives. Just rush the passer with reckless abandon. They proved they can do that against Arizona State. The offense is actually pretty good, QB Allen is extremely good, and he will complete plenty of passes. The running game is getting better but still has a ways to go. These two teams mirror each other, they both rely on the pass, no run support, and solid defenses. It’s going to be a matter of who can recover from last week. The advantage goes to A&M, and not just because it helps Alabama, although that is a factor. Ole Miss losing to Memphis took the wind right out of their sails and it’s doubtful they’ll recover. Gig’em Aggies. Sidebar- A&M determined they would wear their “Glow in the dark” uniforms for this game, but the game was scheduled for a noon kick-off. How were the fans going to see the glow in the dark uniforms even if the game was at night, wouldn’t the stadium lights interfere? The strange things that happen in college football!

Utah vs USC- West– This is a match-up of teams going in opposite directions. Utah is climbing higher and higher while USC-West is slipping down. The Trojans will start their second game with an interim coach, and they have already lost two in a row. They’ve lost their two best receivers and the starting left tackle sat out practice due to concussion symptoms. IF the Trojans want to salvage anything from this season they have to upset the Utes. The game is being played in Los Angeles. QB Kessler is going to feel a lot of pressure to rescue his team. In the last two games he has thrown two INT’s, which is highly unusual for him. The running game is going to have to find a way to help out. The Men of Troy need to make this game a knock-down-drag-out fight. Make every yard precious and do their best to hit the Utes just as hard as they can, every play, every down. If it even comes close to being a shoot-out, the game is lost. Utah, on the other hand, needs to do nothing different, just keep doing what they’ve been doing. They have done it in the rain, they’ve done it in the sun, they’ve done it on the road, they’ve done it at home. They’ve done it at night, they just keep doing it right. They struggled a bit against ASU, but pulled away in the fourth quarter. The defense has been producing turn overs and stopping other teams cold. The offense, until last week, has been running like a machine. If they’re able to get the gears spinning again for Saturday, the Utes should be back up to speed. The key for Utah will be to build a lead early. Put even more pressure on Kessler. CSF’s pick, Utah.

Short Smokes:

Clemson invades Miami, Don’t “Clemsonize”, Tigers

Baylor continues running up points against Iowa State

Pitt travels to Syracuse, which could be a great game. Panthers win, though.

Texas Tech looks to pass OU, might not happen. The Sooners have a bad attitude right now

Kansas dreams of upsetting Oklahoma State. Can dreams come true? No.

Duke takes on VA Tech and the Blue Devils should be victorious

Michigan State cannot have a let down against Indiana

Western Kentucky takes a crack at stopping Fournette.

Florida State swoops into Atlanta to defeat the Yellow Jackets, who should be playing, better but aren’t.

Ohio State switches QB’s, again, at Rutgers. Doesn’t matter.

Washington appears to be Stanford’s next victim

Can Texas beat K-State without Bevo Somethingorother?

Northwestern might recover against Nebraska…might not. Probably not.

Auburn needs to stop Arkansas

Virginia and UNC is a rivalry that is often overlooked.

Wisconsin and Illinois will slug it out.

Can Washington State continue its winning ways in Arizona?

Missouri should swat Vanderbilt.

Kentucky needs to upset Mississippi State if they want to keep their bowl dreams alive

The North Alabama Lions take on the West Georgia Wolves in a battle of the only two unbeaten teams in Gulf South Conference play. Lions are obviously CSF pick, Roar Lions!