Can you believe we are already halfway through the regular season of season six and the last of the first round of conference matchups on the slate tonight as the Clemson Tigers (2-1) travels to the swamp to face the Florida Gators (0-3) who are still searching for their first win of the season. The later game brings us a B1G matchup between the Michigan Wolverines (1-2) head west to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks (1-2).
Clemson vs. Florida
In the SEC, you wanna be on top of the division standings and both teams will have a shot tonight to get started off on the right foot.
Clemson comes into tonight trying to recover after a loss to a tough Ohio State squad last week. Quarterback Will Slay looked good again last week against the Buckeyes, but the Tigers failed to establish any sort of consistency in the run game. The Tigers are top three in the league in both points scored and points allowed and they are the best at stopping the run, which puts them in a great position to be successful tonight.
Florida have been bottom dwellers thus far this season as they find themselves at the bottom looking up. They come in off a tough loss to USC last week in a game in which their defense played well but they failed to do much of anything, being held to nearly 300 yards of total offense. Corner Dakota Wolf and the defense have looked better as of late, but they’re gonna need to play a near perfect game tonight to pull off the upset.
Florida looked better against USC last week in a tough battle and Clemson’s defense looked a little soft last week against Ohio State. The difference is that USC doesn’t have anyone turning their head just yet and Ohio State is the logical front-runner for a National Championship this season. I just don’t see this game being close. Give me Clemson going away.
Clemson 45, Florida 24
Michigan vs. Oregon
Both teams are looking to get off to a good start in the wide open B1G, well open except for Ohio State. This is a winnable game for both teams and this should be one of the more competitive games of the week.
Dewey Ainge looks like he’s back to his normal self after a slow start to the season. The senior signal-caller for the Wolverines tossed 5 touchdowns last week and over 500 yards. Receiver Giorgio Pipino had a monster game with 216 yards receiving and four touchdowns, tying the CFSL record. The bad news is the Michigan still lost the game, and gave up 59 points in the process to Alabama. People were praising this incoming defensive unit for the Wolverines but that still remains to be seen.
Oregon is also coming in off a 27-10 loss to Auburn last week in a game that they just really struggled offensively. Quarterback DeVonta Cribbs really tried to put the Ducks on his back and carry them to a win but his supporting cast was held at bay and the Ducks only converted 30% of their third down opportunities. Oregon is an offense that is high powered and likes to take shots, but they’re gonna have to be much more efficient after they were stuffed by Auburn.
Who will forget about last week and open B1G play with a victory? Both teams have questions marks. Both passing offenses are superb so coaches may need to be creative. I’ll give the edge to the team with the better secondary, and that’s Oregon, at home.
Michigan 28, Oregon 31
