How To Football: Week 6

Loaded week of college football lined up for us with great games across all three shifts, including LSU’s trip to the Swamp.

Choptober Shift

It feels like college football has been conceding Thursday nights to the NFL, and now they are conceding it to the NFL and the MLB playoffs. Which as a Braves fan, I’m not about to complain about. This week your only pickings are Georgia Southern at Troy and Tulsa at Houston.

So...watch baseball.

There’s A Bee In My Boot Shift

Another lackluster Friday night as well, although it is through no fault of the schedule makers. Georgia Tech at Louisville isn’t necessarily a blockbuster in any year, but when both teams come into the game at 2-3 it’s hard to get up for it.

The real big game of the evening is Utah State at BYU. As of right now S&P+ says the Aggies are the best team in contention for the Beehive Boot, at 3-1 and 40th overall, 26th in offense and 60th in defense. The Cougars check in at 3-2, 105th, and 52nd overall. This is going to be a strength vs. strength matchup with the number favoring the Aggies. But the game is in Provo and that’s the type of thing that can tip the scales.

Also: Dartmouth at Yale for the appetizer and Middle Tennessee State at Marshall for the side dish.

The Red River Civil Disagreement Shift

So long as the Longhorns have the 80th best defense in college football I don’t see how they can make it a game against Oklahoma and their best offense in college football. But that doesn’t matter because this is the Red River Shootout Rivalry and history says you need to expect the exact inverse of what common sense demands. Also these are the type of games that Tom Herman gets up for.

Usually the Red River Shootout is the saving grace of the nooner shift, but there are some games with value to pair with it. Nothing too marquee, but Maryland is well-rounded enough to keep pace with Michigan at least for a minute and we get a great strength vs. strength game between Missou’s offense (8th) and South Carolina’s defense (25th). And if you’re one of those weird “defensive battles” person, then you have Northwestern-Michigan State to sate your appetite.

Tulane and Cincinnati round out the shift. I don’t usually take the time to point out games plucked out the bargain bin, but if anything gets out of hand, you have Northern Iowa hosting North Dakota State at 1:00 and uh, that’s an FCS BANGER.

Cajun Reeboks And Jordans Shift

There are some good games on in the 2:30 slot, but LSU-Florida easily takes the lead among them. So your priorities are well-placed.

To compliment the showdown in the Swamp, we get Iowa State and Oklahoma State, which has never had serious implications ever. Never, especially as it relates to LSU football. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I know this is probably a lost cause but...it’s not like Florida State doesn’t have a chance against Miami (FL). In fact, I can completely buy that this the game where Taggart and the Seminoles put it all together and spring an upset of their rivals. It’s gotta happen at some point and why not this week? I’m just saying, at least watch until it is properly time to pronounce FSU’s time of death.

In the same spirit of Northwestern-Michigan State, Iowa at Minnesota is probably the most points-adverse game of the shift that is worth nothing. Did I say nothing? I meant noting.

We get a pretty highkey G5 bop to round of the shift with San Diego State playing Boise State on the Smurf Turf. A lot of scores in the alternates to keep an eye on, just in case of emergency.

Baby I’m Burnin’ Memorial Shift

Well, heading into the season I’m sure everybody was licking their chops over the Auburn-Mississippi State game and well...that one didn’t quite pan out. It’s still bound to be a great game but I can’t help but feel that both sides were expecting this to be vying for GameDay and a 2:30 CBS tag. Oddly enough, the defense has been the anchors for both teams, with Auburn holding the best defense in college football and State not too too far behind at 12th. Auburn’s offense has been very worrisome, landing at 84th (!) while State has been only slightly underwhelming, running at 41st in the nation.

One of the teams responsible for scuffing the shine of this game is undefeated Kentucky with the THIRD (3rd) best defense in the nation and a September Heisman candidate Benny Snell. In case you don’t believe, Kentucky is pretty much as good or better than LSU in pretty much every area except passing yards. They’re legit this year.

On the flip side of the coin, the Clemson-A&M game is starting to look like an apparition due to Clemson playing with their food and not a statement on Jimbo’s time in College Station. The Aggies should have the talent advantage, but we said that about Florida and Mississippi State. I think this is a huge huge game for both teams, for vastly different reasons. Reasonable or not, a loss to Kentucky probably won’t sit well with College Station’s deeper pockets. For Kentucky, beating a name like Texas A&M on primetime ESPN is a big enough pelt on the wall for people to start noticing and taking the Wildcats seriously.

The Worldwide Leader will tell you Notre Dame at Virginia Tech will be a great game, but disregard that, that’s mostly fake news. I’m sure the Hokies will hold close because it’s a night game at Lane against a marquee opponent and Notre Dame really isn’t in the business of blowing away teams. It’s going to be one of those two-possession games that feels like a three or four possession game.

There’s a sharp decline in the rest of the shift, so rummage around and put on baseball or what you feel it best out of the bargain bin. If you have the means to support a stream of it, the UAB-Louisiana Tech game has some potential to it.

Fehoko Family Hour Shift

Nothing really interesting nor objectionable during the after dusk hours. Utah-Stanford, Cal-Arizona, Fresno-Nevada, and Colorado State-San Jose State. Pretty middle of the road lineup.

What saves the shift is that we do have a Hawaii home game at 11, against every entry-level college football hipster’s favorite side piece, Wyoming. The game can be found on Stadium, or if you want authenticity, somewhere buried on Periscope.