College football Saturday open thread

A weak slate of games today but here are the ranked matchups:


Our newly adopted and #5 Sparty of Michigan State is in Ames to take on the #18 Iowa Hawkeyes (btw, Hawkeye Nation convenes each Saturday at the Pacific Beach Ale House. Decent beer, nice people, good scene).


The Black Shirts of #14 Nebraska host #6 Missouri.


Observation: San Diego St. is 5-2 and currently un-ranked. They would be 6-1 and we gotta believe be ranked in the mid-teens had the refs called what was an obvious block in the back on the games deciding scoring play in the closing seconds of their game against Mizzou back in September. And don't get us started about the BYU game where the home-town Cougars had school employees and alums manning the replay booth. 7-0 would not be that far away for the most snake-bit program in America.



Other games of note:

#1 Auburn and their Heisman front-runner, QB Cam Newton, go to Oxford to take on Ole Miss.


Aforementioned San Diego St. goes to 7,000 ft. elevation Laramie, Wyoming to take on the lowly Cowboys in a classic stumbling block game.


World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party: Florida vs. Georgia at neutral Jacksonville. Could not tell you when neither of these teams were unranked. Stay outside and enjoy another Jack'n'Coke.


Tulsa at a grieving Notre Dame.


And finally, out here on the Coast: the prime-time matchup will be the #2 Oregon Ducks at USC. Can't recall the last time we saw SC as 7 point dog at home. Offense has not been the issue this season for the Trojans, it has been the defense. When SC's D squares off against a more traditional attack like they did against Cal two weeks ago, they are fine. But what defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin never had to prepare for in all his years in the professional ranks was the spread-option attack and it shows now that he is being asked to stop it at the collegiate level and no one, repeat, no one runs it better than Chip Kelly's Ducks.

USC will get their yardage and points but they don't have a ghost of a chance of stopping RB LaMichael James (pictured) and the rest of Oregon's weapons on offense. Take Oregon giving the 7 points tonight at the Coliseum.