The Saturday Speculator: Week 7

Yeah, uh, about that Hangover Cure?

I’ll make it up to you.

• Wake Forest vs. Clemson: Seriously, people are still on the Tigers’ bandwagon? I’ve long been off of it, and even though I can’t trust a team that got steamrolled for three quarters by Navy, the Demon Deacons would have been my pick here.
• Oklahoma vs. Texas: I still don’t have any faith in Texas. The team has been good in big games under exactly one quarterback, and he was not named Colt McCoy. Plus, I like the Sooners’ offensive talent a little bit better. This shouldn’t be close.
• Kansas vs. Colorado: Kansas had its road scare last week. This is in Lawrence, against a beat-up Colorado team that was putrid against Florida State on the road, and the Jayhawks are a better team than the ‘Noles.
• Wyoming vs. Utah: Call me when the Utes are playing BYU in a top-ten Holy War.
• Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt: I’m sorely tempted to say that Vandy’s not going to survive a trip to Starkvegas, but between two teams who could play 60 minutes of football without scoring, I’m going to take the one with big-play potential. And that’s the Commodores, at least until someone playing quarterback for the Bulldogs grows an SEC-level arm.
• Texas Tech vs. Nebraska: Missouri rolled Nebraska in Lincoln. Mike Leach’s Red Raiders can definitely do that in Lubbock, though I worry that this could be a trap game after they passed their first road test against Kansas State last Saturday.
• Georgia vs. Tennessee: There is no way I could convince myself that the Clawfense could win this game, or at least not one without the use of grade-A Chattanooga moonshine. The idea that Tennessee could surprise someone this year, much less the Bulldogs, is as absurd as a Nick Stephens for Heisman campaign.
• North Carolina vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame is better-coached and has a better quarterback in  starting-to-deserve-the-hype Jimmy Clausen, but North Carolina’s got more speed and is tested in close games this year. If Notre Dame were to win this, they could conceivably be looking at a ten-win season; alas, the Tar Heels will dash that dream.
• Northwestern vs. Michigan State: I’m not sure how Northwestern’s home field advantage plays against a ranked team here, especially one that can bludgeon the Big Ten with Javon Ringer, but I’ve got a soft spot for the Wildcats and I think C.J. Bacher, Tyrell Sutton, and an underrated defense keep them undefeated for one more week.
• Ohio State vs. Purdue: Terrelle Pryor’s been getting slurped for his efforts in the Buckeyes’ comeback win against Wisconsin last week, but it’s precisely the opposite thing, his effortlessness, that we should be noticing. There’s a grace to Pryor’s game, certainly as a runner and less obviously as a passer, an instinct no amount of coaching could produce in a lesser player. When Ohio State took the ball late in that game, it took about two plays to realize Pryor was going to lead them down the field and score. Not much rhyme or reason to it: he was just going to s