Friday, November 30, 2012

SEC Championship: #2 Alabama vs #3 Georgia Preview

There are so many storylines in this year's SEC Championship Game. There was a joke on Twitter about how they should rename the SEC Championship Game the "National Championship Qualifier". For quite a while, that has been the case. And the same can be said about this year. The #2 Alabama Crimson Tide and the #3 Georgia Bulldogs are both 11-1, with a 7-1 record in the SEC.

However, the storylines don't stop at whoever wins will most likely play Notre Dame in the National Championship. We have two Heisman hopeful quarterbacks in AJ McCarron and Aaron Murray competing against each other. We have dominant running back Eddie Lacy against impressive running back Todd Gurley.

The Crimson Tide is led by junior quarterback AJ McCarron. McCarron has had Heisman hope with him all season. He is 178/265, has thrown for 2,507 yards for 25 touchdowns, and only two interceptions. A rather impressive touchdown to interception ratio.
The Bulldogs are led by junior quarterback Aaron Murray, who has also received much Heisman hype. He is 213/320, and has thrown for more yards than McCarron with a total of 3,201 yards. He has thrown 30 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

But the offense of both teams don't end there. In fact, it's just getting started...

Alabama has two rather impressive running backs. Junior Eddie Lacy is their leading rusher, just eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark. He has also punched the ball into the endzone 14 times. Lacy's backup, freshman TJ Yeldon has 847 yards to his name, and 10 touchdowns. Both players will look to add onto those totals, and put a stomping on the Bulldogs.

 Georgia also has an impressive duo. Freshman Todd Gurley, who has carried the ball 176 times for 1,138 yards and 14 touchdowns. As well as fellow freshman Keith Marshall, who has carried the ball over 100 times for 720 yards and eight touchdowns.

Alabama is averaging 214 rushing yards per game while Georgia isn't too far behind, averaging 190. On paper, these teams look very similar. I guess that could be why they're ranked #2 and #3.

Both teams have a few wide receivers who have impressive numbers as well. Alabama is equip with Amari Cooper, Kenny Bell and Kevin Norwood. Cooper leads in receiving yards, with 767. He also leads in receiving touchdowns with eight. Bell has reeled in 3 touchdowns while Norwood has caught four.

The Bulldogs have Tavarres King, Malcolm Mitchell and Marlon Brown. King leads the group with 704 yards and eight touchdowns. Mitchell has over 500 yards receiving and four touchdowns, while Brown has nearly 500 yards receiving, and also four touchdowns.

Describing the offenses, it looks as if we're in for a high-scoring offensive affair. But as Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my friend!".

Alabama's defense is ranked #1 in the nation for points allowed. Bama allows an average of 9.3 points per game. If you look through their schedule it's amazing how little most teams can score on this defense. Texas A&M is the only team to score more than 17 points on the Crimson Tide, scoring 29 and actually defeating Alabama.

Georgia's defense isn't as tough, but still isn't giving many points up. They are ranked 16th for points allowed, only allowing an average of 17.7. Compared to Alabama's average you can see a difference, but not by much. The Bulldogs only loss comes from South Carolina, who put 35 up on the scoreboard. Although Georgia has given up 44 points to Tennessee, 24 points to Kentucky and 23 points to Buffalo, all teams who aren't known as very impressive teams this season.
If I had to put my money on whether it will be an offensive or defensive game, I'd put it on the game being defensive. And I'd be cautiously optimistic that I'd win the bet. But with these two offenses I'm just not sure. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see anything happen out there Saturday afternoon.
The game will be broadcast on CBS this Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM ET. Clear your schedule, because we are in for quite a game. And the winner of this game will most likely go on to the National Championship Game and give Notre Dame a run for it's money.

- Matt Lytle
@mattlytle

ACC Championship: #12 Florida State vs Georgia Tech Preview

Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET, the #13 ranked Florida State Seminoles will take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the ACC Championship game. The Seminoles have an overall record of 10-2, only losing to NC State earlier in the year, and losing last week to the Florida Gators. The Yellow Jackets however are sitting at .500 with a record of 6-6.

The Yellow Jackets are led by a very impressive quarterback by the name of Tevin Washington. Washington is 68/114. He has thrown for over 1,000 yards and tossed seven touchdowns with three interceptions. He also has 18 rushing touchdowns.

Tevin Washington and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
are ready to be crowned ACC Champions.
Georgia Tech is ranked 3rd in the country for rushing yards per game. They're averaging about 320 yards per game. Tevin Washington has picked up a lot of those yards, but so has their current starting running back Zach Laskey. Laskey has over 600 rushing yards, but only has one rushing touchdown. The reason for the lone rushing touchdown...Orwin Smith, who is another one of GT's running backs is currently injured. Smith was the starting running back for Georgia Tech, but was injured, and is doubtful for the ACC Championship.

Georgia Tech also has a few options at wide receiver, obviously trying to make Tevin Washington's day a little easier. One is named Jeff Greene. Greene has 18 receptions for 284 yards and two touchdowns. The other is Robert Godhigh, who has reeled in 15 catches for 227 yards and four touchdowns.

The Yellow Jackets are also ranked 23rd in the nation for points scored with an average of 36.2. Their defense however, is ranked 86, allowing about 30 points per game. Their defense is going to have to have a pretty solid game to shut down EJ Manuel and the Seminoles.

The Seminoles are ranked eighth nationally for points scored, averaging 41.5 points per game. They're also ranked seventh in the nation for points allowed, holding their opponents to an average of 15.1 points! That's impressive, on both sides of the ball!
EJ Manuel looks to lead the Seminoles right past Georgia
Tech, and to the ACC Championship this Saturday.

FSU is led by EJ Manuel. We've talked about him before. He has thrown for 2,967 yards, 22 touchdowns, and only nine picks. He has also punched the ball into the endzone three times. He is an incredible player that has all FSU faithful behind him.

FSU is also equip with two rather impressive running backs. Since their starter Chris Thompson is injured, Devonta Freeman and James Wilder Jr have taken the ball and ran with it (no pun intended). Freeman has carried the ball 84 times for 571 yards, while Wilder Jr has rushed it 89 times for 514 yards. They've also combined for 16 rushing touchdowns. A pretty solid ground game if I've seen one.

Manuel also has two weapons at wide receiver by the names of Rashad Greene and Kelvin Benjamin. Greene has 614 yards receiving and five touchdowns while Benjamin has 479 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Bottom line is, Georgia Tech has to find a way to not only shut down the explosive offense of Florida State, but they have to be able to scored on this very tough defense. FSU has shut down most of their opponents this season. With Georgia Tech's high ranking in rushing yards, they do stand a chance, but they're going to have to be able to score fast and often. As long as they're able to shut down that Seminoles offense, and more specific EJ Manuel, they very well could win this game, and with it, the ACC Championship.

This game is being aired on ESPN at 8:00 PM ET Saturday night. You won't want to miss it.

- Matt Lytle
@mattlytle


Thursday, November 29, 2012

Big Ten Championship: #12 Nebraska vs Wisconsin Preview

In its 2nd ever championship game, the Big Ten conference hosts the #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Wisconsin Badgers in a rematch on neutral turf at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. On September 29th both teams opened their in-conference play against each other at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. At this point in the season both teams were 3-1. Though the Badgers led the Huskers 27-10 all the way into the 3rd quarter, Nebraska came back in a big way in the 4th to a 30-27 victory. Nebraska went on to finish 7-1 in conference play, Wisconsin ended up 4-4.

Taylor Martinez looks to lead Nebraska to the B1G Title.
Nebraska is coming off a 6-game winning streak to finish off the regular season, including their last win at Iowa. The Huskers cinched that win in the 2nd half after senior running back, Rex Burkhead, who had been out with a left knee sprain, started the 3rd quarter, scored the go-ahead touchdown and finished the game with 69 yards in 16 carries. Coach Pelini has said that Burkhead will be good to go in the starting line up of the game this Saturday. Even without Burkhead, the Huskers boasted the most powerful running game in the Big Ten with players like Ameer Abdullah and his 1000+ rushing yards. 

That being said, the Huskers’ will be without their starting Center as well as their starting defensive tackle. The Huskers offense is really going to have to make up for that loss on the defense and an inexperienced Center, but that shouldn’t be as big of a concern with a strong, well-rounded quarterback in Taylor Martinez. 

As far as quarterbacks’ go for Wisconsin, they’ll be starting a not as experienced Curt Phillips, the Badgers 3rd quarterback of the season due to injuries. Phillips has started the past 3 games. The Badgers offense does catch a break getting back All-Big Ten wide receiver Jared Abbrederis AND the Badgers still have 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist, Montee Ball. The senior running back has accumulated over 1,500 yards rushing and scored 39 touchdowns this season, scoring his 79th career touchdown in last week’s loss to Penn State to set an NCAA record. Ball will be a MAJOR KEY to the Badgers having a chance at a victory. 

Montee Ball plans on adding onto his NCAA record
of rushing TDs in a career this Saturday.
Wisconsin also has a lot to prove coming into this game considering that if Ohio State and/or Penn State had been eligible for post-season play the Badgers wouldn’t have had a chance at representing the Leaders division. The Cornhuskers are also playing for their 3rd conference title in a row, which would be the longest streak in their school history. Not to mention the fact that the Badgers lost to the Huskers already this season at Nebraska’s homecoming game, which makes me wonder whether that outcome may have been different if the game had been played in Wisconsin.

Based on statistic alone, Nebraska seems to be pretty comfortably stronger than the Badgers even considering injuries. But with Wisconsin in the same situation as last years conference championship game, losing to Michigan State in the regular season 37-31 and then beating them 42-39, and their 3rd conference title in a row on the line, I could definitely see Wisconsin coming out with a win. Though based on my picks last week it seems I have a thing for picking underdogs - mainly because I do really believe home turf advantage is one of THE biggest factors. So I guess we’ll see how that works out for me statistically…

Kick-off is set for 8:17pm ET and will be shown on FOX.

- Kelsey Billings
@kelseybillings

Week 14 Staff Picks

Last week in our Staff Picks, Matt and The Sports Messiah tied at 5-2 while Jackson went an impressive 7-0, and unfortunately our newest staff member Kelsey went 3-4. It's okay Kelsey! You can make it up right here!

We have some interesting matchups this weekend with Conference Championship Games!

Here are our Week 14 Staff Picks!

Matt Lytle (@mattlytle) [Overall Record: 11-14]
Rutgers over Louisville
Northern Illinois over Kent State
Stanford over UCLA
Alabama over Georgia
Kansas State over Texas
Florida State over Georgia Tech
Nebraska over Wisconsin

The Sports Messiah (@thesportsmessia) [Overall Record: 16-9]

Rutgers over Louisville
Northern Illinois over Kent State
Stanford over UCLA
Alabama over Georgia
Kansas State over Texas
Florida State over Georgia Tech
Nebraska over Wisconsin

Jackson McNamara (@jacksonmcnamara) [Overall Record: 7-0]

Louisville over Rutgers
Northern Illinois over Kent State
Stanford over UCLA
Alabama over Georgia
Kansas State over Texas
Florida State over Georgia Tech
Nebraska over Wisconsin


Kelsey Billings (@kelseybillings) [Overall Record: 3-4]

Rutgers over Louisville
Northern Illinois over Kent State
Stanford over UCLA
Alabama over Georgia
Kansas State over Texas
Florida State over Georgia Tech
Wisconsin over Nebraska

Some picks are very similar while there are a few key differences. We'll see how everyone ends up next week!

#18 Texas Longhorns at #6 Kansas State Wildcats Preview

Saturday night at 8:00 PM, Collin Klein will not only look to prove to the Heisman voters the he deserves the Heisman trophy, but he will also look to lead his Kansas State Wildcats to yet another victory this year, this time over the Texas Longhorns.

Collin Klein looks to impress Heisman
voters this Saturday against Texas.
This season the Longhorns haven't been as impressive as most years. They have an 8-3 overall record, with the three losses all coming in Big 12 play. KSU has only lost one game, to Baylor on November 17th. Kansas State hasn't had a game since then. Coming off of a loss, they'll definitely be looking to get back to their winning ways inside Bill Snyder Stadium.

Collin Klein has had a very impressive season, throwing for over 2,300 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for 787 yards and scoring 20 rushing touchdowns. Sounds like a Heisman candidate to me.

Klein has a running back behind him by the name of John Hubert. Hubert has carried the ball 158 times for 826 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is a nice reliable option Klein has, not only to pass to, but also to take the pressure off of Klein, and open up both sides of the offense for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats also have Chris Harper and Tyler Lockett at wide receiver. Both men have three receiving touchdowns. Harper has 727 receiving yards while Lockett has 579. Both will look to have a big game this Saturday and assist Klein in impressing those Heisman voters while also gaining their 11th victory of the season.

The Longhorns have other plans however. Although Texas hasn't had their best year, they have been playing well. Unfortunately for them, their quarterback David Ash is questionable, and it looks as if Colt McCoy's little brother Case McCoy will be starting at quarterback.

Case isn't a bad quarterback. Just hasn't had the experience Ash has. McCoy is currently 28/42 for 408 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. KSU will be looking to put a lot of pressure on McCoy, to force mistakes, and obviously try to force some turnovers.

Mike Davis will look to assist Case McCoy in leading
the Longhorns to a victory over KSU.
McCoy has two reliable receivers to throw to. Mike Davis is one. Davis has 51 receptions for 891 yards and seven touchdowns. Jaxon Shipley (who is the little brother of NFL wide receiver Jordan Shipley - who played at Texas with Case's big brother Colt). Jaxon has reeled in 46 receptions for 581 yards and five touchdowns.

Texas is allowing about 28 points per game while Kansas State is only allowing 20. It looks as if KSU's defense is the better D, and with Texas starting McCoy as QB, I really think they're going to have a tough time slowing down Kansas State. KSU coming off of a loss is another big factor in my eyes, as most teams coming off of a loss are that much more hungry to put another 'W' in that win column.

The Longhorns are going to have to put pressure on Collin Klein, and pretty much shut him down completely. If he doesn't burn you through the air, he'll burn you with his feet. If they can shut Klein down, they may just shut the Wildcats down. But they also have to be able to move the ball on this Wildcat defense.

This matchup is a good one. It will be a good game Saturday night on ABC.

- Matt Lytle
@mattlytle

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

MAC Championship: #21 Northern Illinois vs #17 Kent State Preview

The Mid-American Conference has been quite the impressive conference this season. Most notably, the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Kent State Golden Flashes. Both teams I'm sure weren't projected to do much this season, but both have broken into the Top 25. Also, both teams have only had one loss each! Northern Illinois lost to Iowa while Kent State lost to Kentucky. Both teams are also obviously undefeated in the MAC. But that stops Friday!

Friday at 7:00 PM NIU takes on Kent State on ESPN2, for the MAC Championship. And although most people probably don't look toward the MAC for a good football game, they'll be in for a treat Friday night!

Northern Illinois is led by the MAC MVP, Jordan Lynch, a red-shirt junior, has had quite the impressive season this year, throwing for 2,750 yards for 23 touchdowns and only four touchdowns. Yeah, only four...

Jordan Lynch has over 2,750 yards passing, and 39 total TDs.
He has also rushed for 1,611 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns! I know Collin Klein, Johnny Manziel, Braxton Miller and others are being hyped for the Heisman, but why this guys name hasn't come up is beyond me.

Lynch has two very capable receivers in Martel Moore and Tommylee Lewis, who have combined for over 100 receptions, 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns. But the help doesn't stop there. Northern Illinois also has running back Akeem Daniels, who has rushed for 304 yards and eight touchdowns.

NIU is obviously ranked high in rushing yards, averaging 245 yards per game (ranking them 9th in the nation for rushing). They are also averaging 40.5 points per game, and only allowing 17.5 points per game. Very impressive numbers.

Kent State isn't far behind NIU in passing yards, being ranked 11th in the nation with an average of 241.5 yards per game.

Kent State's QB, Spencer Keith has had a good season as well, throwing for over 1,500 yards, tossing 11 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He has also punched four touchdowns into the endzone.

Kent State also has two very reliable running backs in Dri Archer and Trayion Durham.

Dri Archer has a total of 18 TDs this season.
Dri Archer has 138 carries this season for 1,337 yards. He has scored 14 rushing touchdowns. He also has 30 receptions for 458 yards, and four receiving touchdowns. Quite a dual-threat, he is quite the weapon Spencer Keith has at his side.

Trayion Durham has rushed the ball 236 times for 1,176 yards and scored 14 rushing touchdowns just like Archer.

Kent State's receivers haven't had quite the year as Northern Illinois'. The Golden Flashes have Josh Boyle and Eric Adeyemi as their two top receivers. They have combined for over 500 yards receiving, and 6 total touchdowns.

Both teams have been quite impressive this year. It has been fun watching them, and this game Friday should be very entertaining.

I just don't see Kent State being able to slow down Jordan Lynch. With Lynch being able to throw the ball, or rush it, he seems to be quite an unstoppable QB. I think the NCAA needs to look at this guy for a few more awards than what he's already got. But that's just my opinion...I'm just a writer!

I have NIU winning in this championship game! Make sure to tune into ESPN2 Friday night at 7:00!

Northern Illinois: 42
Kent State: 31

- Jackson McNamara
@jacksonmcnamara

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Louisville Cardinals at Rutgers Scarlet Knights Preview

Thursday night at 7:30, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will play host to the Louisville Cardinals in a Big East showdown. Although it looks like Rutgers has the conference locked up, depending on this outcome, and the Cincinnati/UConn outcome, quite a few teams could win a share of the Big East Championship.

Teddy Bridgewater will look to overcome
a broken wrist this Thursday.
Louisville sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater broke his left (non-throwing) wrist. But he will still play against the Rutgers. Although, the Rutgers defense is ranked 4th in the nation when it comes to points allowed, Bridgewater is going to tough is out. Rutgers defense however, is looking to give Bridgewater a rough game.

Bridgewater has been having a very good season. He is 247/359, he has thrown for 3,189 yards, and has thrown 23 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Very impressive stats for the sophomore.

Rutgers sophomore quarterback Gary Nova will be looking to lead his team to a victory on home turf. Nova has thrown for 2,282 yards this season, 20 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Impressive amount of touchdowns, but the 13 interceptions brings a level of concern. Although Louisville is giving up an average of 24.5 points per game.

Both teams' junior running backs will be looking to take the load off of their quarterbacks a little, and open up the running game so each team have multiple options. Louisville running back, Jeremy Wright, hasn't quite hit 1,000 yards yet, so far rushing for 723 yards this season. He has also scored nine rushing touchdowns. Wright is actually back up running back to Senorise Perry, who unfortunately is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Gary Nova has thrown for over 2,000 yards this season.
The Scarlet Knights' running back Jawan Jamison has eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark, and has also punched in four rushing touchdowns.

Both teams also have a group of very capable and reliable wide receivers.

Louisville has DeVante Parker and Andrell Smith, who have combined for over 60 receptions, 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Meanwhile Rutgers is equip with Brandon Coleman and Mark Harrison, who have combined for over 70 receptions, nearly 1,000 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns.

On paper, these teams look very similar. Louisville does average nearly 90 more yards per game in passing, but with Teddy Bridgewater injured, I'm not surprised how dangerous their passing game will be.

Bridgewater won't be effective taking snaps from center, but will have to take snaps from the Pistol or Shotgun formations. He also won't be able to use the play-action pass like he has done so much this year. That is clearly an issue that somehow the Cardinals will have to overcome. In the end, I really could see either team win this one. It's definitely a matchup to watch Thursday night at 7:30 PM on ESPN!

- Matt Lytle
@mattlytle

Welcome Kelsey Billings to the Project CFB Team

We would like to officially welcome Florida State Seminoles senior cheerleader Kelsey Billings to the Project College Football team! Kelsey was our guest picker last week. We began then to speak to her about coming on board here to write about college football. She was very excited about the opportunity and is looking forward to writing her first preview later on this week.

We encourage you to follow Kelsey on Twitter @kelseybillings. Also check out her blog at www.SeminoleSpearIt.wordpress.com.

And remember to keep coming back to our site to see check out all of Kelsey's articles.