NCAA College Football Preview: Week 11

Alabama will face their biggest opponent standing in the way of a perfect season when they host the Texas A&M Aggies; and LSU is still looking for a chance at the BCS bowl game. Meanwhile in Palo Alto, two rookie quarterbacks will take the field as Oregon State visits Stanford.

(15) Texas A&M at (1) Alabama Crimson Tide
You would think this would be an easy game for Alabama; but the pressure is on for the Crimson Tide and the Aggies are just the ones to apply it. The Aggies are known for their offensive game, amassing at least 600 yards in five of their games this season. Johnny Manziel has also been phenomenal for Texas A&M, with 31 touchdowns and averaging 383.2 yards. Alabama has depth, and they should be able to overtake the Aggies, and move on to the perfect season they’re after. But they need to stick to the game plan, and put last week’s big win against LSU behind them and focus on what lies ahead.

(21) Mississippi State at (7) LSU
If the Crimson Tide is feeling the pressure of achieving a perfect season, LSU is really feeling the crunch — and that’s just to get into the BCS bowl game. Their season hasn’t been nearly as flawless as it was last year, when they were continuously duking it out with Alabama to be the best; but hope for the Tigers isn’t completely lost just yet. They have an incredible defense that will make it nearly impossible for the Bulldogs to score, and the home crowd will be a definite advantage in this SEC showdown. Mississippi State on the other hand, is looking to just stay within the top 25.

(11) Oregon State at (14) Stanford
Talk about pressure. Each of these teams have struggled with the quarterback position all season long, and two rookies will answer the call this Saturday. For Oregon State, Cody Vaz will step in once again, his second straight week and fourth time overall this season. Vaz has been filling in for Sean Mannion, who had surgery completed on his left knee recently, suggesting that we’ll be seeing much more of Vaz in the future, too. Meanwhile for Stanford, Kevin Hogan will have his first career start as quarterback on Saturday, although he did take the field briefly in last week’s matchup against Colorado. Both quarterbacks will have a tough time and, given that Oregon State and Stanford both have outstanding defenses, it’s only going to make their jobs that much tougher. Which one can outperform is the one that will give their team the win.

Categorized in: NCAA Football