College Football - The End Game

Filed in archive College Football on November 30, 2007

The end of the college football regular season is upon us, and with it come some extremely important games. Below are a few educated guesses on the outcomes (rankings in parenthesis).

(6) Virginia Tech 24, (11) Boston College 20 (ACC Championship): The last time these two met, B.C. quarterback Matt Ryan drove his team down the field in the rain for a last second touchdown and a win. Since that time, B.C. has gone 2-2, losing to Florida State and Maryland. Tech, on the other hand, has gone 4-0 since that game, beating their opponents by an average of 36-15. The Hokies are fourth in the nation in total defense, and this game will probably come down to them shutting down Ryan and the Eagles' top-10 passing offense. Tech running back Brandon Ore hasn't quite had the season most expected of him, but he gained 100 rushing yards last game against B.C. and is coming off a 148 yard performance against Virginia last week. If Virginia Tech can control the clock and play defense, they should come out ahead in the ACC championship game.

(7) LSU 42, (11) Tennessee 31 (SEC Championship): LSU comes into this game after a heartbreaking loss to Arkansas. Now, they are playing for a BCS bowl, in what may be coach Les Miles' last game as the team's head coach. Should he accept the Michigan job, it would be unlikely for him to coach the team in a bowl game. That said, the Tigers have the nation's third-ranked total defense, allowing only 279 offensive yards per game. They'll be tested by Volunteers QB Erik Ainge, who has thrown for 27 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards. Tennessee also has a good running back in Arian Foster, who has over 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing, along with a 5.32 yards per carry average. Still, LSU's defense will probably be too much, and LSU has just seemed to find a way to win, unless of course the game goes into triple overtime. Then, it's advantage Tennessee.

(1) Missouri 42, (9) Oklahoma 35 (Big 12 Championship): The first time these teams played, in Norman, Mizzou hung around until the Sooners proved to be too much on their home field. Now, at a neutral site, and with the Tigers playing as well as they have all season, they should come out on top and head to the national championship game. Missouri QB Chase Daniel is a Heisman candidate and runs the spread offense to perfection. The Tigers are fifth in the nation in total offense and fifth in passing offense. Meanwhile, the Sooners can score right with them, and are third in scoring offense, three places ahead of Missouri. Simple as it may sound, the key is turnovers. Both teams are top 20 nationally in turnover margin, so whoever wins that battle probably wins the game.

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