Week 4 Saturday Six-Pack: K-State & Oklahoma, Michigan & Notre Dame Previews

Sep 15, 2012; Manhattan, KS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats running back John Hubert (33) tries to break away from the tackle of North Texas Mean Green defensive back Hilbert Jackson (6) and linebacker Derek Akunne (52) during the Wildcats

Things are certainly getting interesting. Last week, the Six-Pack welcomed autumn with open arms. The season officially arrives this week, and college football is transitioning in kind. Teams’ aspirations will begin dropping like the fall leaves, while others stay hotter than a pumpkin spice latte — which I promise myself every year around this time to hoard and keep in a strategic reserve much like national oil supply.

Corny puns aside, the coming weeks will whittle down the landscape’s true contenders and the also-rans. Headlining Week 4 is the annual Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry clash, which won’t be so annual in a few years. The Wolverines have an opportunity to truly get back on track after a disastrous Week 1, while Notre Dame can prove if it’s ready to return to the conversation of the elite.

The Big 12 title race gets an early frontrunner in Norman, when Oklahoma welcomes Bill Snyder’s Kansas State Wildcats to town.

KANSAS STATE at OKLAHOMA

K-State had numerous close in 2011. The Oklahoma game was not one of them. OU abused a Wildcat defense that was very good most of the season, providing a rare glimpse into what the Sooners could do when playing to their potential. Oklahoma suffered through a season of underachievement, and opened 2012 in similar fashion at UTEP. The Sooners have since feasted on cupcake Florida A&M. This is OU’s first challenge, and the first opportunity to truly gauge the BCS legitimacy of the Big 12 preseason favorite.

The Wildcats made a statement in Week 2 when they blasted Miami. Of course, K-State had its own bout of the underachievies a week ago, struggling to put away North Texas. Mean Green head coach Dan McCarney game planned well, his familiarity with Bill Snyder garnered from years at Iowa State exhibited in UNT’s performance. Bob Stoops knows Snyder well, too. He launched his successful career as an assistant to Snyder for six years.

The master has not beaten the student since the 2003 Big 12 championship. Snyder’s 2012 team is the most talented he’s had maybe ever, making this his best chance to knock off Stoops. An argument for K-State having both the best offensive player (Collin Klein) and defensive player (Arthur Brown) could be made. The coverage Mike Stoops draws up for containing Klein could tell the story — two big Klein plays last year actually gave K-State the lead before OU erupted.

OU rolled off over 600 yards on the Wildcat defense last season, Landry Jones accounting for over 500 of them. Tom Hayes has to craft a plan to contain the potentially explosive Jones, possibly studying UTEP’s approach. Will Nigel Malone match-up opposite Kenny Stills? None of the Wildcats’ key secondary members spoke to media this week.

For more, check out: StorminInNorman.com | JugOfSnyder.com

UTAH at ARIZONA STATE

Against which in-state rival was Utah’s performance more indicative of the kind of season the Utes can expect? UU struggled through a slow start and lost to a Utah State team it should have beaten, but rallied to knock off No. 24 BYU despite star running back John White’s relegation to the sidelines. There’s mystery to Kyle Whittingham’s second Pac-12 participating team, and a trip to Sun Devil Stadium should answer some of its questions. White returns, but is Jon Hays impeccable record as starting quarterback a mirage? The recently retired Jordan Wynn was better by most every individual metric, but the Utes have won with Hays under center.

Arizona State is a quandary as well. The Sun Devils erupted for big points against Northern Arizona and Illinois, but sputtered offensively for much of its trip to Missouri. The two-quarterback system Todd Graham employed with Taylor Kelly and Michael Eubank looked damn near unstoppable in the first two games, but will it work against a stout Utah defense? Star Loutelelei is probably licking his chops at the prospect of meeting a rushing Sun Devil quarterback at the line.

ASU needs more production from Cameron Marshall, who hasn’t looked the same while dealing with a hamstring injury and no longer playing in Noel Mazzone’s offense.

“We want to get the ball to Jamal (Miles), we want to get the ball to D.J. Foster, we want to get the ball to Marion Grice and we want to get the ball to Chris Coyle,” Graham said in his weekly press conference, explaining the lack of touches for Marshall. “We want to get the ball to whoever we need to to win games but we want to get [Marshall] more involved in what we are doing and get him going.”

For more, check out HoyosRevenge.com

MICHIGAN at NOTRE DAME

September 10, 2011; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Theo Riddick (6) goes up for a pass as Michigan Wolverines cornerback Courtney Avery (5) defends during the game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE
Denard Robinson cemented his legacy in last season’s meeting of these two rivals, leading a miraculous comeback in one of the 2011 campaign’s best finishes (with an assist from Tommy Rees). Robinson was atrocious for three quarters, though, struggling to develop a rhythm against the stout Fighting Irish defense.

Notre Dame has been outstanding on the defensive side, holding three opponents to a combined 30 points, five fewer than the Irish yielded to Michigan in last’s year instant classic. Maintaining the same defensive intensity for all four quarters is crucial to a Notre Dame victory. Manti Te’o pursuing Robinson should be a fun game-within-the-game, pitting arguably the best sideline-to-sideline linebacker in the nation against arguably the most explosive rushing quarterback.

Robinson killed UND in last year’s fourth quarter with big plays. Once the front seven was lured in, Robinson unleashed a few long balls. The unquestionable weakness of this defense is its secondary.

Everett Golson and his three running backs (Cierre Wood, George Atkinson, Theo Riddick) must establish tempo early. The Wolverine defense has not been great against the rush.

For more, check out GBMWolverine.com | SlapTheSign.com

OREGON STATE at UCLA

Two surprises of the early Pac-12 season have an opportunity to prove if they’re for real. Both Oregon State and UCLA upset ranked Big Ten foes in Week 2 and have cruised in the games they should. The two have done so in much different fashion.

UCLA has thrived in high scoring, classic Pacific-style shootouts, breaking the 30-point threshold each time out. Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone has crafted a scheme that accentuates the strengths of the rushing-based offense Rick Neuheisel introduced in his time as head coach. Jonathan Franklin is a (way too early to talk about it) Heisman candidate with a pair of 200-plus yard outings to his name. He and Brett Hundley complement each other nicely to power that explosive offense, each rushing behind a good line.

Oregon State was one of the worst rush defenses in college football a season ago, but the off-season seemingly did wonders for the Beavers. OSU shut down Wisconsin’s rush in a 10-7 upset, and Badger offensive coordinator Matt Canada was forced into numerous pass calls. The Beavers must do the same this week and take the ball out of Franklin’s hands as much as possible. Make Hundley win the game with his arm.

Coincidentally, that’s how the OSU offense has operated in recent outings in another deviation from UCLA. Sean Mannion was among the Pac-12’s most prolific passers a season ago and against UW’s defense, he threw for 276 yards. UCLA struggled initially against the ground-based offenses of Rice and Nebraska, but shut down the air-it-out style Houston employs. Mannion needs production from Malcolm Agnew and Storm Woods early to make the Bruin defenders chase. Once some foot races ensue, his ability to throw the long ball gives OSU an opportunity to steal a win in the Rose Bowl.

For more, check out BeaverByte.com | GoJoeBruin.com

ARIZONA at OREGON

Few would have guessed this would be a top 25 match-up before the season, but Arizona’s Week 2 upset of Oklahoma State pushed the Rich Rodriguez rebuilding project ahead of schedule. How far ahead of schedule, though, we’ll find out in a late night affair at Autzen Stadium. The unwelcoming confines up in Eugene have been inhospitable for Arizona. Since winning there in 2006, UA has dropped two decisions in which it surrendered 55 and 48 points.

The Wildcats visit this time with a thin defense starting some likely players, like walk-on Jared Tevis at the Bandit position and converted safety Marquis Flowers at linebackers. Jeff Casteel’s 3-3-5 stack has definitely been patch-work, but effective enough. Is it effective enough to somewhat slow the machine-like Oregon offense?

The Ducks move the football like no team in college football, relying heavily on a player like few others in the nation: De’Anthony Thomas. His quick strike potential can turn a game in one possession. For in-depth analysis, I have been previewing facets of this match-up throughout the week at Arizona Desert Swarm. Also check out ZonaZealots.com and AutzenZoo.com.

August 31, 2012; Stanford, CA, USA; San Jose State Spartans quarterback David Fales (10) passes the ball during the first half against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

SAN JOSE STATE at SAN DIEGO STATE

Not a date you had circled on calendar? Don’t worry, I doubt you’re alone. I certainly wasn’t expecting San Jose State’s inspired play to start 2012, despite coming off a respectable 2011. Coach Mike MacIntyre has the Spartans looking like contenders for the final WAC football championship with a 2-1 start: the one coming in a 20-17 showdown with top 10 Stanford.

Two of the nation’s best pass catching tight ends line up on opposite ends of this one. SJSU’s Ryan Otten’s numbers are down from his pace of a season ago, but that’s a positive for the Spartan offense. Others are stepping up, namely Chandler Jones. Jones has four touchdown receptions. As he commands more attention, expect more targets of Otten.

SDSU features Gavin Escobar, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound target with nine receptions on the season. Both are candidates for the NFL Draft, and either could factor prominently into Saturday’s game plan. Quarterbacks Ryan Katz (SDSU) and David Fales should use the big bodies to attack seams in the defenses, both of which have shown the ability to slow teams down. The Aztecs surrendered a whopping 41 points to North Dakota, but did contain Washington to 21 in Week 1.

SATURDAY’S SIX-PACK: HOPTOBER

The Six-Pack already gave love to New Belgium Brewery this season with its Week 2 recommendation of its Belgian ale. Call it favoritism — you’d be correct. New Belgium just does damn fine work, and Hoptober is just another example.

Hoptober is the best early fall beer, not as thick as the equally awesome but better suited to Halloween time Tumbler or Octoberfest. Hoptober has a citrus pinch that isn’t overwhelming, more warming as the night cools. Highly recommended.

BONUS BOMBER

A high-alert game for Saturday pits an NC State team that has the talent to compete for the ACC championship, but has had struggles out of the gate against arguably the surprise of the Championship Subdivision, The Citadel. The Bulldogs come into Raleigh 3-0, with impressive upsets of Southern Conference favorites Georgia Southern and Appalachian State. The Bulldogs’ almost rush-exclusive offense is not easily game planned against in a week’s time, evidenced in the 52 points it hung on App State. Of The Citadel’s top four rushers, none is averaging fewer than 6.5 yards per carry.

For an offense that packs a suprise wallop is a bomber matching it. Sam Adams has a series of specialty bombers. My favorite is the Cinder Bock, a hoppy beer reminiscent of Stone Brewery’s Arrogant Bastard.