College Football 2021: 3 teams that will be on upset alert in Week 11
Dishonorable mentions, Part 2 (ranked)
No. 21 Pitt (vs. North Carolina): A lot of people figured North Carolina and Pit would have roles reversed. Pitt has a better record, more total offensive yards and less yards allowed. North Carolina is sitting at 5-4 after alternating wins a losses since mid-September. This should see a lot of points as Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and North Carolina’s Sam Howell will be throwing all over the place. This is the toughest game remaining on Pitt’s schedule. North Carolina’s chances to make the ACC Title game are next to none, but it would feel good for the Tar Heels to make Pitt’s road a little more difficult.
No. 20 Iowa (vs. Minnesota): The Iowa freewill slowed down last week as the Hawkeyes won, but did so in ugly fashion, beating three win Northwestern by a 17-12 score. And speaking of ugly, here comes Minnesota, fresh off a baffling 14-6 loss to Illinois. PJ Fleck will have his team ready after such an abysmal game, as his teams are 6-1 following losses since 2019. They catch Iowa at a good time, too, with the Hawkeyes going 2-2 in their last four, with the two wins by a combined eight points. Will Fleck and Co. row to victory or will the Hawkeyes sink Minnesota’s Big Ten West title hopes once and for all?
No. 12 Wake Forest (vs. No. 16 NC State): Wake Forest faced it’s first really good team of the season and lost to North Carolina in a game that was more about Wake Forest unable to close than a good North Carolina win. Now here comes NC State, another solid team and one that can put itself in the driver’s seat for the ACC title game with a win. The Wolfpack defense has been great this year, holding opponents to 14 points or less in five of their nine games. I think the NC State defense can hold Wake Forest to it’s lowest point total of the season (less than 35 points) while the offense shouldn’t have a problem doing much against the Wake Forest defense. I would be much more surprised if Wake won than NC State.
No. 17 Auburn (vs. Mississippi State): I feel like this is the conversation in every Auburn game: which Bo Nix is it? Last week, the Auburn offense was absolutely atrocious, accounting for just 226 yards. Nix was under 50 percent completions for 153 yards and an interception. Every time you just start to believe in the Tigers, this happens. Mississippi State’s Air Raid might take a while to settle in against the Tigers’ defense, but if they’re consistently given good field position because of Auburn’s poor offense, Mississippi State will have no problem putting up points.