Rivalry Week kicked off Tuesday night with two #MACtion games, as Ball State became bowl eligible with a 20-3 victory over Buffalo, and Western Michigan used an efficient offense and pressure defense to claim a 42-21 road victory over NIU.
Thanksgiving offered two matchups, as Fresno State rode Jake Haener’s 343 passing yards and 4 TDs to a 40-9 win at San Jose State, while No. 9 Ole Miss scored 21 straight points to beat Mississippi State 31-21 in a rainy and chilly Egg Bowl.
Now we get into the turkey and stuffing portion of the long Thanksgiving weekend, with a huge set of games both on Friday and Saturday. Rivalry Week is fantastic because the passion offers everything we love about this phenomenal yet flawed sport. But it’s also depressing because it means the regular season is nearing its end.
Let’s take a look at what’s on tap Friday:
No. 4 Cincinnati at East Carolina (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
The Bearcats will travel to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium to play a Pirates team that has won four consecutive games. The ECU offense has been clicking with QB Holton Ahlers, who threw for 405 yards and 3 TDs in a win over Navy last week. RB Keaton Mitchell leads the AAC with 1,077 rushing yards, and TE Ryan Jones is a threat in the red zone. This offense is putting up 446.9 yards per game, but it will be facing a defense that is allowing just 305.2 yards per contest—seventh in the country.
Meanwhile, the Bearcats looked the part last week in a 48-14 win over SMU. QB Desmond Ridder threw for 3 TDs, ran for a score and caught one as well, while RB Jerome Ford has recorded 16 TDs on the year. This was a very focused bunch last week, and it played its best when it needed to do so. Don’t expect Luke Fickell’s squad to be distracted in Greenville, but don’t be surprised if this game is too close for the Bearcats’ comfort either.
Friday’s other notable games
Boise State-No. 21 San Diego State
Eastern Michigan-Central Michigan
UTEP-UAB
Missouri-No. 25 Arkansas
TCU-Iowa State
UNC-No. 20 NC State
Now onto Saturday’s marquee matchups:
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 5 Michigan (Noon ET, FOX)
If we are lucky—if we are oh so lucky—this season’s version of The Game will deliver like it did in 2016, when two Top 3 teams met and battled into overtime until the Buckeyes prevailed, helped via a spotted football that Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh disputed. Since that contest and since Ryan Day’s arrival in Columbus, OSU has outscored Michigan 149-86 in three straight victories. The Buckeyes have won eight consecutive in the series and 16 of the last 19 dating to 2000.
This is Harbaugh’s most balanced team in Ann Arbor, and it has its chance to play for a Big Ten East division title and a potential berth in the College Football Playoff. To finally beat Ohio State, Harbaugh will need his offense to control the clock and ride a rushing attack led by Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum, who may return from an ankle injury. That ground game, which should feature a little more Donovan Edwards as well, has set up a productive passing attack behind a strong offensive line. Sustaining drives and protecting the football while keeping Ohio State’s offense on the sideline is a priority. Buckeyes QB C.J. Stroud is surrounded by electric receivers and has passed for 793 yards and 11 TDs over his past two games—against ranked Purdue and Michigan State teams. Combined with the rushing of TreVeyon Henderson, this offense is lethal.
But this Wolverines defense is different thanks to the work of coordinator Mike Macdonald and a few new position coaches. This is a Top 10 unit nationally in points allowed and third-down conversions. And while OSU’s red-zone offense looked much improved over the last two weeks, it has had issues this season. Another key will be whether Stroud can make the right pre-snap decisions and get the ball out of his hands quickly against this Wolverines front led by Aidan Hutchinson.
It won’t be easy, and it shouldn’t be a “failure” if Michigan comes up short. But this certainly is as good of a shot as Harbaugh and crew have had to beat OSU in recent years.
No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Oklahoma State (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
This year’s Bedlam is big, as it’s just the third time in the history of the AP Top 25 poll that both teams are in the Top 10 when meeting. It is also likely one of the last matchups we’ll see between these squads with the Sooners nearing a move to the SEC, which is very likely going to come before the current plan of July 1, 2025.
OU has won six straight in the rivalry and would rematch with the Cowboys next week in Arlington, TX, for the Big 12 title with a win. A Cowboys victory would earn them a tilt against Baylor in the league championship game.
The X-factor could be an OSU defense that just shut out Texas Tech and has been extra stingy over its last four games. Meanwhile, this has not been a typical overwhelming Lincoln Riley offense. This is an opportune time for Mike Gundy to get his signature win over OU.
No. 3 Alabama at Auburn (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
The Crimson Tide will not have to deal with Tigers QB Bo Nix, whose ankle injury will shelve him for the rest of the year. So LSU transfer TJ Finley has the monumental task of going toe to toe with Bryce Young, who has emerged with Stroud as Heisman Trophy co-favorites. Finley wasn’t fantastic in a 21-17 loss at South Carolina, completing 17 of 32 passes for 188 yards with a TD and no interceptions. He will need to play the best game of his career in order to knock off Will Anderson Jr. and the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl.
Saturday’s other notable games
Texas Tech-No. 8 Baylor
No. 18 Wake Forest-Boston College
FSU-Florida
Army-Liberty
Miami (OH)-Kent State
Charlotte-Old Dominion
Oregon State-No. 11 Oregon
Penn State-No. 12 Michigan State
Western Kentucky-Marshall
Virginia Tech-Virginia
No. 14 Wisconsin-Minnesota
Tulsa-SMU
No. 15 Texas A&M-LSU
Middle Tennessee-FAU
No. 17 Pittsburgh-Syracuse
No. 23 Clemson-South Carolina
Kentucky-Louisville
Tulane-Memphis
No. 13 BYU-USC
Cal-UCLA
My Top 25 after Week 12:
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Cincinnati
5. Michigan
6. Notre Dame
7. Oklahoma State
8. Ole Miss
9. Baylor
10. Oklahoma
11. Oregon
12. Michigan State
13. UTSA
14. Louisiana
15. BYU
16. Wake Forest
17. Texas A&M
18. Pittsburgh
19. Houston
20. Wisconsin
21. San Diego State
22. Utah
23. Iowa
24. Arkansas
25. Kentucky
Best bets (Friday and Saturday games)
Eastern Michigan +9
East Carolina +13.5
Texas Tech +14.5
Alabama -19.5
OU +4.5
UK +3
Skinny posts
*Michigan State announced on Wednesday it had agreed to a 10-year deal worth $95 million with head coach Mel Tucker. The new contract, which had been speculated ahead of the team’s game last week at Ohio State, makes the 49-year-old one of the highest-paid coaches in the country. A group of MSU donors helped spearhead the deal this month, and the contract is fully guaranteed. Only Alabama’s Nick Saban would be paid more on an annual basis, based on the USA Today coaches’ salaries database. Tucker’s original deal, scheduled to run through 2024, has a $5.56 million annual salary.
*New Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire announced Wednesday that Sonny Cumbie, who is serving as the team’s interim head coach through its bowl game, will be retained as OC and QBs coach. Cumbie began his coaching career as a grad assistant under Mike Leach in Lubbock and worked with Tommy Tuberville and Kliff Kingsbury before helping out Gary Patterson at TCU. He was hired by Matt Wells before the 2021 season to try to recharge the Red Raiders’ offense and helped them get bowl eligible with a win over Iowa State earlier this month.
*USC dropped to just eight commitments in its shaky 2022 class when QB Devin Brown de-committed on Wednesday. One of the best pocket passers in the nation, the Utah native committed to the Trojans in September 2020 and had remained pledged even after Clay Helton was let go. But Brown visited Texas, received an offer from Notre Dame and also traveled to Ohio State this past weekend. With about three weeks until the early signing period, Brown is in play after breaking the state of Utah’s single-season passing record with 4,881 yards and 57 TDs this fall. The next program builder at ‘SC will certainly have a lot of immediate work to do.
*Perhaps the best news of the week came from Minnesota star RB Mohamed Ibrahim, who announced Wednesday that he will return to the Golden Gophers in 2022. The first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2020 suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the team’s season opener against Ohio State, which was his team-record ninth consecutive 100-yard rushing performance dating to last season. Huge news for P.J. Fleck and the Gophers.
Follow me on Twitter @Miller_Dave & email me at david.matthew.miller@gmail.com