Saturday morning blitz: 3 games to watch
3 to watch
1. Virginia at Virginia Tech, noon (ESPN2): The Hokies (8-3) have won 12 straight over the Cavaliers (2-9). Bronco Mendenhall is the third different UVA coach who’ll try to end that streak.
2. South Carolina at No. 4 Clemson, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN): The Tigers (10-1) can play their way, and the ACC, out of the playoff with a home loss to the Gamecocks (6-5), who have been respectable in Will Muschamp’s inaugural season.
3. No. 13 Florida at No. 15 Florida State, 8 p.m. (WTVD) : The Seminoles (8-3) haven’t had much to play for the past two months but they’ll be juiced for the Gators (8-2)
Observations
▪ Kentucky (6-5) runs for an average of 242.4 yards per game, that might be enough to shorten the game and keep Louisville (9-2) quarterback Lamar Jackson off the field.
The problem for the Wildcats? They give up 220 rushing yards per game and Jackson, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, has run for 1,367 yards this season.
▪ You could have broken up Wake Forest’s schedule in the preseason into games it should win (Delaware), games it probably wasn’t going to win (Clemson, FSU, Louisville) and the other eight as “50-50” games. Dave Clawson’s group has gone 5-2 in that latter group of games with another on Saturday against Boston College (5-6).
The Deacs (6-5) have a chance to win eight games for the first time since 2008 with the Eagles and then a bowl trip.
▪ Millbrook’s Marcus Marshall has bailed out Georgia Tech the past two weeks while starting running back Dedrick Mills has been suspended (for the second time this season). Marshall had 143 rushing yards against Virginia Tech and 127 against Virginia, a pair of wins by the Yellow Jackets. Mills is back this week but Marshall has a little extra incentive against Georgia, his brother Keith’s alma mater.
Number to know
2 Heisman Trophy winners from the ACC, both quarterbacks from Florida State: Charlie Ward (1993) and Chris Weinke (2000).
Top 25
Friday
No. 6 Washington at No. 23 Washington State, 3:30 p.m.
No. 14 Western Michigan vs. Toledo, 5 p.m.
No. 17 Nebraska at Iowa, 3:30 p.m.
No. 18 Houston at Memphis, Noon
No. 20 Boise State at Air Force, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 16 Auburn, 3:30 p.m.
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Michigan, Noon
No. 4 Clemson vs. South Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
No. 5 Wisconsin vs. Minnesota, 3:30 p.m.
No. 8 Penn State vs. Michigan State, 3:30 p.m.
No. 9 Colorado vs. No. 21 Utah, 7:30 p.m.
No. 11 Louisville vs. Kentucky, Noon
No. 12 Southern Cal vs. Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m.
No. 13 Florida at No. 15 Florida State, 8 p.m.
No. 19 West Virginia at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m.
No. 24 Tennessee at Vanderbilt, 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Saturday morning blitz: 3 games to watch."