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College football Saturday is upon us again, so it is time to look for those 'must see' games of the week.
If will not be long until conference schedules are in full swing around the country, but until then there are some interesting matchups taking place.
BYU (22) @ Michigan 12 Noon Eastern ABC
Both teams come into this game with 2-1 records, although the Cougars could have easily been 0-3 if they had not pulled out a couple miracle wins to start the season. They enter this game ranked #22 but find themselves a seven point underdog to the home team. The Michigan secondary will be looking to continue its impressive trend of shut down performances against freshman passer Tanner Mangum. BYU prefers to ride Mangum's arm to victory but this week they are going to have to prove that they can run the ball with tailback Adam Hine on a consistent basis. He was on last week against UCLA and he will need to repeat his efforts at the Big House. Look for the Wolverines to cover the spread and then some in this one.
Navy @ Connecticut 12 Noon Eastern CBS
The Midshipmen are riding a wave of six consecutive wins dating back to last season as they roll into East Hartford. They will face the # 15 defense in the country. The Huskies are very solid against the run, which should present a challenge to the triple option attack favored by the service academies. The lads from Canoe U boast the nation's best ground game. Look for UConn to slow down but not stop the Middies in a close one. Give the edge to Navy.
Maryland @ West Virginia 3:00 PM Eastern Fox Sports 1
This is one of those rivalry games that everyone on both sides of the field gets up for and it promises to be a high scoring affair. The Mountaineers have the potential to do some damage in the Big 12 this year if they can maintain the edge they have shown thus far. Skyler Howard leads the nation's most efficient passing attack, but he has yet to face a defense the caliber of the one he will find waiting from Maryland. The Terps are getting it together on offense as well. If Caleb Rowe can keep from throwing passes to the greedy WVU defense this one will be interesting. I'll take the Mounties this time, but it will be much closer than the nearly two touchdown spread some experts are giving.
UCLA (9) @ Arizona( 16) 8:00 PM Eastern ABC
The night brings with it our first showdown among nationally ranked squads. Freshman quarterback Josh Rosen experienced his first rough outing last week against BYU and it took the Bruins ground game to salvage the day. It will be the ground game that carries the day no matter what, Arizona struggles to stop the run, but if the true freshman passer can rebound the Bruins can make an early statement that they are a legitimate playoff team.
Utah (18) @ Oregon (13) 8:30 PM Eastern Fox
The PAC-12 brings us another match ups of ranked schools. The Utah Utes (insert My Cousin Vinny joke here) with Devontae Booker and the Oregon Ducks with Royce Freeman have two of the premier backs in college football this season. The fate of both teams could come down to which of them turns in the better effort on Saturday evening. The Ducks are the favorite, but if Utah's QB, either Travis Wilson or Kendal Thompson can get on track against a dismal Oregon pass defense it could shift things in Booker's favor. I like Utah to pull the upset in Eugene this weekend.
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