Non-BCS Week 12 Football Breakdown
Nevada versus Louisiana Tech
COMPELLING?
The winner of this game essentially wins the WAC with one game to go. Nevada is undefeated in the conference and Louisiana Tech has one loss against Hawaii. This matchup has more juice to it since La. Tech crawled out of the doldrums to compete for the top spot. Since that Hawaii loss, they have won five straight games to improve to 6-4. They even walloped the SEC’s Ole Miss on the road 27-7. They now have Nevada in their sights. The Wolf Pack has had a great season. Their only losses have come at the hands of two ranked teams (Oregon & Boise St.) and conference big boy Texas Tech. They have been dominating the WAC and won five straight games. During that streak they have been averaging 44.2 points per contest. There is a lot on the line in this one. It’ll be fun.
Army versus Temple
COMPELLING?
Not in a conventional sense, but this game is still compelling. Temple really needs this one to keep pace with Ohio in the MAC. They’ve been one game back for some time. The only way for them to forge ahead is to keep winning and hope Ohio loses. The problem for Temple is that they have been disappointing some weeks this year. It is clear they are a well-coached, talented football team. They just have lapses some weeks. Losing to a 4-6 Bowling Green team a few weeks back didn’t help their cause to be tops in the conference. But Temple is 8th in rushing and 4th in scoring defense nationally. For a MAC team to be in the top-10 in those two categories is somewhat surprising. They will need that defense to show up on Saturday. Army still boasts the most productive version of the triple-option in the country behind Trent Steelman and Raymond Maples. The Black Knights are, however, dead last in the land at throwing. Temple will try and stop the run and force Army to throw. Temple would win that matchup every time.
Southern Methodist versus Houston
COMPELLING?
This is a big showdown in Conference USA. Southern Methodist is climbing back from their Death Penalty two decades ago, and Houston throws the ball and then throws some more. Case Keenum and the Cougars are undefeated and totally torching defenses. They average 54.7 points per game and put up 73 on Tulane last week. Keenum has already thrown for nearly 4,000 yards and 37 touchdowns. Kevin Sumlin has this team flying super high. It will be up to SMU to try and knock the Cougars down a peg. They have had a modest season with a 6-4 record, but have had some great victories in June Jones’ second year. They beat TCU, the team that beat Boise State. They beat Central Florida, which was a big victory at the time that they had to have to stay in the race. SMU is top 20 in passing offense. Quarterback J.J. McDermott has been up and down, but he has won the games. It will be a tough test for SMU on Saturday. They have lost three out of four games. Houston’s defense leads the conference in sacks and tackles for loss. McDermott will have his hands full. But boy, wouldn’t it be great for them to ruin Houston’s perfect season? Stay tuned.
Boise State versus San Diego State
COMPELLING?
After an inexplicable kicking snafu in its last game against rival TCU, Boise State is going to have to bounce back. It is not a position they are used to. They have only lost two other games in four years. A veteran quarterback like Kellen Moore will help though. He is a Heisman candidate, as he has only thrown five interceptions to his 31 touchdowns. Chris Peterson has built something special in Boise. Now this team doesn’t accept losing. San Diego State is a good team at 6-3, but they probably have to watch out for an angry Broncos squad. The Aztecs are fourth in the conference at this point and don’t have nearly as much to play for as Boise does. Still, San Diego State will let Ronnie Hillman dictate where the offense goes. He has 1,278 yards on the season. It won’t be easy for San Diego State. Then again it wasn’t easy for Boise to feel defeat last weekend. It’s a whole new world for them.
Tulsa versus UTEP
COMPELLING?
UTEP can either shatter Tulsa’s dreams or let Tulsa ride into Houston in an epic showdown for the C-USA West crown. Tulsa does not want to lose to UTEP and find themselves totally out of the conference race. The Golden Hurricane are the only other undefeated team in all of C-USA. G.J. Kinne has 21 touchdowns this season to pair with the conferences best rushing attack behind Ja’Terian Douglas and Trey Watts. It sounds like a great recipe for matching Houston’s offense. That will be the test for UTEP. They have had a decent year at 5-5 so far, but like every other .500 team, have been up and down. They are coming off a good win against East Carolina to give them some confidence. Unfortunately, their defense is ranked 9th in the conference. If they can’t bottle up Tulsa, it could be a long day. If they can force some turnovers, they could ruin Tulsa’s bid. Isn’t that the next best thing to winning a title?
