3 CFB Teams On Upset Alert in Week 6
Watching the unexpected happen brings a certain level of excitement that is unmatched by anything in college football. The only thing that comes close is when an upset almost happens.
Week five had its fair share of upsets; however, it was made up of multiple close calls. If you are behind on what happened last week, let's bring you up to speed:
- #7 Stanford could not get the ball rolling in and it resulted in a 44-6 loss to #10 Washington.
- #4 Michigan needed a fourth quarter touchdown to secure a 14-7 win over #8 Wisconsin. The Wolverines were heavy favorites despite it being a top-10 matchup.
- A last second field goal helped seal a North Carolina upset over #12 Florida State.
- #13 Baylor scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and avoided an upset from Iowa State in a 45-42 win.
- #17 Michigan State failed to put away Indiana, and, as a result, the Hoosiers won 24-21 in overtime.
- A goal line stop secured a 28-23 California win over #18 Utah.
- South Alabama pulled off its second upset of the season when it defeated #19 San Diego State, 42-24.
- Oklahoma State's offense was too much for a weak Texas defense, and the Cowboys defeated the Longhorns, 49-31.
Many of the ranked teams that lost in week five will likely be overlooked moving forward. This allows many of these teams to become the underdog, and a couple of these teams make an appearance in this week's upset alert watch list:
**All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com**
Texas vs. #20 Oklahoma
Line: Oklahoma -10.5Last season, Texas only won five games. One of those victories was in upset fashion over their arch rival Oklahoma. It is a new year and a new situation, but can the Longhorns pull off the upset for the second year in a row?
Texas is going to be heavily-overlooked in this matchup because of coaching drama and rumors that are surrounding the program. Head coach Charlie Strong made the decision to demote defensive coordinator Vance Bedford after last week's loss to Oklahoma State. Now there is talk of Charlie Strong being on the hot seat.
These external factors have a way of weighing a team down. However, it may actually help the Longhorns that Strong is making the defensive play calls. He will need to do a good job though. Oklahoma is averaging 39 points per game. Strong must find a way to motivate his defense to slow down the Sooners enough to give their offense a chance to shine.
The Longhorns' offense can take of itself. It has vastly improved in numbers compared to last season with the most drastic being the fact that they are now averaging 41 points per game. Oklahoma certainly has not forgotten about last year's loss, so they will bring their 'A' game. But it is also safe to assume that Texas will have something to prove just like last season.
#5 Washington at Oregon
Line: Washington -9.0Washington's momentum is at an all-time high after beating Stanford last week and jumping all the way into the AP top-5. The Huskies have an excellent quarterback in Jake Browning, who is completing 70 percent of his passes right now. It will be difficult for any team to beat Washington, but a team with a 12-game win streak over the Huskies has as good a chance as any.
Oregon certainly is not the team that they were a few seasons ago. The Ducks have lost three straight games for the first time since 2007. It is no mystery that defense is the root to all of Oregon's problems, which makes them especially weak against a team like Washington.
Despite their poor defense, there are two factors that make Oregon dangerous against Washington. First, the game is being played in Autzen Stadium, which is widely regarded as one of the country's most hostile environments. Second, the Ducks still reign supreme when it comes to lighting up the scoreboard. The team is currently averaging 40 points and 512 yards of offense per game.
Washington is, overall, a better team.The question will be whether or not Oregon can slow down the Huskies and beat them for the 13th straight time.
Washington State at #15 Stanford
Line: Stanford -7.5The last time Stanford lost to both Washington and Washington State in the same season was 2007. Now there is a high possibility that Stanford loses to each team in back-to-back weeks.
Washington State lost its first two games of the season by a combined six points. The Cougars have not lost since, and their biggest win came last week against Oregon. The team is still primarily passing the ball, but Mike Leach has decided to make the ground game more of a factor. Washington State already has three more rushing touchdowns than they had all of last season.
Meanwhile, Stanford is dead last in total offense in the PAC-12 despite having Christian McCaffrey. Granted, Stanford has never been known as a team to rack up a lot of points, but they also had excellent defenses to back up any lack of offensive production. That was not the case last week when the defense gave up 44 points to Washington.
Stanford's morale has to be pretty low following last week's loss. Meanwhile, Washington State's morale will be pretty high as they try to beat Stanford for the first time since 2007.