Gobble Gobble: Ten Games to Eat up in Week 13

Texas and Texas A&M kicked the Thanksgiving weekend college football slate off right Thursday night.

In a back-and-forth shootout perfect for the wild, wild West, the Longhorns held off their rivals from College Station in a 49-39 road victory at Kyle Field.

Colt McCoy (12) might have wrapped up the Heisman with 304 yards passing and another 175 on the ground while accounting for five touchdowns.

If that game set the tone for what’s to come, it should be a fun weekend to sit back, feast on leftovers and enjoy rivalry weekend.

The best part about rivalry weekend is that it’s all about in-state clashes:
North Carolina and N.C. State battle;
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State face off;
Oregon and Oregon State meet in the annual Civil War;
Mississippi and Mississippi State play in the Egg Bowl;

Auburn and Alabama meet in the Iron Bowl;
Utah and BYU is a matchup of ranked teams;
Virginia Tech looks to keep rolling in Charlottesville against Virginia;
Miami and South Florida tangle in Tampa;

Georgia and Georgia Tech pummel for the peaches;
Clemson and South Carolina cross hairs; and UCLA and USC meet in the storied Los Angeles rivalry game.

Let’s not forget that Kansas needs to beat Missouri to become bowl-eligible, making the Border War more interesting. Not to be overlooked are games to decide conference champions in Conference USA and the WAC.

This could also be the final weekend we see Charlie Weis on the Notre Dame sideline.

With so many games to choose from, I’ll try to whittle it down to 10. As always, BCS rankings are used and all times are Central.

10. Florida State at No. 1 Florida, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.

Florida State is 6-5 and needs a win to better its bowl chances. The ACC has struggled this year, and the Seminoles been the model of mediocrity. Still, never count out their chances in a rivalry game that will be full of emotions.

Tim Tebow (pictured) will be playing his final home game for the top-ranked Gators, who are on a quest to not only repeat as SEC champions, but to win back-to-back BCS titles.

Standing in their way of an unbeaten regular season are their hated rivals from Tallahassee.

Florida State will try to end a five-game losing streak to the Gators, and stop Florida’s 21-game win streak while shattering its national championship dreams.

9. Southern Mississippi at East Carolina, Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

This is one of the more underrated rivalries in college football, but has been a one-sided one—especially in Greenville.

The Golden Eagles own a 26-8 edge in the series, including a 17-2 advantage at ECU.

This year’s game means much more because both teams are 7-4, but ECU is 6-1 in conference play while USM sits at 5-2.

A win by either team sends the winner to face either Houston or SMU in the conference championship game on Dec. 5.

Houston is the likely opponent.

The 23rd-ranked Cougars take on a Rice team that began the season 0-9 before winning two straight and the Owls did upset Houston in last year’s battle for the Bayou Bucket.

SMU, which had a chance to all-but wrap up a berth in the title game last week before losing at Marshall, plays host to Tulane.

The Pirates are the reigning conference champions and have scored at least 37 points in four straight games, including last week’s demolition of Tulsa.

ECU scored three defensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal a 44-17 win over the Golden Hurricane.

The Pirates lead the league in total defense, and will need a solid showing against a Southern Miss offense that ranks second behind Houston.

8. UCLA at No. 20 USC, Saturday, 9 p.m.

After a mid-season swoon, UCLA has won three straight to become bowl eligible at 6-5.

The Bruins can really improve their draft stock by beating USC for just the second time in 11 meetings.

The Trojans were supposed to contend for a National Championship this year, but instead sit at 7-3 questioning their ability.

USC’s once-dominant defense has been lit up in losses to Oregon and Stanford two of the last three weeks.

In between was a 14-9 win over Arizona that saw quarterback Matt Barkley (pictured) look every bit of a freshman.

UCLA needs to jump on the Trojans early to keep the doubts alive.

Do that, and the Bruins will be dancing down Sunset Boulevard.

7. Notre Dame at Stanford, Saturday, 7 p.m.

The Irish need a win to save Charlie Weis’ job. Stanford needs a victory to prove it’s for real.

Following Stanford’s 55-21 crushing of USC, the Cardinal stumbled against No. 22 Cal last week.

Toby Gerhart (7) and Andrew Luck should have big games against a punch-drunk Notre Dame defense. The key for Stanford will be getting pressure of its own on Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

The Irish signal caller may be a little punch-drunk himself and sporting a shiner when he leads his team into Palo Alto.

Clausen was assaulted outside a South Bend bar last week, but will have to put that distraction behind him and just get the ball to Golden Tate.

This has the makings for an old-fashioned shootout, but if Notre Dame feels like it's playing for a lame duck coach and comes out flat, the Cardinal could score early and often on the way to a rout.

6. Georgia at No. 7 Georgia Tech, Saturday, 7 p.m.

The ACC title game participants are already set as the Yellow Jackets will play Clemson next week.

There are just a couple of inconsequential conference matchups this weekend with UNC at NC State, Duke at Wake Forest, Virginia Tech at Virginia and Boston College at Maryland.

Before Clemson and Georgia Tech decide the conference champ, both must first dispatch in-state rivals from the SEC.

Clemson travels to Columbia to take on South Carolina while the Rambling Wreck welcome the Bulldogs to Atlanta.

Georgia has lost all three of its games this season to ranked opponents. A win against its rival would end a disappointing season on a high note.

The Yellow Jackets have just one defeat and can really bolster their BCS resume with a victory.

Georgia Tech is 10-1, and should it lose to Clemson—a team the Jackets beat 30-27 in Week 2—it would still have a very good shot as an at-large team for a BCS Bowl Game.

5. No. 12 Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, Saturday, 11:30 a.m.

Heading into Thanksgiving, the Cowboys still had a shot at the Big 12 championship game. Had Texas A&M actually beaten the Longhorns, Oklahoma State would just need a victory in Norman to win the Big 12 South.

Easier said than done.

Oklahoma has a very good defense and an offense capable of keeping up with the high-scoring Cowboys.

What the 6-5 Sooners must avoid are mistakes by quarterback Landry Jones (12).

This game is a role reversal as Oklahoma State comes in ranked with a shot at BCS, glory while the Sooners muddle around .500.

It’s only the third time in the series history that the Cowboys are ranked while OU is not.

4. No. 2 Alabama at Auburn, Friday, 1:30 p.m.

The Iron Bowl is always fun, and this year is no different as the Tigers would love nothing more than to squash Alabama’s national championship dreams.

It’s the second straight season the Crimson Tide enter the matchup unbeaten.

The Tide shut out Auburn 36-0 last year, but that was an Auburn offense that struggled to score all season.

This year the Tigers have the nation’s No. 16 offensive unit, and hope to find success against Alabama’s top-ranked defense.

Auburn had won six straight in the series before last season’s loss. In order to start a new streak, the Tigers must contain Alabama tailback Mark Ingram (pictured).

The super sophomore has rushed for 1,399 yards and 12 touchdowns this season for an offense averaging better than 32 points per game.

3. No. 21 Utah at No. 19 BYU, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Both teams still have an outside shot at the Mountain West Title should unbeaten TCU lose to 1-10 New Mexico, but that's highly unlikely.

Utah and BYU bring identical records (9-2) and conference marks (6-1) to Provo for the Holy War.

Utah is led by wideout David Reed, who has over 1,000 receiving yards, while the Cougars have steady senior Max Hall under center.

Hall has thrown for 3,234 yards and 28 touchdowns this year, and will try to lead BYU to its 200th win all-time at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Utah has won six of the last eight in the series, and six of its last eight trips to Provo.

2. Nevada at No. 6 Boise State, Friday, 9 p.m.

The high-flying Wolfpack have been a thorn in the side for Boise State for some time.

Nevada, while 8-3 overall, is 6-0 in conference play and will try to claim a share of the WAC title by knocking off defending champion, and unbeaten Boise on the Smurf Turf.

Boise State wants to keep its perfect overall record intact to get itself into a BCS bowl game, but it won’t be easy against a Nevada team that has found its stride, winning eight straight.

Nevada has scored more than 50 points five times this season, including a 70-point outburst against Idaho.

Junior quarterback Colin Kaepernick (pictured) has led the way, passing for 16 touchdowns and rushing for more than 1,100 yards and 16 more scores.

Boise State has its own sick offensive numbers, with sophomore Kellen Moore approaching 3,000 yards through the air with 33 touchdown passes to just three interceptions.

Nevada nearly upset the Broncos the last time they met on the blue field in Boise, in what was a wild 69-67 Boise victory in 2007.

This year could feature the same type of high-scoring affair.

1. No. 9 Pittsburgh at West Virginia, Friday, 6 p.m.

Pittsburgh can take one step closer toward claiming the Big East crown by knocking off the Mountaineers.

The Panthers are 9-1 and have undefeated Cincinnati next week, which could be for all the marbles.

If the Mountaineers win, and then Pitt beats the Bearcats, then it’s a three-way tie atop the conference standings.

Fifth-ranked Cincinnati should have no problem at home Friday afternoon against struggling Illinois.

It will be on the Pittsburgh defense to slow down WVU quarterback Jarrett Brown and speedy tailback Noel Devine while trying to contain playmaking receiver Jock Sanders.

The Mountaineers have playmakers all over their offense, but the defense is susceptible to the big play and Pittsburgh quarterback Bill Stull will try to exploit this.

Stull (pictured) has been the poised senior leader, quietly completing 66 percent of his passes for 2,115 yards and 18 touchdowns to only four interceptions.

Pitt ended West Virginia’s BCS dreams two years ago, and the Mountaineers would love to do the same in this year’s edition of the Backyard Brawl.