Week seven of the College Football season is upon us and it is stacked with great match-ups throughout all of Saturday. Here are four games that should make for great viewing and could possibly shape the rest of the season.

#11 University of Texas vs #6 University of Oklahoma 

The Red River Rivalry. Oklahoma vs Texas. One of the biggest rivalry games in college football. Held every year at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, this year’s game will see the 115^th edition of the famous game. Texas leads the all-time record with 62 wins. The #11 ranked Texas Longhorns are 4-1 so far this season and are equal first in the Big12 with Baylor and Oklahoma. The Longhorns only loss came against the #6 ranked LSU Tigers in week 2. The #6 Oklahoma Sooners however are undefeated so far, with their closest game of the year coming in week one (18-point win), against yours truly, the mighty Houston Cougars.

Maybe the Longhorns loss vs LSU has helped them get ready for this game, their biggest game of the year. So big in fact, they remove all traces of the colour red from around the football facility in the week building up to the game. That includes red Powerade!

If the Longhorns did learn from their mistakes vs LSU, then junior QB, Sam Ehlinger, will be raring to make amends for the earlier loss in the season. Ehlinger leads the Big12 in TD passes with 17, while throwing for 1448 yards at 69%. He has also run in 3 TD himself. The most targeted WR for the Longhorns has been senior, Devin Duvernay, who has accumulated 463 yards and 4 TD to date.

For the Sooners, all the media talk about is how good Jalen Hurts has been for them. He has fit right into the shoes that Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray have left him and looks set to challenge for the Heisman Trophy this season. Hurts has thrown for 1521 yards and 14 TD at 75% while rushing for nearly 500 yards and 7 TD. Impressive stats. One player who is relishing the chance to play with an elite passer is junior WR, CeeDee Lamb. Lamb has 439 receiving yards and 7 TD so far this season, plus a healthy average of 10 yards per punt return.

Look out for:

Aussie Longhorn Punter, Ryan Bujcevski, who is averaging 40 yards per punt and has only given up 9 return yards all season. I’m sure a little battle between him and Lamb will be great to watch from the neutral.

Verdict:

These games are always classics. Expect it to come down to the last drive of the game. Hurts should have the composure and skill to navigate his way to his first Red River Rivalry win.

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#5 Louisiana State University vs University of Florida

The next game to watch is another classic rivalry game, this time between SEC teams the #7 Florida Gators and the #5 LSU Tigers. The Gators are at a swamp, but it's not their home in Florida, it's the home of the Tigers in Louisiana and the Tigers are hungry for redemption after losing to the Gators (27-19) last year in Florida. LSU hasn’t won at home vs the Gators since 2015.

The Gators have defied critics throughout the first 6 weeks and are sitting pretty in the Top 10 with a 6-0 record, even without their starting QB. A huge win against #7 Auburn last week has set up the Gators season, and a win against LSU will do wonders for the SEC East campaign. Junior QB, Kyle Trask, is doing what is needed for the Gators, 881 yards and 7 TD in his games so far and senior RB Lamical Perine exploded against Auburn last week with 130 yards and a TD. Perine has 327 rushing yards and 4 TD for the season.

Senior LSU QB Joe Burrow is second in the nation with passing yards and touchdowns (1864 yards and 22 TD) but he faces a team who have racked up 26 sacks in the season, which leads the SEC. If Burrow can keep out of trouble, he will be linking up with junior WR, Justin Jefferson, who leads the SEC in receiving yards with 547 and 7 TDs.

Look out for:

Joe Burrow vs the Florida defense. This should be a great spectacle!

Verdict:

If LSU can work their way around the Florida defense and put up a decent score, then it could be too much for the Gators. But if the Gators can hold the Tigers to a low score, they might just do enough to win it. Expect the Tigers to be 6-0 after this week.

#9 University of Notre Dame vs University of Southern California 

The third game you need to watch this Saturday is between the now unranked USC Trojans vs #9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Trojans are now 3-2 after losing to #17 Washington last game but could have easily been 4-1 or even 5-0 if the ball bounced their way in those losses to Washington and BYU. The good news for USC fans is that second-string QB Kedon Slovis, has been cleared to play and will start for the Trojans. The freshman has thrown for 5 TD so far this season and in the 2 full games he has played, 281 yards against Utah and 377 yards against Stanford. Notre Dame are 4-1 currently with their only loss coming by 6 points against #3 Georgia at Georgia, which pretty much has been their only challenging game of the year so far.

Notre Dame QB, Ian Book, has thrown 13 TD in his 5 games and is averaging 250 yards per game. The senior has hit a bit of form of late, throwing for 261 yards with 5 TD at 80% completion rate in their win against Bowling Green.

Look out for:

Ben Griffiths, Aussie Punter for USC, is averaging 40 yards per punt this season.

Verdict:

This is the make-or-break game for USC. If they win this, they put themselves into a good position to finish the season in the top 25, if they lose… then they might even struggle to make it to a bowl game. The Trojans need everything to go right, especially at the QB position, if they are to beat the Fighting Irish. Expect Notre Dame to hold off a fast-finishing USC. 

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#18 Arizona State University vs Washington State University

I could have picked any of the PAC12 games this weekend to write about as they are all bangers, but I went with the interesting match-up between the now unranked Washington State Cougars at the #18 Arizona State Sun Devils. The Cougars started the year with 3 wins in a row, but have since skidded to a halt, losing their last 2 games (67-63 to UCLA and 38-13 to Utah). It is apparent that their defense is a problem, giving up 45 points on average in the last 3 games, and moves have already been made in the coaching department with the Defensive Coordinator resigning during the week. Senior QB, Anthony Gordon, has continued slinging the ball for the Cougars and has thrown 22 TDs so far this season with a nation-leading 2146 yards. Easop Winston Jr, senior WR, has been on the end of 8 TD from Gordon with 378 receiving yards also.

Arizona State has surprised a few experts this year and could find themselves 5-1 after a win this week. The Sun Devils’ only loss came against a tough Colorado team by a field goal two games ago. What has been a shining light for ASU has been their defense, which has allowed a measly 13.8 points per game throughout the season. If ASU want to challenge for the PAC12 South, they need to win this game. Junior RB, Eno Benjamin, rushed for 3 TD last game and could prove the difference if he gets going this week. Sophomore punter, Michael Turk, has been an integral part of the Sun Devil defense, pinning opponents back with his booming leg. Turk, who averages a healthy 48.2 off 22 puntsthis year, averaged 63 yards in his first game of the season, breaking the NCAA single-game punt average record.

Look out for:

Turk and his long bomb punts for the Sun Devils.

Verdict:

With their high-powered offense lead by a nation-leading QB, Washington State are surely going to challenge the crazy defense of Arizona State and score more than 13 points. But on top of that, the Cougars have had their own defensive issues. It might prove too much for the Cougars to compile a winning score and hold the opposition to much less than 45. Expect the Sun Devils to move to 5-1 after this low-scoring game.

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