College Football | GAMEDAY

Around the Nation

-Today’s featured contest, No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State, may be a bit tainted by the fact Ducks QB Vernon Adams won’t exactly be at full strength. The, umm, hired gun – courtesy of the NCAA graduate-transfer rule – injured the index finger on his right throwing hand, which could greatly alter the effectiveness of not only him airing things out, but also handling the ball on running plays, whether he keeps it or not. Frankly, I’m not pumped about this game anyway because it seems to have all the makings of a one-sided blowout – for either team. Whichever gets a solid upper hand, a repeat of last season’s second-half rout in Eugene, Ore., appears imminent to me. Maybe just a vibe thing.

-The most defining matchup of the day probably won’t be that aforementioned battle in Lansing, Mich., but rather the No. 19 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee evening affair. Thing is, Oregon and Michigan State are pretty well established anymore as top-10 programs. No one is arguing. But OU and UT, even being ranked, well … For some reason, the national media has bequeathed Bob Stoops with genius status and, with that, it figure he’ll somehow coax his Sooners to greatness – every year. Hasn’t happened in a long time, peeps. The Vols, meanwhile, get a lot of pub for a team that really hasn’t done much of anything. But I do like Butch Jones, and the SEC is better – hard to believe, but it is – when they are good.

-Well, my other alma mater, Illinois, finally broke out its blue jerseys to go with the much-hyped rebranding effort Nike supplied it … back in April of 2014. It’s about damn time, but, gotta say, might be worth the wait, and certainly worth checking out on TV for anyone fortunate enough to get the Big Ten Network (BTN) on their cable systems. The opposition, Western Illinois, shouldn’t light anyone’s fire, but the Fighting Illini may be worth a gander just the same, if last week’s track meet was any indication. Plus, again, those blue jerseys (with white lid and pants) – SWEET.

-Interesting to note that, going by StubHub, the OU-UT game is the most expensive ticket out there today, starting at $154. Oregon-Michigan State isn’t even No. 2. It’s third behind the Iowa-Iowa State contest, which is getting $149. Spartan Stadium, apparently, is a bargain at $148.

-Doesn’t seem to be an outlandish upset kinda day, but if I had to pick one, I’d keep an eye on East Carolina at Florida. The Pirates, ever the under-the-radar quality outfit, could benefit from the Gators having a new regime and a new QB – even on the road.

What 2 Watch vs. Cincinnati
NIPPERT STADIUM, 8 P.M., ESPNNEWS, 97.5 THE FANATIC

1. P.J. Walker returning to freshman form. If the Owls junior QB can pull that off, we’re talking some serious entertainment and likely a Temple victory. Despite losing 38-20 at American Athletic Conference rival Cincy back in 2013, the Owls put a scare into the Bearcats thanks to the wondrously electric do-everything tools of their young signal-caller, who threw for 200 yards and 2 TDs and ran for another 47 yards, leaving Cincy coach Tommy Tuberville raving about Walker being a “keeper” and a player for Matt Rhule and Co. to build a program around. Oddly enough, while the Temple program has evolved in short order since then, especially on D, Walker has not. Put it this way, if Walker had played anywhere near that way last season, the Owls wouldn’t be looking at snapping a 5-game losing streak to the ’Cats. Whether it’s coach-mandated or not, Walker needs to drop the “game manager” approach he’s currently employing and let it rip – at least a bit, or in timely situations.

2. Owls defensive front upping the ante on pressure … especially the line. Last week’s 10-sack effort was an eye-opener to the rest of the country, both in terms of showcasing the Owls’ get-after-it talents and the sieve-like quality of the opposing OL from Penn State. It set a record for an AAC team, and it brought some way-overdo attention to the best LB in college football, Tyler Matakevich, three years running. But the Owls are facing a different animal this week in terms of quality receiver depth, pass-protection ability and, frankly, consistently good QB play. Not for nothing, but Cincy’s Gunner Kiel has been a better player at this level than PSU’s far-more-ballyhooed Christian Hackenberg … probably because he has way more options at catching the ball and an OL that can handle FBS-level pressure. Because of that, plus the fact the ’Cats can run the ball, Temple’s DL must find ways to get to Kiel in a hurry without Matakevich and others blitzing up a storm, since they’ll often be needed elsewhere. Matt Ioannidis, Sharif Finch, Hershey Walton and Hasson Reddick, you guys are key.

3. Matakevich needs to go off. The senior must revert to tackling-machine form in this one. As impactful as his 3 sacks were last week in disrupting PSU’s offense, his deal in this one will be covering sideline to sideline and making sure no one busts loose through the middle such as Nittany Lions RB Akeel Lynch did on a 42-yard, first-quarter score last week – right by T-Mat, in fact. The more he gets involved, the more pumped up Temple’s defense seems to get, and it will need all the emotional edge it can muster to keep Cincy’s offense under wraps – or enough to pull out the W. The Owls’ D was brilliant against the Bearcats last season, but it wasn’t enough as Temple fell 14-6 at Lincoln Financial Field. An even better effort, spearheaded by the unit’s best player, would go a long way to getting the Owls’ their first win against Cincy since 1985. If T-Mat’s tackle total gets around 20, or surpasses that, Temple wins.

4. Emotion plays such a HUGE part in this sport, especially at the collegiate, which is why Rhule’s toughest task this week likely was to get his Owls focused on the task at hand – playing a conference rival, and, in fact, the conference favorite, on its own field. Beating Penn State for the first time in 74 years was such an almost climactic experience that you have to wonder if Temple can actually recover – from winning. The reality is, Cincy is a step up in class right now and it’s a more important game this season because the goal is to win the AAC title. It’s pretty simple. But selling that to a group of guys who just had a history-making, program-altering victory ain’t that easy. If the Owls come out and stay in any “wow, what we did last week” haze for any prolonged period of time tonight, they will get smoked. They need to be focused and dead-on serious about their objective: beating the Bearcats.

5. Can’t have a What 2 Watch here without some uniform chatter, right? Cincy realized the importance of this matchup long ago and earmarked it for a special all-white attire evening as they’ll drop the usual black- or red-based home unis and helmets for some eye-catching, if not eye-blinding, whiteness. Me? I’m not a fan, and believe the Owls have the opportunity to go pretty bad-arse if they like, either going all-cherry or all-black or some combo that highlights their “toughness, but there is no denying that Cincy will stand out. Of course, the Bearcats might be easier to find for defensive purposes, too.

6. A game at this venue is worth checking out, live or in-person. Nippert is nestled into the school’s campus like few others at the FBS level, basically wedged in there, making it an almost folksy focal point. It has character out the wazoo and just underwent a massive refurbishing project that had Cincy play its home games last season at the NFL Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium. Back from that sterile structure, the ’Cats figure to be a little more feisty at home.

- Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

---