NCAA Football Games of the Week: ND vs. Oklahoma, Florida vs. Georgia

It’s Week 9 of NCCA football and some teams are deep in the hunt for the BCS National Championship. In the BCS rankings, 10 schools remain undefeated including the Top 5 teams. This could change on Saturday.

No. 5 Notre Dame will travel to Norman, Oklahoma and take on a talented Sooners team. Many see this as the Fighting Irish’s toughest game to-date and this could be the team that ends their perfect season.

Entering the season with low expectations, #2 Florida hosts #10 Georgia. The Gators will also want to keep their unblemished record but this game also has important conference opportunities on the line.

#5 Notre Dame (7-0) vs. #8 Oklahoma (5-1, 3-1)

Notre Dame QB Everett Golson

After sitting out in last week’s game against BYU, Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson will return and start against the Sooners after recovering from a concussion.

From his last two games, Golson has gone 29 for 46 passes, 327 yards and one touchdown. He can also run and added 92 yards in this period. Last week in his absence, the running back duo of Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood rushed for a combined 257 yards.

But the Fighting Irish have a stellar defense that has enabled them to win seven games. Its leader is Heisman-contending linebacker Manti Te’o. His defensive brethren haven’t given up a rushing touchdown this season and they are No. 6 nationally in total defense, allowing 280.7 yards per game. They have 12 interceptions and have given up five passing touchdowns.

Talented Sooners quarterback Landry Jones will be challenged but he’s been performing very well and in his prior games, he has a 62.3 percent completion rate, 880 yards, seven touchdowns and one pick.

This week he will deal with a defense that has allowed 9.4 average points–second to No. 1 Alabama.

Oklahoma has their own tough defense, giving up 15.3 points per game. They have nine forced turnovers and six quarterback sacks over their last three games.

The Irish have struggled against ranked teams with a 17.7 average points per game from their last three games against them.

In their eight of nine meetings, Notre Dame has won but the bettors don’t think history will be an advantage for the Fighting Irish this time. They give the home team -11.5 with a 47.5 over/under.

Georgia QB Aaron Murray

Florida entered the season as conference underdogs and has exceeded expectations. In its 44-11 win against South Carolina last Saturday, the team showed it had really arrived. And its comes with a number of strengths: good second halftime play, strong special teams and an improving quarterback, Jeff Driskel.

Last week in its 44-11 spanking of the Gamecocks, Driskel had four passing touchdown passes; three came from turnovers. The team’s defense held South Carolina to just 191 yards.

For Georgia in its 29-24 win against Kentucky, Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray had a career-high day with 427 passing yards and four touchdowns.

But Georgia’s weak spot is its defense. Defensive end Abry Jones and outside linebacker Jarvis Jones have battled injuries but even with them in the lineup, they have faced challenges. The Bulldogs lost to South Carolina 35-7 on Oct. 6.

With play like that, Florida could have a similar rout on Saturday.

In addition to a heated conference matchup between the two teams, there’s postseason implications from the win which is at the heart of Saturday’s game.

Florida can clinch an SEC title game spot with a win on Saturday.

For Georgia, it’s more complicated. It will need to win the remainder of its conference games before playing a second consecutive SEC championship game.

They have a tough road beginning with Florida. Then they’ll need to win against Ole Miss and Auburn to arrive at the conference championship game.

In last year’s meeting, Georgia beat Florida 24-20. This was only their third win in 14 games.

They could see win No. 4 as the bettors give them a winning nod at -7 with a 46.5 over/under.