Advertisement

What to Watch, Week 7: It's gut-check time for Michigan and Texas A&M

graham watson

It seems like every week there’s at least one gut-check game to watch, but this week two teams are trying to come of age by beating opponents that have owned them in the past few years.

Michigan and Texas A&M are looking at a “Pretender or Contender” situation as they head into their Saturday matchups against Michigan State and Alabama respectively, and the outcomes of those games could have a significant effect not only on the conference races, but on the national title picture.

But that’s not all that’s going on this week. Here’s a look at What to Watch for Week 7:

Game of the week:
No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan, 3:30 p.m. ET
This was supposed to be Michigan State’s year to challenge for the Big Ten title and be the conference representative in the College Football Playoff, but Michigan has slowly started to steal the thunder in the state.

The Wolverines, who were supposed to be in a rebuilding mode in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first season, have posted shutouts in its last three games and is a season opening loss to Utah away from being undefeated. The Wolverines are a real threat to the new power brokers of the Big Ten Conference and that’s kind of exciting.

In this game we'll truly see which of these teams is a pretender and which is a contender. Michigan State is undefeated, but it has struggled to distance itself in games against opponents it should defeat handily. Michigan will be the Spartans first quality test of the year.

Northwestern, which came into last week’s game against the Wolverines with the nation’s best defense, was supposed to be Michigan’s best test and it handled it convincingly with a 38-0 win.

Michigan State has won six of the past seven meetings between these two teams, but those were some tough years in Ann Arbor. This game will be a real measure of which team is the best Power Five program in the state.

Game to Watch:
No. 10 Alabama at No. 9 Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m. ET
Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin doesn’t wasn’t to call this contest a potential signature win, but we have no trouble calling it that simply because there are so many things on the line. Not only does a Texas A&M win allow the Aggies to keep pace with LSU for the SEC West, it also likely ends any conference title hopes for Alabama and hands the Tide their first season with multiple losses since 2010.

It’s also just a big deal.

For so long, teams such as Alabama, LSU and Auburn had been the power brokers in the conference making it difficult for other teams to emerge. However, Texas A&M has been flirting with becoming a legitimate challenger since the day Sumlin stepped on campus and this game would prove that he can make that leap.

If A&M is going to beat Alabama, it’s going to have to do it in the air. The Tide are allowing 77.3 rushing yards and 264.5 yards of offense per game. The Aggies are averaging 480.4 yards per game and have thrown for at least 300 yards in each of their last three games.

Alabama has won the last two meetings in this series, including a 59-0 beatdown in Tuscaloosa a year ago.

Also check out…
No. 8 Florida at No. 6 LSU, 7 p.m. ET
This is Treon Harris’ time to silence his critics.

With Will Grier out for the season after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs, it’s on Harris’ shoulders to continue the 6-0 start that has the Gators alone in first place in the SEC East Division.

And that won’t be easy against an LSU team that is undefeated and has running back Leonard Fournette, the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Few teams have stopped Fournette, who has 119 carries for 1,022 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, so this will be a tremendous test for a Florida defense that ranks 12th in the country allowing just 99.2 rushing yards per game.

But if Harris can’t get the Florida offense moving, as he’s struggled to do in past starts, the Gators’ defense won’t have the stamina to keep a bruising back like Fournette quiet for long.

Both of these teams are atop their respective divisions, but LSU has Texas A&M nipping at its heels and a much more difficult scedule moving forward.

Channel surf through…

No. 17 Iowa at No. 20 Northwestern, noon ET: Surely everyone thought the Big Ten West would come down to these two teams, right? No? Well, that’s the way it’s shaping up and the winner of this contest will have the leg up in the West Division race. Yes, it’s still early, but there haven’t been many other challengers. Don’t be surprised if this is a 10-7 game.

Arizona State at No. 4 Utah, 10 p.m. ET: The Utes have assumed the title as the best team in the Pac-12 South, but it’s going to take a strong effort to hold onto that claim. Arizona State has had its ups and downs this season, but it seems to be coming together at just the right time. Once again, the Utah defense will be called to stop a high-powered offense, but quarterback Travis Wilson will have to show more than he did against Cal if the Utes want to win this game and remain perfect.

No. 19 Oklahoma at Kansas State, 3:30 p.m. ET: Kansas State was just minutes away from upsetting TCU last week and now it has a chance to really ruin Oklahoma’s season. The Sooners are coming off a bad loss to Texas and need to rebound quickly if they want to remain relevant in the Big 12 race. Oklahoma is the better team here, but Kansas State has played unexpectedly well in the past couple weeks.

- - - - - - -

Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

And don’t forget to keep up with all of Graham’s thoughts, witty comments and college football discussions on Facebook