College Football: Two Big Games for Saturday

BEATING NO. 1: Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert in action last week against former No. 1 team Oklahoma Sooners (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Three weeks in a row college football has seen a new No. 1 team. This weekend doesn’t seem as exciting, but two games to keep your eyes on are a Big Ten Conference battle between No. 5 Michigan State (8–0) and No.18 Iowa (5–2) and Big 12 Conference play between No. 6 Missouri (7–0) and No. 14 Nebraska (6–1). Both games present new challenges for all four teams.

In a year of unpredictable action, No. 5 Michigan State has been a team that has emerged from the pack. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio overcame an early season heart attack that took place on Sept. 19 and came back after only a few weeks of recovery to coach his team to a win over interstate rival Michigan.

This week Michigan State will face its toughest challenge of the year in Iowa. Iowa lost to No. 15-ranked Arizona in the beginning of the season and suffered a tough one-point loss last week to currently ranked No. 10 Wisconsin.

Last year Iowa beat Michigan State 15–13 with a touchdown in the last play of a 97-yard drive. Saturday, Michigan State will head to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa.

“We move on now. It’s going to be a great challenge for our team and we are certainly thrilled to be back in Kinnick. We have a lot of work to be do between now and then, but we are looking forward to Saturday,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz told hawkeyesports.com.

Big 12

Undefeated Missouri will play at Nebraska on Saturday. Last week Missouri knocked off then No. 1 Oklahoma from the top spot. It was the first time in Missouri football history that they beat the No. 1 team in the nation.

Nebraska won last week as well, defeating then No. 17-ranked Oklahoma State. Nebraska sophomore linebacker Eric Martin will not be playing this week against Missouri as he was suspended for a helmet to helmet hit on Oklahoma State’s Andrew Hudson during a kick off return in the first quarter.

In last year’s game, Nebraska walked away victorious beating Missouri by more than two touchdowns. If they want to do the same this year they’ll have to contain the quarterback/wide receiver tandem of Blaine Gabbert and Gahn McGaffie.

Last week against No. 1 Oklahoma, Gabbert went 30-of-42 and threw for 308 yards. He connected with McGaffie eight times for 95 of those yards and a TD. Nebraska secondary coach Marvin Sanders will surely have his hands full.

“What’s really good about him, he has such a quick release.” Sanders told huskers.com. “He can get the ball out. You look and a lot of teams are not able to get a lot of pressure on him because he has that quick release, but also he’s got good feet.”

Both games will be broadcast nationally on Saturday.