By: Chad Wilson – Editor – GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds

We enter week five of the 2018 college football season either believing that things are starting to come into shape or hoping that they will depending on who you are.  I tend to be part of the former group as the dominant figures of college football have already shown their face in my opinion.  Those dominant figures just so happen to be the four teams that are sitting atop the rankings.  Has anyone noticed how little debate their has been about this year’s rankings?  Nevertheless, a discussion on that topic is better suited for my 5 Big Things Column next week.

For this week,  lets talk about how red hot I have been.  If you are one who is the wagering type in college football,  the picks in my column are yielding like that Bitcoin run we saw in 2017.   In the two weeks of this column,  I have been 5-1 vs. those Vegas numbers.  If you just like knowing who’s going to win the game,  I haven’t failed you there either going 4-2.  Stick with me readers,  I am going to have you sleeping in silk pajamas.

Ohio St. @ Penn St.

I told you all after week one that this Ohio St. team was on a mission.  The media and rival fan bases came messing with their daddy Urban Meyer and they are not too happy about it.  That anger has resulted in no less than 40 points being hung on every opponent like a diamond necklace and strong defense being spread on them like mustard.  Ohio St. means business and this is just another week to prove it.  The Buckeyes’ play up front is getting it done for them.  Even without star defensive lineman Nick Bosa,  Ohio St.’s front four is just constant pressure and that will be the case again on Saturday in Happy Valley.  Whether it’s a run play or a pass play,  the penetration is there and the disruption of good offense is the result.  Offensively,  all the talk is on Buckeye QB Dwayne Haskins and rightfully so but it’s all happening because of the Ohio St. offensive line.  Where Ohio St. has a huge advantage is this game is in the trenches.

Speaking of trenches,  that’s where I have been most disappointed when I turn on the film of Penn St.  There is too much activity in the backfield by opposing defenses when the Nittany Lions have the football and that spells bad news. This fact has been masked by the lack of quality opposition for Penn St. but it has not missed my eye.  You hardly want your first real game of the season to be against Ohio St. but here we are.  On the defensive side of the ball,  the Penn St. defensive line and front seven has not been impactful either.  Against Illinois last week,  Penn St. managed just one sack and gave up a ridiculous 245 yards on the ground.  In that opening week thriller vs. Appalachain St. that went to overtime,  again Penn St. managed just one sack and allowed 451 yards of offense.  Insert Ohio St. vs. those type of defensive performances and the prognosis is not good.  I think we have a battle at first but eventually Ohio St. will relish the opportunity to show how mad they really are.  I like the Buckeyes 33-21.

West Virginia @ Texas Tech 

Hey it’s a Big 12 game everybody, duck.  Yes one should always expect a shootout when Big-12 foes collide and this year’s game between West Virginia and Texas Tech should be no different.  Except in this game,  one team has a significantly bigger gun than the other.  They probably take people to jail for saying the word defense in Lubbock, Texas.  Texas Tech wants nothing to do with stopping people.  The Red Raiders can’t stop the run,  they can’t cover,  they don’t tackle but outside of that,  they’re all good.  Cliff Kingsbury may be a man of good looks but that defense is plain ugly. When the Red Raiders shut out Lamar a couple of weeks ago,  Tech fans were probably in the stands like “nah come on!” They snapped back into form the next week giving up 49 to Houston in a win.  Last week the scoreboard says they pulled hard on Mike Gundy’s mullet when they whipped Oklahoma St. 41-17.  However on film,  I saw plenty to suggest that West Virginia will have a field day here . Tech did not look too good earlier this year vs. Ole Miss and West Virginia is a significantly better football team.

West Virginia relishes games like this.  They too are very offensive in nature and they happen to have a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback.  This will be quite the opportunity to pad his stats and we should expect to see that.  Will Grier has blossomed under Dana Hogerson’s system and this year’s crop of WRs has been quite special for the Mountaineers.  I see matchup problems all over the field for the Texas Tech secondary with this bunch and should the Mountaineer’s play up to potential,  they can name their score.  However,  it is college football and I must allow for some lapses when 19-22 year olds are playing out of their habitat.  Where I think the biggest difference in this game will show up will be on defense.  So far,  West Virginia has show the ability to play it.  The Mountaineers have held every opponent under 20 points and more importantly,  under 400 yards of total offense.  They have found ways to control opposing run games with a three man front and pressure the quarterback with exotic blitzes.  I see that trend continuing here.  With Texas Tech unable to have their way consistently offensively,  I don’t see a path to them having more on the scoreboard than West Virginia when this is all said and done.  I like the Mountaineers 45-27 in this one.

Stanford @ Notre Dame

I think this will be the most exciting game on Saturday.  Stanford comes into this game exhausted emotionally and physically after their thriller in Eugene hast week.  It will be a tall task for them to muster up the required energy to get the result they want in this game but we should not look past them.  Oregon revealed some gaping holes in Stanford’s stop unit a week ago and they are holes that Notre Dame has the manpower to exploit.  Also revealed vs. the Ducks is something you don’t see often from Stanford but that is a team that is not as good at run blocking as they are at pass blocking.  When was the last time you saw a Stanford team rush for just 71 yards in a ball game?  What may have been a surprise is how the Cardinal displayed a come from behind passing game. On film,  I saw this happen due in large part to their ability to provide K.J. Costello with a clean pocket.  What Stanford also has are some matchup advantages with their big WRs corps.  Expect them to make some big plays in this contest.  I think this will be another week where Stanford is forced to go to the air to find their way.

Notre Dame is flying under the radar.  This is a pretty good football team.  The major reason that the Irish are playing well is because their offensive line has been getting the job done.  I don’t know what Brian Kelly has been doing but give the offensive line coach and who ever recruited these hogs up front a raise. Notre Dame has one of the top offensive lines in college football in my opinion and they will look the part in this contest.  Stanford showed an inability to pressure Justin Herbert last week vs. Oregon and that will be bad news in this contest.  The Cardinal also looked suspect versus the run and that caused the Ducks to convert 9 out of 15 third down situations.  Notre Dame is in prime position to take advantage of that.  The Irish are a more explosive team with Ian Book at quarterback and without a ton of film on the new signal caller,  Stanford will be at a disadvantage.  My biggest concern for Notre Dame in this game is the play of their back half.  The linebackers and defensive backs have shown some trouble making tackles and covering.  This will keep this game in limbo for quite some time but ultimately,  the better team is also the one playing at home so I will go with the Irish 34-24.