On Thursday night, Oregon suffered its first loss of the season to Arizona. With a weekend slate of games jam-packed with closely ranked opponents, I’m fairly certain that Oregon won’t be alone in their week six tumble. The SEC West enters with five unbeaten teams, with Texas A&M and Alabama playing on the road against Mississippi State and Ole Miss respectively. Auburn lucked out with a home game versus LSU. In the west coast, Notre Dame faces their first roadblock of the season in the Stanford Cardinal. And in my neck of the woods, Big 12 conference leader Oklahoma has to travel to Fort Worth, Texas to play an undefeated and untested TCU squad.
The road to the National Championship gets a lot tougher this week for the teams listed below, while the individual prospect match-ups continue to get better and better. Keep reading for more on the players, match-ups and games to watch, and enjoy another week of college football.
By: Alex Brown
No. 6 Texas A&M at No. 12 Mississippi State, ESPN, 12:00 PM EST
Mississippi State senior DE Preston Smith has been a revelation for the Bulldogs this year, improving his hand usage and impressing as a versatile pass rusher. Texas A&M’s senior LT Cedric Ogbuehi will have the primary responsibility of blocking Smith, so pay close attention to that battle. On obvious passing downs, however, look for Preston Smith to kick inside and rush against junior OC Mike Matthews. At the second level, Mississippi State junior ILB Bernardrick McKinney will have a trio of Aggie junior RB prospects to keep an eye on. From Brandon Williams to Tra Carson to Trey Williams, all three have NFL futures. Trey Williams is the best of the bunch with the ability to make defenders look silly with his elite-level quickness and jump cut skills.
Junior QB Dak Prescott finally had a statement win on the road at LSU and looks to continue building on his best season to date. He’s a powerful-armed and physical ball carrier, but he’ll have to continue developing his footwork to manage pressure pockets. Prescott’s top receiver in sophomore De’Runya Wilson is a size-speed weapon (6’5, 215 lbs. with reported 4.3 speed) that will give senior CB Deshazor Everett all he can handle. Everett is the leader of the Aggie secondary and has the plus length NFL teams look for in cornerbacks, but his long speed should be tested in this contest. In the running game, junior Josh Robinson is a bowling ball of a runner but wins with plus contact balance and shifty feet in traffic. With Robinson’s ability to create yards after contact, Texas A&M had better clean up their tackling woes from a week ago versus Arkansas.
No. 3 Alabama at No. 11 Ole Miss, CBS, 3:30 PM EST
The big storyline for evaluators will be how senior QB Bo Wallace performs against a talented Alabama defense –click here for the scouting spotlight of the week. The Ole Miss rushing attack features a heavy dose of read option concepts with their small but shifty junior RB Jaylen Walton. Alabama will be counting on a pair of seniors in OLB Xzavier Dickson and ILB Trey Depriest to fill their gaps and force the Rebels into obvious passing situations. And while sophomore Laquon Treadwell is the obvious receiving talent to know on the Ole Miss roster, be sure to check out junior Cody Core. He’s a long-strider with wheels to burn and the physical tools to excite NFL scouts.
Defensively, Ole Miss may have the most talent from top to bottom. Along the defensive line, sophomore Robert Nkemdiche and senior Byron Bennett made successful transitions from DE to DT. They’ll be facing an interior Alabama offensive line led by senior Arie Kouandjio. Kouandjio isn’t a fluid or balanced athlete, but he’s a wide-bodied, pile pusher that can clear open running lanes. On the edge, junior DE CJ Johnson is an explosive pass rusher that excels at converting speed to power. His one-on-ones against Alabama freshman LT Cam Robinson should be entertaining to watch. And in the secondary, senior boundary corner Senquez Golson and senior SAF Cody Prewitt will be focused on stopping junior Alabama WR Amari Cooper. Cooper leads the country in yards receiving per game, thanks to the emergence of senior QB Blake Sims. Sims has gone from a priority free agent prospect to a potential day three pick, as he’s shown command of Alabama’s offense and a better-than-advertised arm.
No. 14 Stanford at No. 9 Notre Dame, NBC, 3:30 PM EST
Notre Dame is fighting to stay undefeated, but they face a size mismatch versus Stanford WR Ty Montgomery. Montgomery ranks as one of the top senior receivers in the country and has a five-inch height advantage over Notre Dame’s top cover corner in senior Cody Riggs. To counter with pressure, Notre Dame’s junior DTs Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones will have to capitalize against Stanford’s inexperienced interior offensive line (first year starters from guard-to-guard). Top offensive line prospect, LT Andrus Peat will be tasked with blocking Romeo Okwara. Okwara leads the Fighting Irish in sacks, but hasn’t faced a blocker with Peat’s movement skills or elite length.
Redshirt junior QB Everett Golson has progressed tremendously as a prospect in 2014, commanding the Notre Dame offense at a high level and delivering throws with cleaner mechanics. His top target in senior TE Ben Koyack, has plus size and a knack for exposing soft areas in coverage. Protecting Golson’s blindside is junior LT Ronnie Stanley, who wins with plus length and an athletic base. He’ll be dealing with a pair of senior edge defenders in OLB James Vaughters and DE Henry Anderson. Leading the secondary are two seniors -SAF Jordan Richards and CB Wayne Lyons. In addition to defending Koyack, Stanford must be aware of sophomore WR William Fuller. Fuller leads Notre Dame in all receiving categories, along with recording TD grabs in all four games to open the season.
No. 4 Oklahoma at No. 25 TCU, FOX, 3:30 PM EST
Oklahoma’s offensive tackles have been the focus in previous scouting previews, but the showdown will come on the interior this week. TCU has a duo of DT prospects in junior Davion Pierson and senior Chucky Hunter that will be sure to give Oklahoma LG Adam Shead all he can handle. In the secondary, senior SAF Sam Carter is a playmaker that operates in the box as a hybrid linebacker/safety. Walling off slot receivers from the middle of the field and showcasing plus ball skills, Carter’s play will be instrumental in limiting the effectiveness of Oklahoma’s quick passing game. Oklahoma junior WR Sterling Shepard is the receiver to watch, as he creates big plays both after the catch and down the field.
TCU faces their first real test of the season, and I’m intrigued to watch dual-threat junior QB Treyvone Boykin versus the NFL talent-laden Oklahoma Sooners defense. Boykin’s outside receivers will be working against a tough set of corners in senior Julian Wilson and junior Zack Sanchez. On the interior, redshirt sophomore DT Jordan Phillips is a force to be reckoned with and demands double team attention. As far as the pass rush is concerned, look no further than junior OLB Eric Striker. Though undersized, Striker is stunted from a variety of spots along the front seven and is a natural speed rusher. To keep the Sooners honest, it’ll be important for RB B.J. Catalon to have a productive afternoon. The junior ball carrier has “get up and go” speed, accessing his top gear in an instant.
No. 15 LSU at No. 5 Auburn, ESPN, 7:00 PM EST
LSU’s secondary struggled to finish open field tackles against Mississippi State two weeks ago, and the Auburn senior rushing combo of QB Nick Marshall and Cameron Artis-Payne will look to capitalize. LSU junior SAF Jalen Mills shows excellent body control and athleticism in man-to-man coverage, but his transition from corner to safety hasn’t been so smooth. I’ll be looking for LSU to match him up in the slot against Auburn junior WR Duke Williams. Williams currently has 14 more receptions than the next leading Auburn receiver and has accounted for 40 percent of the team’s passing yards. On the outside, junior CB Jalen Collins squares off against junior WR Sammie Coates. Both players bring plus size and speed to their respective positions, so it’ll be a competitive matchup for scouts to key in on.
Nick Marshall made his SEC debut on the road versus LSU last season and it wasn’t pretty. The Auburn defense is hoping to do the same to LSU freshman QB Brandon Harris, who will be making his first career SEC start. Spying the mobile athlete will be fast-rising junior prospect Kris Frost. Frost is a quick-twitch ILB with plus size and instincts and, in addition to Harris, he’ll have to deal with a trio of ball carriers for LSU. From seniors Kenny Hilliard and Terrence Magee to freshman Leonard Fournette, LSU has a stable of backs to hand the ball off to. At cornerback, converted wide receiver Trovon Reed is another senior prospect to keep an eye on. While he switched numbers to #25 and grew out dreadlocks, it’s his strong build, grabby hands and loud mouth that lead to Richard Sherman comparisons. He gets to cover a gifted sophomore target in WR Travin Dural. Dural has been the go-to weapon for LSU’s pass attack, demonstrating his natural hands at the catch point and vertical skill set (25.4 ypc average).
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