Hurts in Heisman race; Tide and Tigers hold serve; OU leads Big Twelve; LSU/Texas highlight predictions…Horns Up?

Not a lot of surprises after the first full week of the college football season.  The top teams won, the best players had great stat filled performances, and Clemson and Alabama continue to be the gold standard of the game.  Jalen Hurts debut as the Oklahoma quarterback give rise to a possible third straight Heisman Trophy for the Sooners as his six touchdowns (3 passes, 3 rushes) along with over 300 passing yards and 150 rushing yards had never been accomplished by a Sooner in their history.  Oklahoma State broke in a red-shirt freshman at quarterback, Spencer Sanders.  He was excellent in their win in Corvallis over the Beavers of Oregon State.   All the Big Twelve teams won with Kansas and West Virginia not as impressively as they had wanted.  Nationally, North Carolina’s Mack Brown showed why he is a great head coach as the Heel’s beat South Carolina.  The newly transferred quarterbacks were winners (except for the fellow at Missouri) with Josh Fields of The Ohio State Buckeyes the best of the group not named Jalen Hurts.  All in all, a good week of college football.

My personal Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. LSU
6. Michigan
7. Ohio State
8. Florida
9. Texas A&M
10. Utah
11. Univ. of Central Florida
12. Texas
13. Auburn
14. Michigan State
15. Washington State
16. Penn State
17. Oregon
18. Syracuse
19. Wisconsin
20. Washington
21. Oklahoma State
22. Memphis
23  Iowa
24. Notre Dame
25. Baylor

Big Twelve Ranking

1.   Oklahoma

2.   Texas

3.   Oklahoma State

4.   Iowa State

5.   Baylor

6.   Texas Tech

7.   TCU

8.   Kansas State

9.   West  Virginia

10.   Kansas

Heisman Ranking

1.   Jalen Hurts  OU

2.   Tua Tagovailoa  Bama

3.   Travis Etienne  Clemson

4.   Trevor Lawrence  Clemson

5.   Justin Fields  Ohio State

Final Four

Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma

Big Twelve Predictions for the week:

Saturday, September 7
Missouri vs. West Virginia   
11:00 a.m.  (Go with Missouri in this one.  It will be close but the Tigers escape Morgantown 32 to 29)

ESPN2
Bowling Green at Kansas State
11:00 a.m.  (KSU is a Power Five and they should play enough defense to beat the MAC foe.  Wildcats 24 and the Falcons 17)

FSN

UTSA at Baylor
3:00 p.m.  (The Bears continue to win big and they do this week in Waco. Baylor 53 and UTSA 18)

FSN
South Dakota at Oklahoma
6:00 p.m.  (Sooners run it up here.  OU 79 and SD 13)

TBD
Coastal Carolina at Kansas
6:00 p.m.  (KU better win this one. They should. Jayhawks 31 and CC 23)

Big 12 Now on ESPN+
McNeese at Oklahoma State
6:00 p.m.  (Pokes win big. OSU 56 and the McNeese Pokes 14)

Big 12 Now on ESPN+
LSU at Texas
6:30 p.m.  (Texas will be blazing Tony the Tiger in Austin.  Horns 23 and LSU 20)

ABC
UTEP at Texas Tech
7:00 p.m.  (Another big blowout for the Red Raiders.  Tech 62 and Miners 21)

FSN

Last week’s Big Twelve predictions: 10-0

Significant National Games:

Syracuse 31 at Maryland 20

Stanford 28 at USC 14

Colorado 26 and Nebraska 25

Miami Fla 24 and North Carolina 21

North Texas 43 at SMU 28

Tulsa 30 at San Jose State 23

San Diego State 28 and UCLA 24

Vanderbilt 22 at Purdue 18

BYU 47 at Tennessee 24

Ole MIss 37 and Arkansas 24

Last week’s  Big Twelve predictions:  10-0

Clemson 34 and aTm 18

Michigan 28 and Army 10

Washington 39 and California 19

Feature photo: Houston Cougars running back Kyle Porter (22) is tackled by Oklahoma Sooners defenders during the second quarter of an NCAA game at Gaylord Memorial Stadium Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in Norman, Oklahoma. Photo: Godofredo A Vásquez