Don’t forget about Auburn vs. Alabama and Utah vs. Colorado
In this Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, file photo, Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) carries in the first half of an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. Credit: AP / Gerald Herbert
Ohio State vs. Michigan will be the talk of the college football world on Saturday, but Rivalry Week always has a bunch of fun games to watch.
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has his eyes on two other games in particular – one well-known rivalry, the other not as much.
Herbstreit, during a call on Monday to promote Allstate’s #StreitCred campaign, said he’ll be watching both the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn – understandably, given the fact that both teams are inside the top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings.
“I always love the Alabama-Auburn game. No matter what’s going on every year, there’s always something at stake for one of the teams or both of the teams,” Herbstreit said. “And if you’ve been down there and ever seen that game in person, it’s just very, very unique. And so I can’t wait to see how that game unfolds.
“Auburn is getting a big power fullback, Kamryn Pettway, back, at least that’s what I’ve heard. He’s their power back, big strong guy, so he’ll have to play well to give Auburn much of a chance against Alabama’s defense. Jalen Hurts has been such an amazing story for Alabama, I think you’ll see him running, throwing and making big plays.”
The other game on Herbstreit’s radar: Utah and Colorado, in a Pac-12 matchup that will determine who gets to play in the conference title game.
“With Utah losing to Oregon last week, now all of a sudden it’s Colorado’s game,” Herbstreit said. “If they win against Utah, Colorado -- and you talk about a great story -- Colorado would be headed to the Pac-12 championship game, and if they win the Pac-12 championship game they’d be headed to the Rose Bowl. So they’re a few games away from doing the unthinkable. And if Utah were to somehow upset Colorado on the road, then that’d send USC to the Pac-12 [championship game]. So there’s quite a bit at stake in that game between Utah and Colorado, which is ironic because the Pac-12 is now the Pac-12 because of the expansion and realignment, and those teams were Utah and Colorado.”
Nick Klopsis is Newsday.com's sports editor. He often can be found studying NFL and college football film for his latest draft breakdown.
