TOPIC: Ohio State at #9 Penn State 7:30 PM ABC

This game has settled the playoff fates of these two teams and Big Ten in the past couple of years. College GameDay is in town. Ohio State is 4-0 and coming off a ho hum 49-6 beatdown of Tulane while PSU is also 4-0 with a come from behind 63-24 victory over Illinois (no really Womens Tajae Sharpe Jersey , Illinois was leading in the third quarter). Ohio State is missing stud defensive end Nick Bosa as he got injured in the TCU game. Can the Nittanny Lions use the raucous 100K+ crowd to upset the Buckeyes again? Both QBs have put up monster numbers. It will be interesting to see which defense shows up. Ohio State prospects to watch1. Dre’Mont Jones 6’2 295 DL RS Junior- A disruptive force in the interior of the defensive line. Pass rush ability is a plus. Holds up well at the point of attack. Had a stellar game against TCU a couple of weeks ago. Lateral agility is among the best in the country. Fundamentally sound as most Buckeye DL are under the tutelage of Larry Johnson, Sr. 2. Dwayne Haskins 6’2 214 QB RS Sophomore- A legit Heisman contender that waited for his turn until this year. He’s blown up immensely with multiple touchdown games both running and passing. A plus arm. Inexperience will show at times with some silly throws. A much better passer than JT Barrett and we saw glimpses when he came in relief during the Michigan game last season. Has shot up the boards at a rapid pace. 3. Kendall Sheffield 5’11 185 CB Junior- The next star in line of a cornerback factory that is Ohio State. Laterally adept. Ball skills are on point. Excellent at covering the receiver all the way through the route. The leader of a youthful but extremely talented secondary that could the best in the country. 4. Isaiah Prince 6’6 310 OT Senior- The man in charge of blocking the blind side for Mr. Haskins. Is one of the better tackle prospects in the country that no one talks about. Shows a remarkable ability in the short areas. Footwork is not a plus nor a negative either. Middle round type that could develop into a starter at the next level. Penn State prospects to watch1. Trace McSorely 6’0 195 QB RS Senior- A carbon copy of Johnny Football with better passing ability and an attitude to match. Not much of a future at the NFL level as a QB due to size questions, unfortunately but a fun college QB. 2. Juwan Johnson 6’4 229 WR RS Junior- A similar type of prospect to Allen Lazard / Kelvin Benjamin. A big body receiver that will box out smaller defenders but isn’t the most athletic guy there. McSorely’s main target regardless of situation and score. South Carolina at #17 Kentucky 7:30 PM SEC Network- Yes, you read that correct. Kentucky is. ranked. in. football. It’s actually the first time that both Kentucky and Duke are ranked in the top 25 together since the 1950s. South Carolina is 2-1 with a cancelled game due to Hurricane Florence. Kentucky is 4-0 after a 28-7 win over Miss State last week. Could be the fun game of the day if things break right.South Carolina prospects to watch1. Deebo Samuel 5’11 215 WR RS Senior- Deebo is one of the most dynamic athletes at receiver in the nation. He’s South Carolina’s version of Percy Harvin. A do it all weapon for the Gamecocks that also returns kicks. Above average route runner. Quicker than fast. A guy who is willing to out tough the defender for a contested ball despite being 5’11. Profiles similarly to Kendall Wright. 2. Bryan Edwards 6’2 205 WR Junior- One of the best receivers in the SEC that hardly anyone talks about due to his teammate Samuel. He’s a physical force of nature that can go up and get it. A solid athlete that can stretch defenses vertically if needed. Kentucky prospects to watch1. Josh Allen 6’4 230 EDGE Senior- No, the current Bills QB did not transfer to Kentucky to play defense. This Josh Allen has been rising up the boards in a similar fashion, though. He’s a pretty good athlete for the position and should test well. Flashed a ton of potential over the past few weeks. Can set the edge and play the run well. Not the most fundamentally sound but is improving. 2. Benny Snell 5’10 223 RB Junior- Snell is probably the most underrated running back in the country due to the depth of the class and the program he plays for. A physical power back that can pound the rock at least 30 times without fatigue. Pass blocking is a plus. Vision and IQ are a plus as well. Rarely has yards for loss on his resume. #7 Stanford at #8 Notre Dame 7:30 PM NBC- Stanford is coming off a thrilling 38-31 win over Oregon last week due to some poor officiating. Notre Dame is 4-0 with a not that close 56-27 win over Wake Forest. Notre Dame has a solid defense to cover the Cardinal star RB Bryce Love. Stanford loves to use the just throw it up to the big guy play all the time in its passing offense. Which offense can gear up the fastest? Stanford prospects to watch1. Bryce Love 5’9 196 RB Senior- Has home run speed. Footwork is a major plus. Makes an effort as a pass blocker despite his frame. Has a supernatural ability to sniff out the correct angles when lanes are clogged up. Has struggled a bit in 2018 for some reason. 2. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside 6’2 222 WR Senior- Baby Mike Evans. That’s all. He has had a tremendous start to the 2018 season and should be drafted in the middle rounds. Notre Dame prospect to watch1. Te’Von Coney 6’0 240 LB Senior- He has enough athleticism to be a sideline to sideline defender when needed. A playmaker for the legit Fighting Irish defense. Football IQ and tackling ability are major pluses. Ole Miss at #5 LSU 9 PM ESPN- Strength meets strength in Baton Rouge. The high powered Ole Miss offense gets another shot at a top five team after failing miserably against Bama. The LSU defense is pretty solid as well. A revenge game for LSU HC Ed Oregeron. Ole Miss is 3-1 while the Tigers are 4-0. Can the Ole Miss offense unlock the stingy LSU defense enough to score a bunch of points? Can the LSU offense keep up if their defense fails?Ole Miss prospects to watch1. D.K Metcalf 6’3 225 WR RS Sophomore- Metcalf has done nothing to dissuade me from him being WR2 on my board. He’s a physical specimen. A sound route runner with a ton of deep ball ability. Arguably one of the best receivers in the entire nation.2. A.J Brown 6’1 225 WR Junior- Projects to be an excellent slot weapon at the pro level. He knows how to run routes and when to vary his speed and depth in each route. 3. Greg Little 6’5 325 OT Junior- Little is the best offensive tackle prospect in the country. Has the potential to be a franchise type of left tackle in the pros. Lateral agility and size are huge pluses. IQ is a plus. Laremy Tunsil who? He has that kind of potential and talent. LSU prospects to watch1.Greedy Williams 6’1 182 CB RS Sophomore- Williams has the speed and athleticism thing down pat along with the height. Lateral agility is a major plus. Can keep up with any receiver in the nation. Has consistency issues that pops up every now and then. Among the best corners in the nation.2. Devin White 6’0 240 LB Junior- Next man up to take the star linebacker turn in Baton Rouge before going pro. White has flashed a bunch over his first two years. He’s now the leader of the defense. Height may be an issue at the next level but the athleticism isn’t. Plus character and work ethic. Somewhere between Duke Riley and Kendall Beckwith.3. Nick Brossette 6’0 221 RB Senior- The heir apparent to current Washington Mascot That Shall Not Be Named RB Derrius Guice. He played really well in the season opener against Miami. A different type of back than Guice. More of a thunder type of back. Author’s note: one of these weeks I’m going to have time again to gather GIFs for this series.In my view, in order to form educated opinions, it’s more important that I actually watch the games than sift through individual plays to save time.Watching five games, even five condensed games, takes a good chunk of time.My apologies once again.The Titans look to extend their streak against the Jags tomorrow fresh off their first division win of the season.It would obviously be a boon to their AFC South title chances to leave Everbank Field with a win against both of the other anticipated contenders in their back pocket.The Titans are slowly getting back to full strength but are still waiting to decide on the status of their most important piece (especially against a vaunted defense), QB Marcus Mariota.Unlike last week, the Titans offensive staff will need to entrust whoever starts at QB to attack the defense and ask/allow them to be aggressive—Jacksonville will not be beaten by quick screens and wildcat looks.Blake Bortles is coming off perhaps his most impressive career performance.Can the Titans defense, with their familiarity facing him, bring him crashing back down to Earth?Or, has he finally shed enough of his flaws to become a formidable signal caller?The games I took in this week are as follows:2018 Week 2 - New England at Jacksonville2018 Week 1 - Jacksonville at New York Giants2017 Week 16 - Jacksonville at San Francisco2017 Week 6 - Los Angeles Rams at Jacksonville2017 Week 2 - Tennessee at JacksonvilleThe choices for 2017 games were easy this time around.

Matt LaFleur’s connections to Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay made their coaching match-ups against the Jags’ defense must watches.I felt the Titans/Jags week 2 contest last season had more parallels to this upcoming game than their 2017 week 17 bout.When the Titans RunThe Jaguars defensive front generally dominates the line of scrimmage early in games on run calls.Because of this, opposing offensive coordinators will often be forced to dig into their bag of tricks to try and find space for their HBs.The important thing is continuing to run consistently, even if it isn’t netting positive results right away.Offenses that abandon their rushing attacks at the first sign of defeat against Jacksonville miss out on an opportunity to soften them up as the game wears on.While no one here is going to label the Titans’ prior offensive coaching staff “smart”, I will say that they knew full well the key to controlling game tempo against the Jags was smacking them in the mouth over and over again until they could no longer maintain their defensive swagger.Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay did continue to feature, respectively, Carlos Hyde/Matt Breida and Todd Gurley despite not seeing returns from their run-game “investments” in the first halves of their games.It eventually paid off with some chain-moving plays.However, none of those backs sought to break Jacksonville’s will quite like Derrick Henry has in his prior match-ups against them.I’m not sure why Henry only seems to bring his boom stick with him when facing the Jaguars, but in the past he has looked to demolish any willing teal-colored tackler in his path.Hopefully, we will be able to add a few more soul-crushing runs to his highlight reel after this one is over.I anticipate Dion Lewis being a bigger part of the passing game than the running game in this one, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some creative looks with both him and Henry on the field at the same time.I also expect to see plenty of Luke Stocker and/or Jonnu Smith lining up in the backfield.Kyle Shanahan found myriad ways to exploit the Jags’ coverage by using heavy formations that featured a wide variety of looks.This kept Jacksonville from knowing whether to play run or pass and also allowed FB Kyle Juszczyk to leak out virtually uncovered a handful of times.When the Titans PassJacksonville has three obvious strengths in coverage: 1) They rarely miss tackles once the ball is caught.2) They play short, quick routes better than any defense in the league.3) They are dominant in the close quarters of the red zone Womens Ryan Succop Jersey , where their across-the-board athleticism can control every inch of field the offense has to work with.So, the key to moving the ball through the air against Jacksonville is simple (no, really): offenses have to be willing to attack the intermediate middle and deep portions of the field.At times, it seems some OCs buy into the hype surrounding "Sacksonville" and opt to play it safe.This plays right into those aforementioned strenghths, however.An aggressive approach does require a QB who can place the ball accurately (sorry, Eli Manning), but it doesn’t necessarily require world-class receivers.Route concepts are critical and after watching Shanahan’s and McVay’s approaches against this defense, I’m excited to see what Matt LaFleur draws up.Last week’s game plan should be crumpled up, stomped on, and then burned going into this week.The Jags will devour the short screens we saw work against Houston.Whether Mariota or Gabbert gets the nod, LaFleur must encourage his QB to push the ball and trust his arm, win or lose.Odell Beckham Jr. Corey Davis is not (yet, atleast), but in week 1 the former had plenty of success getting open downfield against Jalen Ramsey.The only problem was Eli Manning’s absolute inability to throw him a catchable pass.Last season, we saw Taywan Taylor get open downfield against A.J. Bouye.The Titans mustn’t be scared of the Jags’ reputation.It will take some big plays in order to get down into the red zone—dinking and dunking won’t cut it, especially without Delanie Walker.Once there, Tennessee can rely on their run game to hit pay dirt.When the Jags RunFormer Titans’ scout Blake Beddingfield made the point this week that Leonard Fournette tends to disappear when you can rough him up early in games.Why a man Fournette’s size would allow that to discourage him I can’t say, but after watching the tape, I tend to agree with Beddingfield.Fournette never really got going against the Titans in week 2 last year, and I think a large part of that had to do with the Titans bottling him up in the backfield several times in the first half.Overall, despite his reputation, I haven’t been overly impressed with Fournette as a pro.He disappears from games for long stretches at a time and seems reliant on big plays to make an impact.T.J. Yeldon is a solid, versatile backup who does a good job taking what’s available.Corey Grant is one of the fastest players in the NFL and is used as a weapon on screens and fakes, but doesn’t feature prominently as a ball-carrier. It’s hard to tell how much of an impact the addition of LG Andrew Norwell has had on Jacksonville’s run game, as the Jags have been more aerially focused http://www.titanscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-taylor-lewan-jersey , surprisingly, through two weeks.Any talk of them sticking with the same approach as last season has gone out the window—they are looking to beat teams on both sides of the ball, not just play it safe on offense and hope their defense can win games on their own.When the Jags PassBlake Bortles can still Bortle with the best of them but I have to admit, despite a small sample size, he looks decidedly more confident in 2018.He’s playing with more rhythm and less hesitancy.His accuracy has always been hit or miss, and he’s still leaving some plays on the field, but he’s done a good job so far giving his receivers chances to make plays within the timing of the offense.I think the biggest key this week will be dialing up pressure and making Bortles move around in the pocket.I’m no longer of the belief the Titans defense can depend on multitude three and outs simply due to offensive ineptitude on Bortles’ part.I do expect there will be opportunities to generate turnovers off of him, but pressure will play a large role in determining just how many.Since his hiring, OC Nathaniel Hackett has done a great job constructing an offense around the specific pieces at his disposal.Despite still not having the most outstanding offensive weaponry, he’s now expanding his concepts and getting the ball downfield more often.He (or the team) seems to recognize that Jacksonville can only take the final step in competing for a championship if Bortles is a part of the success—hiding your QB doesn’t win reliably, especially in January.Now that secondaries have to respect the vertical passing threat, Hackett can mix in the short, quick routes (shallow crosses and screens) he relied on last year knowing his receivers will encounter more favorable match-ups and open field.Keelan Cole is an undrafted gem and will be more of a household name by the end of the season.He’s a quality route runner, has good speed, and as evidenced by his Catch of the Year submission from last week, has sticky fingers.Outside of Cole, Donte Moncrief, Dede Westbrook, and D.J. Chark round out a receiver group with lots of speed and quickness.With it being so early in the season, it’s hard to read too much into WR performance, but the group as a whole has been far more effective and reliable than most envisioned.Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan in particular will be at an athletic disadvantage most of the game.I hope to see Dean Pees assist both with linebacker and safety help.If the Titans hope to walk out with a win, they must win this facet of the match-up.That means limiting vertical completions as well as taking advantage of opportunities for interceptions.Tennessee’s offense is unlikely to carry the team this week, so big flips in field position (in the Titans favor) will be crucial.Four to WatchTitansOffense: RB Derrick HenryDefense: S Kevin ByardJaguarsOffense: WR Keelan ColeDefense: LB Telvin Smith