Weekly Preview - Nov. 2-Nov. 6

November 2, 2021 by Staff

A 61-game FBS slate kicks off tonight (Tuesday) with some MACtion as Ball State visits Akron and Eastern Michigan journeys to Toledo. MACtion dominance of ESPN (no one watched and no one attends) continues on Wednesday night when Miami heads to Ohio, Western Michigan hosts Central Michigan and Northern Illinois goes to Kent State.

For real - these early week game have traditionally had a pitifully low number of fans in the stands and viewership that barely registers.

Thursday night brings another dud to the table with Georgia State at Louisiana.

A more traditional battle comes our way Friday night with Virginia Tech at Boston College in what always seems to be a hard-fought battle with an unpredictable winner. The Hokies (4-4) would likely be 7-1 if it weren't for horrible coaching. It's unfathomable to us how Justin Fuente wasn't fired last year, or the year before that. He routinely seems to find a way to turn a win into a loss with ludicrous decision-making in ball games.

Some PAC-12 madness also creeps in Friday with Utah trekking to Stanford.

One of the more intriguing games to watch this week emanates from the Big 12 where TCU will host Baylor without Gary Patterson on the sidelines as head coach for the first time in 21 years. Journeyman assistant Jerry Kill will serve as interim head coach for the Horned Frogs.

Another intriguing matchup sends Michigan State to Purdue. The Boilermakers have proven their no slouch  and Spartans strut in after a massive win over Michigan on Saturday propelled them to No. 3 on the initial playoff committee rankings. Not surprisingly, the oddsmakers and the computer pick this to be a tight matchup with the sportsbooks listing Michigan State by 3 and the computer taking Purdue by 3.72.

No. 23 Auburn travels to No. 14 Texas A&M in a matchup of Top 25 teams in the computer rankings. This is the only matchup this week of teams ranked in the top 25 by the College Football Playoff Committee which had its initial reveal this past Tuesday night. The Aggies are Auburn's fourth consecutive ranked opponent and boast the nation’s fourth-ranked scoring defense (16.12 points per game).

No. 4 Ohio State makes just its fourth trip ever to Nebraska. The Buckeyes are 8-1 vs. the Cornhuskers with victories in the last six meetings.

Also, Oklahoma State visits West Virginia, and Oregon visits Washington.

The top two rushing offenses in the nation collide at Arlington, Texas when Air Force and Navy meet in a key confrontation to determine which of the three military academies wins Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Air Force beat Navy 23-3 earlier this year, so the Falcons can wrest the trophy from Army's clutches with a win on Saturday. The computer trend line has the AFA winning under the spread at 1.42 points.

Oddly, No. 6 Wake Forest visits North Carolina in a non-conference matchup of ACC teams. They do this to keep the rivalry alive and plan to do it for the foreseeable future. It was a conference game last season, but a non-conference game in 2019 when they met at Wake. The Demon Deacons will need to pocket their first win at Chapel Hill since 2006 to keep their undefeated season intact. The Tar Heels lead the series, which began in 1888, by a 70-36-2 margin. However, Wake has won 7 of the last 13.

Only 10 teams are idle this week, including No. 2 Oklahoma. The undefeated Sooners were shockingly ranked just 8th by the playoff committee in the first reveal of their Top 25 for the 2021 season, released Tuesday evening.

SEE: Weekly Picks

FCS vs. FBS

2 teams will play 2 FCS teams this fall (UConn and UMass), and 115 teams will play 1 FCS school for a total of 117 such matchups. 107 of those 117 games have been played.

There are 2 such games this week with BYU hosting Idaho State and UMass hosting Rhode Island.

The FBS is 97-10 vs. the FCS this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,566-138 (.919).

Last year, 30 FBS teams played a total of just 34 games against FCS schools and the FCS won just 1 game (1-33). That honor went to Jacksonville State with its 19-10 victory over Florida International. This year, the Gamecocks knocked off a bigger Florida school with a 20-17 win at Florida State on 9/11.

Here are the FCS wins in 2021:
September 2: UC Davis 19, Tulsa 17
September 2: Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33 (2 OT)
September 3: South Dakota State 42, Colorado State 23
September 4: Holy Cross 38, UConn 28
September 4: Montana 13, Washington 7
September 4: ETSU 23, Vanderbilt 3
September 11: Duquesne 28, Ohio 26
September 11: Jacksonville State 20, Florida State 17.
September 18: Incarnate Word 42, Texas State 34.
September 18: Northern Arizona 21, Arizona 19

This was the only FCS win vs. the FBS in 2020:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

In 2019, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games. These were the only FCS wins that season:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

Streaks

OKLAHOMA: Won 17 straight over-all (FBS longest).
Last: Won 52-21 at home vs.Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Next: Visits Baylor on Nov. 13.

OHIO STATE - Won 26 straight conference games (FBS longest), and 12 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 33-24 at home over Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Next: Visits Nebraska on Saturday, Nov. 6. 

CLEMSON - Won 32 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 30-20 at home vs. Florida State on Saturday Oct. 30.
Next: Visits Louisville on Nov. 6.

NEW MEXICO STATE - Lost 16 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 48-34 at Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Hosts Utah State on Saturday, Nov. 6.

KANSAS - Lost 20 straight to FBS schools (FBS Longest), and 17 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 55-3 at Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Next: Hosts Kansas State on Saturday, Nov., 6.

ARIZONA - Lost 20 straight over-all (FBS Longest), and 19 straight to FBS schools.
Last: Lost 41-34 at USC on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Next: Hosts California on Saturday, Nov. 6.

VANDERBILT - Lost 18 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 37-28 at home to Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Next: Hosts Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 13.