BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – OCTOBER 08: Hendon Hooker #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after a game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 08, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
It's almost Saturday, so it's time for my college football week 7 preview! Hard to believe we are at this point in the season already but we are. Here are 3 big matchups for Saturday, with eyes on Hendon Hooker. I will have the best of the rest games posted on Friday.
#3 Alabama at #6 Tennessee 3:30pm CBS
The Alabama-Tennessee game returns to the third Saturday in October with both teams ranked in the Top 10 for the 11th time. That is tied for the 2nd-most AP Top-10 matchups between a pair of SEC teams, trailing only Alabama-LSU (13). However, only one of these games have occurred since 2000. No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 9 Tennessee 49-10 in 2016.
It’s the first Top-10 matchup the Volunteers have been involved in against any opponent since hosting Alabama in 2016, a game they lost 49-10. Tennessee has lost 4 straight AP Top-10 matchups at home, tied for the longest by any team in the Poll Era (since 1936).
The Crimson Tide are 15-0 against Tennessee under Nick Saban with just two of the games decided by fewer than 14 points … both in seasons that the Crimson Tide went on to win the national championship. Alabama will have its work cut out for it when it takes on the Tennessee offense. The Vols have scored on 62 percent of their offensive drives, good for the best such rate in FBS. Tennessee has averaged nearly 550 yards per game, also the best in FBS.
College Football Week 7 - Hooked on Hendon Hooker!
Hendon Hooker has worked his way into the Heisman conversation by throwing for 1,432 yards and 10 touchdowns without an interception in the Vols’ first five games. There are 53 FBS quarterbacks with at least 10 passing touchdowns this season; Hooker and Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel are the only ones who haven’t thrown an interception.
Since 2000, only 2 SEC quarterbacks have thrown for multiple passing touchdowns and 0 interceptions in each of the team’s first 5 games of a season:
Hendon Hooker this season
Tua Tagovailoa in 2018 and 2019
This is arguably the biggest college football game of the year thus far. I think it could be a classic! More on this game later today on Shemon and Sheppard.
#10 Penn State at #5 Michigan 12pm Fox
For the 3rd time, Penn State and Michigan will square off in an AP Top-10 matchup. The Wolverines won 34-8 in 1997, while the Nittany Lions were victorious in 1994. QB J.J. McCarthy has been solid for Michigan this season, leading the FBS in completion percentage (78.3%) and ranks 2nd in the Big Ten in Total QBR, trailing C.J. Stroud.
For Penn State, this is the first real test. According to ESPN.com/FPI, the Nittany Lions rank 90th in strength of schedule, going from hardest to easiest. However, they have the 5th-hardest remaining schedule in the FBS and the hardest in the Big Ten.
#4 Clemson at Florida State 7:30pm ABC
Clemson has won 12 straight games, the longest active win streak in FBS, which actually started last year against Florida State. In addition, the Tigers have won 6 straight games against the Seminoles, tied for the 2nd-longest win streak vs Florida State all-time. Florida won 9 consecutive games against Florida State from 1968-76.
Jordan Travis leads Florida State, recording his 5th career 100-yard rushing game in a loss vs NC State this past weekend. That is the most such games by a Florida State quarterback in school history. However, he also threw to picks in that game as well.
DJ Uiagalelei is leading the charge under center for Clemson. He recorded 3 passing touchdowns against Boston College, marking the 2nd time in his career he has done that. Uiagalelei had a career-high 5 passing touchdowns against Wake Forest earlier this season.
NFL Officials on RED Alert !
Red Alert !! One of my favorite radio segments on the Shemon and Sheppard Show on ESPN Southwest Florida is RED ALERT every Tuesday at 3:30ish! That's where we put people, teams or situations on BLAST because they deserve to be ripped. (I also like the missile launch sound effects that Chris plays from the other side of the glass!)
Common targets are primadanna athletes who are unaware of their social surroundings. It is our duty to point out their public deficiencies.
Other targets can be coaches who make bonehead decisions or team owners and general managers who drive their fans nuts. It is our job to set the world straight, at least during our ten minute segment.
Since we've been doing this segment for a while, I also enjoy how the texters like to add their nominations to the list.
Also, in case you are new to the show, RED ALERT blasts do NOT have to come from the world of sports. In fact, as of late, we like to close the segment by ALWAYS blasting Russian President Vladimir Putin just because. However, I should note that our show goes to painstaking lengths to avoid divisive politics at all costs. So let's dial it up! Enjoy this week's RED ALERT!
1. Jerome Boger and Carl Cheffers...NFL Officials!
Horrible roughing the passer calls!
2. Brandon Staley
Not sure he understands the rules of the game.
3. Russell Wilson
Might be a bigger problem than his coach!
4. Pete Sheppard
Dropped Michigan 5 spots in his real top 25 college football poll after a road win.
5. Oklahoma football
What happened??
6. Hurricane Ian
You destroyed and changes lives forever!
7. Vlad Putin
Stop the war ass clown!
