Devy Digest: Week 8 Preview

Devy Games to Watch

(7)Penn State at (3)Ohio State
In what could be a playoff eliminator game, Penn State will need to rely on the run to shorten the game with Nick Singleton and Kayton Allen. Quarterback Drew Allar will need to play mistake free Football and make the throws when called upon. Ohio State has been hampered by the injury bug at the running back position with TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams missing time and Chip Trayanum was hurt last week. They’ll be focused on short to intermediate passes if they are still banged up at the position. Penn State will have to find a balance of containing wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr and Emeka Egbuka and getting pressure on Quarterback Kyle McCord.

(17)Tennessee at (11)Alabama
These two teams mirror one another on many aspects. They both have Quarterbacks who have not taken the next step, a receiving room that has not found a guy to step up on a consistent basis and a run game that for the most part has been effective. Prior to the season starting, both fanbases circled this game as a potential playoff eliminator game, but has turned out to be a game where both teams need a win to salvage their season. Neither team really has a standout on offense that would skip a bowl game if they missed the playoffs, so from that standpoint, there isn’t anything to worry about but this could be a turning point for Alabama Quarterback Jalen Milroe who has looked a lot better when they have simplified the offense for him and focused more on the run, I’d like to see Tight End Amari Niblack get more involved, he is a mismatch on the field athletically. Tennessee will look to Wide Receiver Squirrel White and that running attack to lead them to victory.

South Carolina at (20) Missouri
This game features a couple of stand out wide receivers in Xavier Legette for South Carolina and Luther Burden for Missouri. Both Quarterbacks coming into this game, have had a solid season. South Carolina’s defense is porous and will leak yards all game, Quarterback Spencer Rattler for South Carolina will have to keep moving the chains all game long and try to outscore Missouri as the run game for South Carolina has been horrendous, with nobody really stepping up due to the poor Offensive Line play. 

(14)Utah at (18)USC
USC is coming off a bad loss and here comes Utah, who's done very well at containing Quarterback Caleb Williams. USC would be wise to run the ball more with Running Back MarShawn Lloyd, who has been effective everytime he touches the ball. Coming into the season we knew USC had a deep group at wide receiver but that is starting to come back and bite them, as they don’t have that alpha in the room that Caleb can go to when he is in trouble. Because they rotate so many guys, when Caleb extends the play, there isn’t that chemistry with a receiver where they are in sink with Caleb and that is starting to show. For Utah, offensively they are banged up, they’ve lost multiple Running Backs for the season and are on their third Quarterback, the passing game isn’t in rhythm, the run game is adequate, this game will come down to Utah’s defense being able to create mayhem and cause turnovers and being careful with the ball when on offense as USC’s defense is atrocious..

C2C Games to Watch

UTSA at Florida Atlantic
UTSA is starting to hit their strides offensively as Quarterback Frank Harris seems to be more comfortable. It was a combination of his injury and needing to find a secondary option in the pass game, but things are starting to click and Wide Receiver Joshua Cephus has stepped up to be the go to guy. Florida Atlantic’s offense is funneled through two players, Running Back Larry Mccammon and Wide Receiver LaJohntay Wester, whose accounted for over 44% of the teams receptions this year.

Utah State at San Jose State
Utah State comes in with a high powered offense and it doesn’t matter who the Quarterback has been, they will get their points and they boast a trio of Wide Receivers that are impact players, Jalen Royals, whose had 7 touchdowns in the past 9 Quarters, Terrell Vaughn who leads the team in receptions and Micah Davis who is a deep threat. San Jose State has struggled and Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro has been without his favorite target Justin Lockhart all year. Nick Nash has stepped up to be the Wide Receiver 1 on the team, but there isn’t anything around him that has stepped up to make defenses not shift coverage towards Nash and focus on stopping the run which is led by Kairee Robinson and Quali Conley, who have done pretty well on the year.