A couple of perimeter matchups to watch and an SEC stock battle
Week 12 of the college football season only promises two ranked matchups to note. Each passing game matters that much more as teams try to put their final touches on resume builders in hopes that they will be included in the 12-team College Football Playoff. We have just three game weeks (including this one) remaining until it’s conference championship time.
Twenty-first-ranked South Carolina is playing host to No. 23 Missouri in a late-season SEC matchup where the Gamecocks are looking to set a precedent as a possible three-loss team to make the 12-team Playoff. South Carolina’s three losses were to ranked teams in Alabama, Ole Miss, and LSU. All of those games were within a field goal except a blowout home loss to Ole Miss. Missouri has been reeling when tasked to play against higher-tiered teams in the college football landscape. A trip on the road to Columbia may prove tough as two touchdown underdogs.
The No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs are another team fighting for their College Football Playoff lives on Saturday as No. 7 Tennessee comes to town. There have been some questions as to if Volunteers sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava would be able to go in this game with an upper body injury. But all signs indicate he’ll be good to go. Both offenses have struggled mightily in games this season. On the other hand, both teams have had two of the better defenses in college football. It should be a slug fest in the trenches with both teams still having plenty to play for to keep title hopes alive.
Let’s talk three prospect matchups to watch this weekend as we hope to see even more fireworks across the landscape on a fairly forgettable slate of games.
Missouri WR Luther Burden III vs. South Carolina S Nick Emmanwori
Two of the best athletes in the SEC are set to do battle on Saturday evening as one of the best receivers in the country in Luther Burden, who looks to put a stamp on a marquee 2024 performance. His best trait is yards-after-catch ability at this time and a more complete skill set will be molded once he reaches the NFL.
Emmanwori has been a consistent productive element in a high-quality South Carolina defense. He’s about as rangy as anyone you will see at wide receiver in college and will be one of the only people on the field able to stay in phase with Burden.
Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor vs. Louisville CB Quincy Riley
Elic Ayomanor is one of the best receivers in the country that you likely don’t see every Saturday. He’s been a one-man offense this season plenty of times on a team that’s struggled on that side of the football. Ayomanor has desirable height-weight-speed elements along with special flashes of ball skills. He’ll need to be special against Louisville to have any chance at an upset.
Riley could have gone to the NFL last year and been drafted. But he opted to return to school for the Cardinals. Riley will give up a bit of size (6’0”, 195 pounds) to Ayomanor, but he can more than hold his own as an athlete in coverage with real ability to take the ball away. He’s missed a few games this season due to injury, but he’s still a fabulous athlete who will have an opportunity to put together good tape and go toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best wideouts.
Texas OTs Kelvin Banks & Cameron Williams vs. Arkansas EDGE Landon Jackson
Both Texas tackles have a shot for a bit of redemption on Saturday afternoon when they face Arkansas. The Longhorns were embarrassed by Georgia earlier in the season, and a lot of that had to do with what Georgia’s defensive front did to the Texas line — including the two highlighted names in this segment with Banks and Williams. Banks is a former five-star prospect who likely slots into the first round at this point, but there are some questions on if he is a tackle or a guard in the NFL. The third-year player is a multi-year starter at left tackle for the Longhorns who wins with power and technique more than an overwhelming amount of athleticism. Williams is the true “freak” at tackle with elite measurables at 6’5” and 335 pounds and fantastic movement fluidity. He’s still maturing in a lot of areas of his game at this juncture.
The biggest threat they face in this game is Arkansas pass rusher Landon Jackson who has notched all 4.5 of his sacks in 2024 in the past five games. He’s a really nice-looking linear athlete with great measurables. He will struggle to flatten to the quarterback in the NFL as he’s not the most flexible guy in the world (to be expected at 6’7”, 280 pounds) but his hand power and explosion is off-the-charts good. He can stun, swipe, and box his way to quarterback pressures while really affecting the game in a lot of ways despite not being able to “bend” quite as well as other prospects in this class might. It’s a loaded year on the defensive line and Jackson is right there in terms of first-round hype and consideration. A good week against Texas’ group of tackles would go a long way.
Game of the Week
No. 7 Tennessee @ No. 12 Georgia
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EST
ABC
It was easy to pick this weekend’s game of the week with so much on the line in this one between both teams. Is it a top-five matchup? No — but, it may have the highest perceived stakes of any game this season to date as the CFP Committee tries to determine who’s in or out going into this final month of decisions.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has struggled this season and has undoubtedly lost himself money for the number of poor performances he’s put together in 2024. At this point, it’s more a question of whether Beck is a Day 2 or 3 player rather than Round 1 with the way the season has gone. He needs to retain a focus of taking care of the football in this game.
It hasn’t quite been Georgia’s offensive line of recent years with their current group. Right guard Tate Ratledge was the backbone of the unit heading into the year, but his return from injury has made it clear that something still isn’t quite right with his downward play. This is a unit that has the potential to be exposed even more due to the high quality of Tennessee’s defensive front.
Tennessee’s defense is led by edge rusher James Pearce — a twitchy body up front built to get after the quarterback. Omar Norman-Lott is another high-caliber player in the middle of the defensive line for the Vols.
The bread and butter for Tennessee has been running the ball in 2024 with bell-cow back Dylan Sampson leading the way.
Georgia’s defense doesn’t have a lack of talent that starts with edge rushers Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker. Both feel like first-round locks barring injury or character concerns. Williams has a decent shot to go top-10. Malaki Starks is Georgia’s other draft-eligible blue-chip draft prospect who does it all for the Bulldogs. He’s an elite processor. Don’t be surprised if he makes a massive play in this game. He has talent to be a top 10 pick in his own right.