Welcome back to another edition of Touchdowns & Tailgates. Week 5 had some really awesome matchups and it showed us a lot about the top teams in the country. For one, Deshaun Watson and Clemson reminded Louisville and the rest of the nation why they were in the goddamn Natty Championship last year. Washington is no joke, and Stanford is super underwhelming. Michigan showed they are not overrated in the slightest, with a nice win over Wisconsin(who still looked good). MSU and Iowa both look like the Freshmen who think they can hang with the big dogs and then wake up on the bathroom floor of a Burger King. Oh, and Tennessee enjoys ripping the hearts out of Georgia fans and stomping on it. To say the least, it was a really fun week 5, but week 6 has some huge matchups, and I’m here to prep you for this weekend’s games before you’re so belligerent that you can’t read this article. Let’s do it.

Chris’ MUST WATCH Games of The Week

#8 Texas A&M vs. #9 Tennessee
One week after having a 1.7% chance of beating Georgia and then ACTUALLY beating them, the Vols gotta be feeling pretty damn good about themselves right about now. QB Josh Dobbs is a pain in the ass for defensive coordinators because he has so much ability with the ball in his hands, already throwing for 13 touchdowns and rushing for 5 more through 5 games. Tennessee grabbed two top-25 wins the past two weeks and another one this weekend would be fucking huge for the Vols going forward. With Texas A&M, I don’t know what has been better this year, the undefeated Aggies’ football team or the hype Aggies’ tailgates with #SECYouAtKyleField. The Texas A&M defense has been a huge key to their success this year, holding teams to just around 15 points a game and they are hoping star DE Myles Garrett will be healthy enough to start Saturday. Their offense has a great overall balance with both RB Trayveon Williams and dual-threat QB Trevor Knight(150+ yards rushing against Arkansas) leading the Aggies to important wins this year.

Prediction: Tennessee has shown the ability to rally back and win games in the toughest of circumstances, and I believe this is going to be another one of those nail-biter games they’ve become so accustomed to. BUT with that said, I just don’t think the Vols are going to have enough magic left in them to get a win over Texas A&M. I see the Aggies banking on their defense and outlasting the Vols to stay undefeated heading into the bye week, and Ryan Plugge will no doubt be running around yelling Gig’em!

#16 Arkansas vs. #1 Alabama
Welp. You and I both know how stupid good Bama has been for nearly the past decade. It’s basically understood throughout the country that under Nick Saban, Alabama seems to ALWAYS have a good team and be near or atop the ranking boards. This year is no different, led by a dominant defense, and a young stud QB in Jalen Hurts, Alabama has already won 4 games this year by 4 or more touchdowns. It’s sickening how good they are at this football thing. Arkansas has been solid this year too, with their only blemish on the season being a rough loss to Texas A&M. I’m a big supporter of Austin Allen, who has quietly been a solid QB for the Hogs this year, alongside speedy Rawleigh Williams III in the backfield.

Prediction: I wish I could confidently say I believe in Arkansas, but as good as they are this year, the truth is if you can’t beat Texas A&M you’ ve got no fucking chance against the Crimson Tide. If it means anything, I think the Hogs will hang in there for a bit in front of their home crowd, but I see Alabama taking them to pound town later on in the game. Roll Tide.

#23 Florida State vs. #10 Miami
Ah, Miami-Florida State. The smell of Rivalry is in the air and I love it. When this season started I don’t think anyone could have predicted Florida State would be 3-2 through their first five games, and virtually out of the playoff race. But what the Seminoles do have that most 3-2 teams don’t is RB Dalvin Cook, and after rushing for 407 yards combined over the past two weeks, I think we’re all in agreement Dalvin Cook is a fucking MONSTER; the strong junior will look to put up similar stats on Miami’s young defense. Redshirt Freshman Deondre Francois has been hit or miss all year, but if he is “on” his game he is one of the more talented QB’s in the ACC; he will need to have a big game for the Seminoles to win. With Miami, there is a serious question mark next to their 4-0 record for a lot of people, but my personal opinion is they are actually legit. I don’t care if Miami’s wins have come against average competition, the fact is their RB Mark Walton is averaging 7.1 yards a carry and has rushed for 110+ yards in three of their 4 games; FSU’s defense is going to have a long day if he keeps it up. On defense, the Hurricanes are second in the country in points allowed and second in the country in yards per play. They have three freshman studs at linebacker with Shaquille Quarterman(8 tackles & a fumble recovery against Georgia Tech), Mike Pinckney, and Zach McCloud; this trio has been playing their hearts out and they’re a big reason for Miami’s success against the run. If the defense can hold strong against Dalvin Cook, they could pull this one off.

Prediction: In what looks like it could be an extremely dicey game weather-wise, I think it is going to be a really fun game to watch. The matchup everyone should be watching for is how the Hurricanes strong rushing defense will fair against debatably the best RB in the nation, Dalvin Cook. I think Miami’s defense is good, but I think Dalvin Cook is going to be more fired up than a redneck at a Trump rally & will make the Hurricanes look mediocre at best. With that said, Florida State has looked awful on defense at times this year, and Miami should have no problem lighting up their side of the scoreboard. In what I see as a typical, rivalry shootout that will come down to the last 2 minutes of the game, I think Dalvin Cook and Florida State will be raising the Florida Cup high for the 7th consecutive year, come Saturday night.

Some extra picks for the week:

Washington sneaks by Oregon- I think the Ducks are actually going to give them a huge fight; I wouldn’t be surprised if it went into OT, but the Huskies will keep their title hopes alive.

North Carolina BIG over Virginia Tech- UNC has been on fire ever since their week 1 loss to Georgia, and they just took down FSU. UNC is going to hit VT harder than a Sunday morning hangover if you ask me.

Oklahoma over Texas: Just as we hoped for, Oklahoma finally woke the fuck up last week and got a nice win over TCU. I think Texas is good, but Oklahoma is still a top 15 team in my opinion and will get a bit of a hot streak going.

Maryland over Penn State: Alright this isn’t a top matchup but for Erik Oakley, it’s a bit more important. I feel like Maryland has gotten absolutely no credit for their wins this season. They just molly whopped Purdue 50-7 last week, and mark my words when I say DJ Durkin and Maryland are going to march into Beaver Stadium and beat PSU on Saturday.

That’s all folks. Hit the tailgates hard, get crazy every night this weekend, and stay lit my friends.