Now into the second month of the 2017 college football season, things are about to get wild, and here are five bold predictions for October to prove it.
The beginning of a new college football season is always a curious thing. It never fails that there are marquee matchups in the first week of action that are between teams with big aspirations for the upcoming campaign. However, just as often it seems that some of those teams were overhyped, or ultimately suffer injuries that leave them a shell of the team they were supposed to be. Sorry, Florida State.
Throughout the first month of the season, though, it’s generally a feeling-out process for fans and, in truth, the entirety of college football. Not only are future opponents figuring out who teams are, but the teams themselves are searching for that identity. The ultimate goal would be to have that at least somewhat pinned down as the season makes its way into October.
That’s now the point of the 2017 season that we’ve reached. The first month has concluded, contenders have established themselves, dark horses have emerged and yet nothing is settled just yet. With teams getting into the heart of conference play, things can change drastically in only one weekend. As such, this is the time for players and teams alike to step up and do big things.
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So then, which players and teams are going to do just that in October of the 2017 season? We take a look as we make five bold predictions for the month in college football.
5. Josh Rosen throws for over 1,400 yards in three games
If you talk to NFL Draft heads, there are few big-name prospects expected to come out for the 2018 draft than UCLA Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen. The reasons why you’d like the 6-foot-4, 218-pound quarterback are obvious. He possesses the size and physical tools that you want from a potential franchise quarterback at the next level. Of course, he’s also a bit reckless, making poor decisions that cost his team. Thus creating the division.
What’s not in question, however, is the gaudy numbers that the UCLA quarterback has put up this season. Through the first five games of the 2017 campaign, he leads the nation in passing yards, having already topped 2,000 yards (2,135) while throwing 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. His low passing total on the year is 329 yards, when he most certainly dialed it back in a rout of Hawaii. Meanwhile, Rosen also has three games of over 460 yards passing.
Especially as he enters Pac-12 play, some might expect his per-game numbers to drop. However, I think they could potentially increase, but will at least stay about the same. It’s not an accident that he’s throwing as much as he is — it’s what UCLA requires of him to win games.
In October, UCLA faces Arizona on the road, Oregon at home and Washington on the road. In those three games, I’m saying that Rosen goes berserk and averages over 466 yards per game passing to eclipse 1,400 yards in the three-game span. While there are quality opponents on that run, none have a particularly devastating pass defense. So if Rosen is airing it out, it’s within his power to have that kind of stretch this month.