College football Week 9 schedule: 5 underrated games die-hard fans will love
By Ethan Lee
Trying to find an unconventional and entertaining college football game? Look no further as this weekly list of underrated college football games is just for you.
We’re over halfway through the 2019 college football season, heading into the final stretch of the regular season. At this point, the pretenders have mostly been sorted out and the list of possible national title contenders is notably shorter.
But that doesn’t mean that your interest in this college football season needs to diminish. There’s still plenty of chaos up ahead and there’s plenty of opportunities for weird and entertaining games as well.
Many highly competitive and intriguing matchups often don’t receive much attention due to the fact that the games involve teams from smaller schools or teams that are actually struggling. But that doesn’t mean that these teams can’t produce an interesting product. And it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t watch the games they compete in.
No. 5: Tulane vs. Navy
Tulane and Navy are set to meet in a game that should be closely contested. The 5-2 Green Wave is headed northeast to face the 5-1 Midshipmen. Both teams are doing well this season, but they’ve taken radically different approaches to earn their respective 5 wins.
Tulane will look to, with a balanced approach, spread the ball around a bit more than Navy would. The Green Wave has 4 players with at least 230 rushing yards in 2019, with three of those players having over 300 rushing yards.
Like Tulane, Navy runs the ball really well. But the Midshipmen are seeking to kill the clock and control the ball while wearing down the Green Wave. Navy’s offense will drag drives out longer, keeping Tulane’s offense off the field for extended periods of time. If Tulane can’t force Navy’s offense to stall out quickly, the Green Wave will need to score on every possible opportunity if they hope to win. Otherwise, Navy might just choke the life out of its opponents in this game.
No. 4: Texas Tech vs. Kansas
This season, Kansas has shocked Boston College, beating the Eagles on the road and making history in the process, and came close to toppling the Texas Longhorns. Les Miles has made some waves in his first year at Kansas, despite only having won two games so far on the year. But, this is as good a time as any to check in and see what his program is doing.
The Jayhawks are looking to earn their first conference win of the season. Texas Tech is trying to find a way to become bowl eligible this season. A trip to Lawrence typically wouldn’t be much of an issue for any team, but the Red Raiders aren’t the best team in the Big 12 and there’s a lot of room to grow for this rebuilding team. This would be the perfect opportunity for Kansas to get its first conference win this year. It’s also a great chance for Texas Tech to separate itself from one of the lesser teams in this conference.
No. 3: Troy vs. Georgia State
The Georgia State Panthers are doing everything they can to claim the Sun Belt East in 2019. There’s a realistic path for the Panthers to do just that. The first step down that path is to take care of the Troy Trojans. The Panthers can’t overlook a struggling Trojans team as it looks ahead to tougher conference competition like Appalachian State.
Meanwhile, the Troy Trojans are looking to maintain relevance within the conference in the first year of having a new head coach. That’s proven to be something of a difficult task, but upsetting Georgia State would go a long way to proving that Troy won’t take a significant step back with Chip Lindsey at the helm.
No. 2: Central Florida vs. Temple
Central Florida has gone from proclaiming itself the winner of a national championship to losing to Pitt just a couple of seasons later. That’s one heck of a path to take for a program that is constantly fighting for relevance and trying to prove that it belongs. But, this week, UCF will face off against Temple in a game that would allow the Knights to reclaim some recognition.
The Owls are hosting the Knights in a battle between two 5-2 teams. Defensively, both teams have demonstrated that they can stall even some of the most explosive offenses in the country. However, UCF appears to be capable of scoring more frequently. If Temple can keep the score relatively low, the Owls will have a chance to claim victory. But if this game becomes a shootout, then there’s a real chance that UCF runs away with it.
No. 1: Virginia vs. Louisville
Louisville hasn’t been a great team by any stretch of the imagination this season. That said, Louisville has been an incredibly interesting team to keep up with as Scott Satterfield continues to clean up the mess that was left for him as the Bobby Petrino era ended. For the most part, Year One of the Satterfield era has gone pretty well, all things considered. Louisville has a good offense, is getting close to bowl eligibility, and has proven it can beat better teams as it defeated Wake Forest in one of the most entertaining games of the season.
As the Virginia Cavaliers head on over to Louisville to face the Cardinals, this game could prove to be a real challenge for Bronco Mendenhall and his team. Virginia isn’t particularly great on offense and primarily rides its defenses to victory. This game will feature a clash of styles as the Cardinals will look to run the score up while the Cavaliers will try to kill the clock. Whichever team forces the other out of its natural element will probably come out on top in this one.
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