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College Football Week 8, 5 Can't Miss Games

By Ryan Mayer, CBS Local Sports

There are 14 undefeated teams left in college football, three of them are in the American Athletic Conference. 12 of those teams will be in action during the course of this weekend.  Are any of those games in the "can't miss" category? Let's find out.

Thursday 9 pm ET- #20 California at UCLA (ESPN)

A match-up of premiere QB's in the conference with the Golden Bears' Jared Goff and the Bruins Josh Rosen.  Both teams are smarting coming off of losses in their previous games, Cal to #3 Utah and UCLA to #10 Stanford. Both squads average over 34 PPG on offense and on defense they allow an average of 24 PPG or more. Basically what I'm saying is, expect a shootout.  This game is the perfect way to start your weekend. Some offensive fireworks with a couple of fun young QB's.

Saturday 12 pm ET- #6 Clemson at Miami (FL) (ESPN)

The Tigers have been rolling recently scoring 43 and 34 points respectively in their last two games.  The 34 points came against Boston College which until last week had the 2nd best scoring defense in the country. Clemson has a legitimate Heisman candidate in QB Deshaun Watson (68.2% 1410 yards, 14 TD 7 INT), a dominant RB Wayne Gallman (5.5 YPC), and a solid WR in Artavis Scott (443 yards 4 TD's). That trio will face a Hurricanes defense that is giving up nearly 400 yards per game on the season.  The bright side for Miami is their offense has been averaging over 30 PPG, so we could have a shootout on our hands here.

Saturday 3:30 pm ET- Texas Tech at #17 Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2)

This will be a good old fashioned Big 12 aerial assault. The Red Raiders are second in the nation in passing yards per game at 426.9, but the Sooners are no slouches either at 14th in the country putting up over 330 yards per game through the air. This is the Big 12 game of the week, and if you haven't gotten used to the Big 12 yet, this would be a nice introduction to the league of spread, up-tempo offense.

Saturday 7 pm ET- #15 Texas A&M at #24 Ole Miss (ESPN)

The Aggies got their tails handed to them last week at home by Alabama. Ole Miss was upset by Memphis on the road. Point blank, these two teams hopes in the SEC West depend on this game. One team will go home with their hopes of a division title dashed, the other still alive. Oh, and both offenses play an up-tempo spread style that leads to lots of possessions and lots of points. Enjoy.

Saturday 7:30 pm ET- #3 Utah at USC (FOX)

This is your rare chance to see the Utes in a prime time slot.  Take advantage of it.  If you haven't seen this team play yet this season, you're missing out.  Boasting one of the best defensive units in the country along with an under-the-radar Heisman hopeful in RB Devontae Booker, the Utes are a tough physical football team.  Even better, they continue to be disrespected by many and are under dogs to a 3-3 USC team this week. Think they want to prove something?

Meanwhile, USC is reeling following back-to-back losses and the firing of their head coach.  They're at a cross roads in their season and could salvage it in a big way with an upset of the Utes. This is a perfect way to cap off your Saturday slate and still be in bed by 11pm.

Ryan Mayer is an Associate Producer for CBS Local Sports. Ryan lives in NY but comes from Philly and life as a Philly sports fan has made him cynical. Anywhere sports are being discussed, that's where you'll find him. Agree/Disagree? Thoughts, comments, complaints? Email or tweet him. 

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