D6 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
FOOTBALL
A look at five games to watch during Week 6 of the college football
season.
No. 18 Central Florida (4-1) at
Cincinnati (3-1)Today, ESPN, 5 p.m. PDTAfter its loss to Pittsburgh on Sept. 21, Central Florida won’t be
able to make claim to a national championship as it did following
its undefeated 2017 season. But the Knights still have plenty to
play for, like being the “Group of Five” representative in the New
Year’s Six bowls for the third straight year. Losing another game
would put that in real jeopardy with undefeated Boise State
leading Central Florida in the polls and Memphis also unbeaten.
No. 14 Iowa (4-0) at
No. 19 Michigan (3-1)Saturday, Ch. 11, 9 a.m. PDTThe first of three matchups between top 25 teams kicks off early
at the Big House, where Kirk Ferentz’s Iowa group will try to ele-
vate itself into the national conversation by dealing another gut
punch to Jim Harbaugh’s underwhelming Year 5 Michigan
squad. Harbaugh needs this one way more than Ferentz, who is
entrenched as his program’s consistent leader for as long as he
wants the job. Despite a 52-0 win over Rutgers last week, the Wol-
verines are trending toward another frustrating fall after start-
ing the season ranked No. 7. This game is likely to come down to
Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson playing up to his billing
and limiting big mistakes.
No. 11 Texas (3-1) at
West Virginia (3-1)Saturday, Ch.. 7, 12:30 p.m. PDTThings can get wild real quick in Morgantown, and Texas will be
playing its first real road game of the season — sorry, Longhorns,
visiting Rice in Houston doesn’t really count. If Texas is a legiti-
mate threat to unseat Oklahoma in the Big 12 and contend for
the College Football Playoff, it should be able to make it out of
West Virginia with its pride intact. The Mountaineers are in their
first season under head coach Neal Brown, the former Troy
coach. This doesn’t look like a scary West Virginia team yet, with
Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall under center, and Texas
quarterback Sam Ehlinger should keep putting up big numbers.
No. 7 Auburn (5-0) at
No. 10 Florida (5-0)Saturday, Ch. 2, 12:30 p.m. PDTOne of the biggest scheduling casualties of the realignment era of
college football is the Auburn-Florida rivalry, staged annually
from 1945 to 2002. Somehow, with the SEC’s move to seven-team
divisions, the last time the schools played was in 2011. That’s
downright criminal to fans, and we can only hope that the Tigers
and Gators make up for it with a classic in Gainesville. Both
teams are in the top 10 and carry CFP hopes, but Auburn has
been much more impressive with wins over Oregon and Texas
A&M. The Tigers feature a dominant defensive front and a
young offense that is getting its legs under it with freshman
quarterback Bo Nix.
No. 25 Michigan State (4-1) at
No. 4 Ohio State (5-0)Saturday, Ch. 7, 4:30 p.m. PDTThis looks like an Ohio State team capable of winning the big
prize, which should make Buckeyes fans plenty nervous consid-
ering the opponent Saturday. Michigan State is nowhere near as
good as Ohio State this season, but that hasn’t stopped the
Spartans from ruining the Buckeyes’ national title hopes before.
In 2013 and 2015, Michigan State knocked off unbeaten Ohio
State squads late in the season. The Buckeyes have looked more
dominant this season than any team not named Alabama, but
they also haven’t played against a defense as tough and disci-
plined as Michigan State’s. The Spartans will aim to make Justin
Fields uncomfortable for the first time this year. They may suc-
ceed, but Michigan State’s offense will still be asked to do too
much for its talent.
GAMES TO WATCH
By J. Brady McCollough
Week 6 of the college football season features plenty of com-
pelling matchups, but which teams are poised for upsets?
Here are national college football writer J. Brady McCol-
lough’s weekend picks and predictions:
8 Central Florida at Cincinnati: Central Florida 31-27
Central Florida gets a road win to show it is still the “Group of
Five” favorite to earn a New Year’s Six bowl berth.
8 Iowa at Michigan: Iowa 24-20
The Hawkeyes know who they are, and the Wolverines are
still figuring it out.
8 Auburn at Florida: Auburn 21-16
The Tigers have already won at Texas A&M. This is a tougher
test, but they’ll pass.
8 Virginia Tech at Miami: Miami 28-18
This game once again fails to be the marquee event the ACC
needs it to be.
8 Air Force at Navy: Navy 21-20
On a Saturday with few great games, keep an eye on this
battle between service academies.
8 Baylor at Kansas State: Kansas State 24-17
Baylor takes its first loss of the season in a rowdy
environment in Manhattan, Kan.
8 Northwestern at Nebraska: Nebraska 29-24
The Cornhuskers recover quickly from the Ohio State
blowout loss.
8 Arizona at Colorado: Colorado 34-21
The Buffaloes are coming off a big win at Arizona State.
They’ll take care of Arizona too.
8 California at Oregon: Oregon 31-13
The Ducks will take full advantage of the injury to Cal
quarterback Chase Garbers.
8 Oregon State at UCLA: Oregon State 34-31
Two desperate teams will play in front of nobody at the Rose
Bowl. The Beavers have the offense.
Last week: 8-2. Season: 34-16.
PICK ’EM
TODAY
Favorite Line (O/U) Underdog
Central Florida 31 ⁄ 2 (60^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Cincinnati
at San Jose St 61 ⁄ 2 (67^1 ⁄ 2 ) New Mexico
SATURDAY
South Florida 11 (49) at Connecticut
at Louisville 5 (61) Boston College
North Carolina 101 ⁄ 2 (48^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Georgia Tech
Texas 101 ⁄ 2 (61^1 ⁄ 2 ) at West Virginia
at Penn St 29 (56^1 ⁄ 2 ) Purdue
at N Illinois 51 ⁄ 2 (54) Ball St
Tulane 3 (43) at Army
at Duke 5 (47^1 ⁄ 2 ) Pittsburgh
at Kansas St 11 ⁄ 2 (48) Baylor
Maryland 111 ⁄ 2 (57) at Rutgers
Oklahoma St 10 (62) at Texas Tech
at Wisconsin 35 (59) Kent St
E. Michigan 6 (54) at Cent. Michigan
at Miami 14 (45^1 ⁄ 2 ) Virginia Tech
at Missouri 241 ⁄ 2 (66) Troy
Liberty 4 (61^1 ⁄ 2 ) at New Mexico St
at Colorado 4 (62^1 ⁄ 2 ) Arizona
San Diego St 71 ⁄ 2 (51) at Colorado St
at UCLA 6 (65^1 ⁄ 2 ) Oregon St
at Oregon 18 (46) California
Washington 16 (52^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Stanford
at SMU 13 (63^1 ⁄ 2 ) Tulsa
at Michigan 31 ⁄ 2 (48) Iowa
at Minnesota 131 ⁄ 2 (57) Illinois
at UAB 10 (44^1 ⁄ 2 ) Rice
at Nebraska 7 (48^1 ⁄ 2 ) Northwestern
Georgia 241 ⁄ 2 (51^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Tennessee
Air Force 31 ⁄ 2 (45) at Navy
at Toledo 2 (73) W. Michigan
Oklahoma 32 (67^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Kansas
Ohio 31 ⁄ 2 (51) at Buffalo
at Iowa St 31 ⁄ 2 (43^1 ⁄ 2 ) TCU
at Mississippi 7 (63^1 ⁄ 2 ) Vanderbilt
Marshall 3 (53^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Middle Tenn.
at Notre Dame 46 (62) Bowling Green
Arkansas St 61 ⁄ 2 (69^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Georgia St
W Kentucky 31 ⁄ 2 (42^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Old Dominion
Auburn 21 ⁄ 2 (48^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Florida
at Florida Int. 261 ⁄ 2 (67^1 ⁄ 2 ) Massachusetts
Memphis 141 ⁄ 2 (63) at La.-Monroe
at Ohio St 20 (49) Michigan St
at LSU 28 (73) Utah St
at UTEP 2 (45^1 ⁄ 2 ) Texas San Antonio
Boise St 211 ⁄ 2 (57^1 ⁄ 2 ) at UNLVCOLLEGE ODDS
A look at two of the top high
school football games in the
Southland on Friday night:La Puente Bishop Amat
(4-1) at Mission Hills
Bishop Alemany (5-0), 7:
Both teams have had two
weeks to prepare for this Mis-
sion League game. Bishop
Amat will try to run the ball ef-
fectively with Damien Moore.
Bishop Alemany will try to get
enough pass protection so
quarterback Miller Moss can
pick apart the Lancers.
The pick: Bishop Alemany.Rancho Santa Margarita
Tesoro (6-0) at San Clem-
ente (5-1), 7:30:In this South
Coast League opener, Tesoro
faces its toughest test. Tesoro
is unbeaten because of its of-
fensive balance. Quarterback
Sean Lindgren has passed for
1,221 yards and 18 touch-
downs. Zach Wran has
rushed for 810 yards and eight
touchdowns. San Clemente
needs a strong performance
from quarterback Nick Bil-
loups.
The pick:Tesoro.
— Eric SondheimerTONIGHT’S GAMES
Thursday’s results
SOUTHERN SECTION
CITRUS BELT LEAGUE
Cajon 42, Carter 6
GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE
Garden Grove Santiago 25, Los Amigos 15
HACIENDA LEAGUE
Los Altos 49, West Covina 7
MARMONTE LEAGUE
St. Bonaventure 34, Newbury Park 7
MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE
Oak Hills 44, Sultana 6
MOUNTAIN VALLEY LEAGUE
Miller 27, Rubidoux 26
Pacific 16, Indian Springs 0
ORANGE LEAGUE
Magnolia 45, Savanna 10
ORANGE COAST LEAGUE
Santa Ana 40, Costa Mesa 9
Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 24, Estancia 14
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Arcadia 46, Glendale 7
SAN GABRIEL VALLEY LEAGUE
Downey 47, Gahr 10SOUTHWESTERN LEAGUE
Chaparral 30, Murrieta Valley 27
Temecula Valley 36, Great Oak 6
Vista Murrieta 35, Murrieta Mesa 21
SUNSET LEAGUE
Corona del Mar 49, Huntington Beach 6
NONLEAGUE
Foothill 21, Villa Park 7
La Mirada 21, Cathedral 17
Webb 48, Southlands Christian 6
Western 35, Garden Grove 0
8 MAN
CITY
CITY LEAGUE
North Valley Military Institute 34, New Designs Uni-
versity Park 30
SOUTHERN SECTION
EXPRESS LEAGUE
St. Michael's Prep 44, Brethren Christian 20
VICTORY LEAGUE
San Jacinto Valley Academy 68, Desert Chapel 0
NONLEAGUE
Milken 42, Blair 12HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS
Tyler Bass kicked a 37-
yard field goal in the second
overtime after the Georgia
Southern forced a turnover
and the Eagles rallied to de-
feat South Alabama 20-17 on
Thursday in Mobile, Ala.
Bass, who kicked a 46-
yard field goal to put Geor-
gia Southern (2-3, 1-1 Sun
Belt Conference) up 10-7 at
halftime, missed a 32-yarder
on the first possession of
overtime. However, Ty
Phillips blocked a 45-yard at-
tempt by South Alabama's
Frankie Onate to force a sec-
ond overtime.
On the Jaguars' first play,
Ricky Wade Jr., strip-sacked
Cephus Johnson, and Ray-
mond Johnson III recov-
ered. The Eagles gained six
yards on three running playsbefore Bass’ winner.Temple 27, at East Car-
olina 17: Re’Mahn Davis
rushed for a career-high 157
yards with a touchdown to
lead the Owls (4-1, 1-0 Ameri-
can Athletic Conference)
over the Pirates (3-3, 0-2).
The freshman surpassed
the 135 yards he had a week
earlier in a win over Georgia
Tech.
He carried 24 times and
scored on a one-yard run in
the second quarter that
broke a 10-10 tie.Chip Kelly’stendency to
go for it on fourth down when
he coached at Oregon earned
him a nickname not fit to
print.
After an initial UCLA sea-
son in which he wasn’t all
that aggressive, there are
signs that Kelly may be re-
verting to what could be
called, in family friendly
terms, Cocky Chip.
The Bruins went for it on
fourth down at their 36-yard
line on their second drive
against Arizona last week-
end, the first time this season
that they risked a turnover
on downs in the first quarter.
“It’s just, can we make it?”
Kelly said of his approach.
“And if we can make it, then
we’re probably going to go for
it.”
UCLA didn’t make it.
Running back Joshua Kelley
leaped into a wall of defend-
ers on fourth and one and
was stopped for no gain. Kel-
ley said he regretted the ma-
neuver afterward, explaining
that he should have stayed
low to the ground and driven
himself forward. “I just gotta
get it, you know?” Kelley said.
“I have to get it. Doesn’t mat-
ter how it’s blocked or how it
looks, I have to get a yard. If I
can’t get a yard, that’s not
good.”
Kelley got the yard he
needed in the third quarter,
converting a fourth-and-one
situation when he ran for
three yards to extend a drive
that ended with a field goal.
UCLA finished the game
converting one of three
fourth-down opportunities,
closely mirroring its success
rate for the season. The Bru-
ins have been successful on
four of 11 fourth downs, a
36.4% conversion rate that is
tied with Akron for No. 101 na-
tionally. Last season, UCLA
converted 14 of 26 fourth
downs (53.8%).
Kelly said the decision
whether to go for it on fourth
down involves more than
field position and yards
needed. He also assesses an
opponent’s short-yardage
defense, his own counter play
call and how well his team
has executed the play that
week in practice.
“It’s not an analytics thing
where the numbers tell you
that on the 36-yard line you
should go for it but on the 37-
yard line you shouldn’t go for
it,” Kelly said. “It’s really an
intuitive feel.”
Another recent example
of Kelly’s increased as-
sertiveness was DemetricFelton Jr.’s100-yard kickoff
return almost two weeks ago
against Washington State.
Felton’s father, also
named Demetric, had be-
come so accustomed to the
Bruins fair-catching kickoffs
that he stopped watching the
play on his television at
home.
“I kind of looked down for
a minute and I heard my wife
screaming and I looked up
and he was running and I was
like, what is he doing?” the
elder Felton said. “I was like,
oh my goodness, he may go
all the way.”Targeting
improvement
Shea Pittswill no longer
be known solely as the guy
who almost got ejected from
the spring game.
The redshirt sophomore
linebacker made his first ca-
reer sack against Arizona,
providing fans with a more
memorable moment than his
targeting penalty in April
2018 for hitting teammate
Austin Burton.
“It happened pretty much
because it was an incrediblejob by the guys inside of me,”
Pitts said, referring to a blitz
in which defensive linemen
Osa Odhighizuwaand Ato-
nio Mafi forced Wildcats
quarterback Grant Gunnell
to run directly into him.
Pitts’ rise from relative
obscurity has been a simi-
larly heady rush. The walk-
on didn’t play in 2017 while
redshirting. He got onto the
field as a defensive back in
the 2018 spring game but
would have been ejected be-
cause of his targeting penalty
had the Bruins not been so
short on players. The penalty
had been preceded by some
smack talk between Pitts
and Burton, who are room-mates.
“He was like, ‘If I see you in
the open field I’m going to
run you over,’ ” Pitts said.
“And I was like, ‘OK, we’re in
the open field right?’ He’s
getting ready to run me over.
And so I’m ready to go, but he
slides at the last second and
then at that point it was too
late” to avoid the upper-body
contact.
Some say Pitts was born
to be a Bruin as the son of
parents who both attended
UCLA. His father, Ron,
played defensive back on
Rose Bowl teams during the
1982 and ’83 seasons before
going on to spend five sea-
sons in the NFL.
At 5 feet 10 and 204
pounds, Shea switched from
defensive back to linebacker
after packing on 44 pounds
and increasing his speed.
Burton is probably happy
that his roommate leveled
him before his transforma-
tion.
“Me and Austin joke
about it all the time to this
day,” Pitts said of the target-
ing play, “so no hard feelings
there at all. He’s not that
mad.”UCLA REPORTFourth-down decisions
involve Kelly’s intuition
By Ben BolchUCLA coach Chip Kelly, revisiting his play-calling time at Oregon, is getting more
assertive in his offensive approach. “It’s just, can we make it?” Kelly said.Joe RobbinsGetty ImagesEAST
Glenville State 22, Fairmont State 15
Shepherd 62, Lock Haven 28
SOUTH
Georgia Southern 20, South Alabama 17 (2 OT)
Lindsey Wilson 58, Bethel (Tenn.) 3
Temple 27, East Carolina 17RESULTS
COLLEGE ROUNDUPBass’ field goal lifts
Georgia Southern
associated pressGEORGIA SOUTHERN’STyler Bass (16) celebrates
his winner in double overtime with Anthony Beck II.Butch DillAssociated PressNEXT UPUCLA (1-4)vs.
Oregon State (1-3)
at the Rose Bowl
Saturday, 6 p.m.
TV:Pac-12 Networks