College Football Upset Watch: Week 15
No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs (6-2)
Opponent: No. 25 Missouri Tigers (5-3)
Georgia has been inconsistent this season. The Bulldogs looked like a title contender early, but they’ve since lost by double digits to Alabama and Florida and have played a lot of close games against lesser competition. The offense has been bad, especially at the quarterback position. The defense has been great but far from perfect. Georgia now faces a Missouri offense that can score in bunches, scoring 41 and 50 in the last two games. The Bulldogs should be on high alert this weekend against the Tigers.
No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (8-1)
Opponent: No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels (7-3)
The Hurricanes have been a great team in 2020, with their only loss coming on the road against Clemson. They are now facing a very good North Carolina team with a juggernaut offense. Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell has played phenomenally this year, throwing for 3,129 yards and 26 touchdowns. Miami quarterback D’Eriq King has also been phenomenal, with 2,334 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in 2020. This game will be a shootout, but North Carolina might have the better offense and might be able to pull off the upset in Miami this Saturday.
No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats (5-1)
Opponent: Illinois Fighting Illini (2-4)
Northwestern is having a Cinderella season, as the Wildcats clinched the Big Ten West and will play for the Big Ten title next week against Ohio State. However, the Wildcats looked bad and lost to Michigan State 29-20 in their last game. Quarterback Peyton Ramsey threw no touchdowns and two interceptions in the Wildcats' only loss of the season. Michigan State may have exposed the recipe to beating the Wildcats in that game. The Spartans stopped the run and forced Ramsey to throw the football 43 times. Illinois has a defense that can make plays, and if the Fighting Illini can stop the run, they have a great chance of pulling off the upset on Saturday in Evanston.
No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes (4-0)
Opponent: Utah Utes (1-2)
The Buffaloes are undefeated in 2020 and are ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time this season. Their offense is averaging 31.8 points per game and 245.5 rushing yards per game as well. With that being said, they needed to survive games against UCLA and Stanford to win their first two games of the season. They now face a talented Utah team that had conference title aspirations before the season but has stumbled out of the gate. Colorado is undefeated, but it has not looked like an undefeated team this year. It should be on upset alert heading into this weekend.
No. 22 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-3)
Opponent: Baylor Bears (2-6)
The Cowboys appeared like a playoff contender near the end of October, but they lost games to Texas and Oklahoma to send them out of the Big 12 title conversation. Last week, the Cowboys dropped another game, losing to TCU 29-22, even though TCU turned the ball over five times. Now, the Cowboys have to travel to Waco and face a Baylor team that competed with Oklahoma for all four quarters last week. Baylor has struggled in 2020, but Oklahoma State has looked terrible since the start of November and should be on upset alert.
Adam Sheetz is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ads360@psu.edu.
