Week 9 preview: Big SEC matches, the journey for Boise

Oct 24, 2024, 07:00 AM ET Week 9 in college football is here as we start another weekend of exciting matches that you won’t wish to miss.Friday night

will include a showdown between one-loss Mountain West groups No. 17 Boise State and UNLV. Many college football fans understand the name of Boise State’s star running back, Heisman Trophy preferred Ashton Jeanty, however do you know about the Broncos’ quarterback?No. 8 LSU and No. 14 Texas A&M meet in a big conference matchup Saturday night. They’re both unbeaten as the leading two teams in the SEC standings going into Week 9, however just one group can leave Kyle Field with a win. Can Texas A&M’s defense keep LSU’s offense off the field?Our college football experts sneak peek huge games and storylines to know, and share quotes of the week ahead Week 9’s slate.Jump to an area

: Leading SEC matchup|Missouri-Alabama|Boise State QB Quotes of the Week What are the leading 2 SEC teams doing right ahead of their matchup Saturday? LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier has five 300-yard games so far this season. Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said the similarities in between LSU and his group this season have been “strangely comparable.”Both started with big Week 1 games, and both lost, A&M to Notre Dame and LSU to USC. However they both have progressively improved all season and meet at 6-1, with A&M 4-0 in the SEC and LSU 3-0. They’ve done it in different methods, though. LSU has gotten better on defense, holding Ole Miss to 26 in an overtime win, then giving up just 10 at Arkansas recently. Blake Baker’s defense now ranks third in pressure rate and seventh in sacks, in spite of losing Harold Perkins for the season in Week 4. Offensively, Garrett Nussmeier has 5 300-yard games, as the Tigers rank eighth nationally in passing offense at 322.4 lawns per game. Nussmeier leads the SEC with 18 passing goals and an 82.5 QBR.Texas A&M, meanwhile, has a stingy defense that has been matched by a strong running game that slows down games and keeps opposing

offenses off the field. The Aggies have been able to stop challengers without bringing pressure, blitzing simply 16%of the time, eight most affordable in the FBS, according to ESPN research study. Challengers total just 54%of passes against the Aggies, 10th best in the FBS, and they’ve made crucial stops, ranking 16th nationally in third-down defense. On offense, Texas A&M ranks 12th in rushing, at 218 lawns per game, a stabilizing force as the Aggies navigated Conner Weigman’s shoulder injury in Week 2. Marcel Reed beginning up until Weigman returned to dominate Missouri, going 18-of-22 for 276 lawns. Le’Veon Moss, who has actually shouldered the load at running back, has 5 TDs in the previous 2 games and is looking to end up being the third Aggie to have multiple rushing goals in three straight games given that Texas A&M signed up with the SEC in 2012.– Dave Wilson What Missouri and Alabama require to do to win their match in Week 9 Alabama: It sounds easy, but Alabama requires to play a total game and, probably a lot more importantly, a clean game

. Starting with the second half in the 41-34 win over Georgia in Week

4, in which the Bulldogs piled up 381 lawns after halftime and eliminated a 28-0 deficit, it has actually been hit or miss out on with the Crimson Tide. The defense again struggled the next week in a shocking 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt followed by an unstable 27-25 escape versus South Carolina at home in a game Alabama led 14-0, only to see South Carolina recuperate an onside kick late and have a chance to win. Then a week ago, the offense was a no-show in a 24-17 loss to Tennessee.Quarterback Jalen Milroe was marvelous in the win over Georgia, but he has actually tossed 5 interceptions in his previous 3 games. Tennessee sacked him three times, and he was held to 11 rushing lawns on 14 brings. Charges have afflicted the Crimson Tide. They have 62 on the season. Just 4 FBS groups have actually been punished more. They were punished a season-high 15 times against Tennessee, consisting of a 15-yard personal foul on receiver Kendrick Law throughout Alabama’s next-to-last drive.– Chris Low Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Missouri: There’s no simple course to winning as a road team inside Bryant-Denny Arena, where the Crimson Tide have actually lost only six times because completion of the 2007 season. And Missouri’s course to a historical win in Tuscaloosa wo

n’t be helped by the anticipated absences of quarterback Brady

Cook(ankle )and leading rusher Nate Noel (foot ). Down the set of star offending skills, the Tigers must discover a method to slow Jalen Milroe and Alabama the exact same way Tennessee did a week ago.The Volunteers restricted the Crimson Tide to 75 hurrying yards and pressured Milroe 24 times as the junior passer tossed a set of interceptions and finished a season-low 55.6 %of his throws in the 24-17 defeat. Missouri gets in Saturday ranked 24th in defensive red zone effectiveness, and if the Tigers can

stay close early, perhaps they accompany an Alabama team that has been outscored 81-55 after halftime in four league games. No SEC team has more resurgences down seven or more points this fall than Missouri, and the Tigers enter Week 9 with a record of 7-0 in one score games since the start of last season.– Eli Lederman Maddux Madsen is a lot more than the other guy in Boise State’s backfield Boise State QB Maddux Madsen has totaled 12 TDs with only 2 interceptions this season. Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Boise State’s Maddux Madsen may be the perfect

individual to share a backfield with the Heisman Prize favorite.Madsen’s course to being Boise State’s starting quarterback, where he lines up beside star running back Ashton Jeanty, hasn’t been a straight shot. He’s a 5-foot-10 QB who didn’t receive scholarship deals from the two Power 4 schools in his home state of Utah, and came to Boise State only after a highly promoted QB hire, Katin Houser, turned his commitment to Michigan State.Madsen, a third-year sophomore, doesn’t need tutorials about functions or teamwork, what competitors requires, how chances are earned and how to browse difficulty. He grew up around ball park, as his daddy, Eric, coached at Utah Valley. Maddux and his 4 siblings are all named after baseball standouts– Maddux after Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, and brothers Mays( Willie), McGwire(Mark) and Mick (Mantle), and sister Macee Jo( DiMaggio).

“In baseball, you practically set yourself as much as stop working, “Maddux said.” If you’re hitting.300, that’s quite elite. So I discovered not to let myself get batter about certain things. Clearly, football’s a little bit different, however there’s going to be things that go wrong, and managing hardship is something I gained from baseball and translated to football.”He has actually invested much of his Broncos career contending. Last season, he shared time with Taylen Green in a two-quarterback system that ended when Madsen sustained a knee injury in November. When Boise State included USC transfer Malachi Nelson in January, numerous presumed the beginning job would go to the previous ESPN No. 1 general recruit.But Madsen vanquished Nelson in camp and has actually finished 63.8%of his passes for 1,273 passing lawns, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions through 6 games. “He doesn’t desire anything offered to him,”

said Boise State coach Spencer Danielson, who notified Madsen after the 2023 season that the group would be looking for a transfer quarterback.”He wishes to be challenged, he wants the opportunity to contend, and the stage is never ever too huge for him. He’s constantly been a guy that has the mentality of a hunter. He’s going to go win. Maddux is an unwavering young man.”Danielson saw Madsen’s technique from the start. After a pass was tipped and obstructed at Georgia Southern in the season opener, Madsen started the next possession with conclusions of 53 and 36 lawns, and Jeanty capped the drive with a 1-yard goal run. The following week, Madsen finished just 17 of 40 passes in a 37-34 loss at Oregon, as the Ducks’defense smothered Broncos receivers and rapidly closed passing windows.Since then, Madsen has actually completed 70.8 %of his efforts.”I comprehend that there’s going to be loud stadiums, there’s going to be things stated, so how can I manage the game with a neutral mindset? “Madsen said.”I’ve discovered that the severity I have to approach the game with is absolutely different than I have in the past. We’re in a no-joke situation today, and we have actually got to assault every day with complete intent and focus. “Madsen likewise recognizes that Boise State’s offense largely will run through Jeanty, who leads the nation in hurrying lawns and ranks sixth in efforts.

“It’s the very best thing ever, “Madsen stated of having fun with Jeanty. “I inform individuals, I have actually got the very best seat in your house, enjoying him do what he does.”Jeanty will continue to dominate the spotlight, and rightfully so, however Madsen will likewise be a considerable element if Boise State surges to its very first College Football Playoff look.”No one wished to hear about Maddux

Madsen, since he was the 5-10 kid from Utah that wasn’t recruited,”Danielson said.”He’s actually been the personification of what we are here at Boise State, one those guys that are counted out, got a chip on their shoulder, and all he’s done is earn whatever he’s got.”– Adam Rittenberg Quotes of the week”

I’ve always respected those coaches because that’s where I’ve come from. I began as a Department II head coach, he’s worked his method up. And any time you can hire an Ivy League graduate, it makes me smarter.

So that worked out well for me.”– LSU coach Brian Kelly, on working with now-Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, a Penn alum, as his protective coordinator in 2017 after Elko had stops at Penn, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Richmond and Hofstra, among others. “Define ‘at,'” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said when asked if quarterback Brady Cook(ankle )would be at practice Tuesday(Cook has because been ruled skeptical for Saturday’s game).” I do not understand if I ‘d say take part. I prepare for that he will be out at practice. But that’s why I’m not letting the media at practice so that y’ all can’t worry about what he’s doing or not performing in practice.” “It’s an outstanding chance for us on a big phase. When we recruit, we talk about big-time college football and one of the things is, you get to play Notre Dame every year,”Navy defensive organizer P.J. Volker said ahead of Saturday’s match in between the Combating Irish and Midshipmen.”Clearly they’re the best of the best in college football. To have this opportunity is something that we all relish. “