College Football Game Previews: Week 9

South Carolina vs. Texas A&M; Saturday, Oct. 28, 12:00 PM ET ESPN

The Prospects:

South Carolina

  • QB Spencer Rattler, No. 7
  • WR Xavier Legette, No. 17
  • WR Antwane Wells Jr., No. 3
  • TE Trey Knox, No. 1
  • DE Jordan Strachan, No. 7
  • CB Marcellas Dial, No. 6

Texas A&M

  • LB Edgerrin Cooper, No. 45
  • WR Ainias Smith Jr., No. 00
  • LT Trey Zuhn III, No. 60
  • RB Amari Daniels, No. 4
  • DE Fadil Diggs, No. 10
  • DE Shemar Turner, No. 5


The Matchups: The Aggies have a lot of young talent on defense who will be prospects for the 2025 and 2026 NFL Drafts, and they will test Rattler. However Aggies linebacker Cooper is having an excellent junior season, and he could be an early-round pick next April in the 2024 NFL Draft. Rattler needs to dominate to close out the season to have a shot at going in the first two rounds this spring during the 2024 NFL Draft.

Florida State vs. Wake Forest; Saturday, Oct. 28, 12:00 PM ET ABC

The Prospects:

Florida State

  • DE Jared Verse, No. 5
  • QB Jordan Travis, No. 13
  • WR Johnny Wilson, No. 14
  • WR Keon Coleman, No. 4
  • S Akeem Dent, No. 1
  • DT Fabian Lovett, No. 00
  • RB Trey Benson, No. 3

Wake Forest

  • CB Caelen Carson, No. 1
  • WR Jahmal Banks, No. 80


The Matchups: There is a good draft matchup in this game with Carson going against Coleman and Wilson. Coleman looks likely to be a first-round pick for the 2024 NFL Draft, and Wilson could go on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, so this should be a game to evaluate Carson’s ability to cover receivers at the next level.

Florida vs. Georgia; Saturday, Oct. 28, 3:30 PM ET CBS

The Prospects:

Florida

  • CB Jason Marshall, No. 3
  • WR Ricky Pearsall, No. 1
  • RB Montrell Johnson Jr., No. 2
  • RT Damieon George, No. 76
  • DT Cam Jackson, No. 99
  • CB Jaydon Hill, No. 23

Georgia

  • TE Brock Bowers, No. 19
  • RT Amarius Mims, No. 65
  • DT Nazir Stackhouse, No. 78
  • CB Kamari Lassiter, No. 3
  • S Javon Bullard, No. 22
  • CB Tykee Smith, No. 23
  • LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson, No. 10
  • RB Kendall Milton, No. 2
  • WR Arian Smith, No. 11
  • WR Ladd McConkey, No. 84
  • RG Tate Ratledge, No. 69
  • LG Xavier Truss, No. 73


The Matchups: Unfortunately, Bowers is out with an injury and it isn’t clear that Mims will be back either. Both of them are top-20 talents for the 2024 NFL Draft. A good matchup will happen with Pearsall going against Lassiter, Bullard, and the Georgia secondary. Marshall is talented, but inconsistent, and has too frequent busts. He needs a good tape against talented receivers like Smith and McConkey.

Oregon vs. Utah; Saturday, Oct. 28, 3:30 PM ET FOX

The Prospects:

Oregon

  • QB Bo Nix, No. 10
  • WR Tez Johnson, No. 15
  • DT Jordan Burch, No. 1
  • DT Brandon Dorlus, No. 3

Utah

  • WR Mycah Pittman, No. 5
  • QB Cameron Rising, No. 7
  • TE Brant Kuithe, No. 80
  • S Cole Bishop, No. 8
  • CB Zemaiah Vaughn, No. 5


The Matchups: The Utes typically have one of the best defenses in the Pac-12, so they could be a challenge for Bo Nix. Nix will see some future NFL defensive backs in Bishop and Vaughn. Nix could be a mid-round backup for the 2024 NFL Draft, and he will need to play well against Utah to help improve his draft grade.