Few are giving School Soccer Playoff No. 20 Tulane Green Wave (11-2, 7-1 in American) or No. 24 James Madison Dukes (12-1, 8-0 in Solar Belt) a lot of an opportunity of their CFP first-round video games.
However their showdowns on the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels (11-1, 7-1 in SEC) and No. 5 Oregon Ducks (11-1, 8-1 in Huge Ten), respectively, will probably be selected the sphere, not via podcasts and weblog posts.
So, how can Tulane and James Madison pull off the most important upsets of the CFP period? Beneath, we check out the place Ole Miss and Oregon are most weak headed into Saturday’s video games.
Ole Miss Rebels
Greatest weak spot: Rush protection
| Three opponents gained over 200 speeding yards in opposition to Ole Miss this season. Amongst this yr’s CFP groups, solely the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies (11-1, 7-1 in SEC) allowed extra (4). Total, the Rebels are No. 69 within the nation in opposition to the run, permitting 150.5 yards per recreation.
In a Week 4 blowout loss to Ole Miss, the Inexperienced Wave efficiently ran the ball, ending with 178 yards on 39 carries (4.6 yards per try). They had been finally undone by an explosive Ole Miss offense and quarterback Jake Retzlaff’s worst passing recreation of the season. He missed on his first 9 makes an attempt and was pulled for backup Brendan Sullivan within the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss’ big-play offense is the right antidote to a ball-control assault Tulane would possibly deploy, however that is the place dropping head coach Lane Kiffin, who infamously left earlier this month to simply accept the identical place at LSU, might damage. It is unclear what impression his departure could have, but when the Rebels are out of sync in any respect and compelled into prolonged possessions, that will shorten the sport, enjoying to Tulane’s benefit.
Oregon Geese
Greatest weak spot: Run blocking | Critiquing Oregon appears like nitpicking. The Geese are probably the most full groups within the nation, elite in all three phases. But when there’s one thing to gripe about, it could be their run blocking.
In October’s residence loss to No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers (13-0, 9-0 in Huge Ten), Oregon was held to a season-low speeding 81 yards, averaging 2.7 yards per try. In its most up-to-date recreation in opposition to Washington (9-4, 5-4 in Huge Ten), it was contained to 2.5 yards per try.
Oregon’s high three backs — Jordon Davison, Dierre Hill Jr. and Noah Whittington — acquire the vast majority of their yardage after contact, per Pro Football Focus data, and in the event that they’re unable to interrupt tackles constantly in opposition to a stout James Madison rush protection, it might make the Geese one-dimensional.
The Dukes are second in the country in rush defense (76.2 yards per recreation) and one in every of three groups (Texas Tech, Oklahoma) to permit fewer than 1,000 yards getting into the CFP first spherical.
Per PFF stats, defensive sort out Mychal McMullin has the sixth-highest cease charge (11.9 p.c), outlined as tackles that represent a failure for the offense, amongst inside linemen with a minimum of 120 run-play snaps this season. Edge-rusher Aiden Gobaira ranks third (13.1 p.c) amongst gamers at his place in the identical metric.
James Madison will face its stiffest competitors all season this Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV/HBO Max). Nevertheless it’s arguably strongest the place Oregon is essentially the most flawed, giving it an opportunity to reveal the Geese’ weak spot.
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