Jake Crain talks college football's top storylines as loaded slate awaits

Key notes from Jake Crain interview

• There are a couple of good games on Friday as well as Saturday. You know it is a great slate when you have a blackout and a whiteout in the same weekend.
   
• I am so excited for Notre Dame against Arkansas. Neither defense has been able to play. The offenses have been good. They both will be able to score. Both defenses will give up explosives. Notre Dame is going to stay in man coverage. CJ Carr has been playing well. They need to get the running backs more touches. I think Carr had more carries than Jeremiyah Love in Week 1. I actually think Arkansas is going to win this game. One of my favorite underdog picks. Taylen Green and Bobby Petrino have been putting together great performances, just haven’t been able to get the big wins.
   
• It is a race to 10 points for A&M vs. Auburn. I tell Auburn fans and A&M fans the same. They have to get out of the business of relying on other people to do things that are out of their control. A&M needs to handle its own business. A&M is too good a program not to go and handle their own business. Don’t worry about Notre Dame’s outcome. You control your own destiny, just get out and fulfill it. Chris Ash for Notre Dame is in a tough spot against Arkansas. We have to rush three and play coverage, but it’ll give the quarterback a ton of time to throw, give him space to run or abandon man coverage and bring pressure, which is not their identity. Notre Dame has a big problem on that side of the ball. Auburn had the same problem until Oklahoma, where they looked much better offensively.
   
• I think one of the main things I learned about Auburn is that they are 1-9 against AP top 25 teams, road or home. Hugh Freeze doesn’t win one-score games. His win percentage is the lowest in the SEC in one-score games. They had a lead in six minutes in the fourth quarter, so blame the officials, sure, but John Mateer took the ball down the field and got them the win. If it's a close game at the end for A&M, you've got to feel great as an A&M fan, because A&M has shown us they can put together game-winning drives.
   
• Auburn, so far, under Freeze, when it gets thick in the end, they curl up in a ball. Until they show me that consistently, I am never going to feel good about the dog this team has in them. They have to go prove it. Auburn can be lethal offensively when the running game is at the forefront. The passing game is second when you need to go to it. Jackson Arnold is not a pure enough passer to rely on him there. They need to be able to run the ball consistently, three to four yards a pop. That will be their advantage.
   
• The people leading A&M in tackles are a safety and a corner. So, Auburn needs to attack with the run. Oklahoma pushed them around. If Auburn can stay on schedule with Arnold, that is your biggest worry. The defense, I saw UTSA run all over A&M. Special teams could be huge in this game. Auburn has struggled there, and Terry Bussey can make big plays. I know Randy Bond can make field goals consistently. Auburn has struggled there, too. They’ve struggled there for three years. It looked like me out there.
   
• If Auburn’s center Connor Lew can’t go, that is a huge deal. He is an NFL-type player. Freakishly built human being. Getting him back would be huge. Horatio Fields was a security blanket for Arnold. In that Baylor game, they went to Fields. He has strong hands, not their best player, but reliable. That is why you have Perry Thompson. He has had his redshirt year already. The devastating loss is if Lew didn’t play. He is your run-of-the-mill, tough player.
   
• There is a reason this game is a 6.5 spread. They know what they are doing out there in Vegas. Cam Coleman could very well be the top wide receiver drafted when he goes to the league. He is only a true sophomore, so he still has time before that. Mario Craver and the receivers make their hay after the catch. Not major deep balls. For Coleman, they just tell him to run out there, and they throw it up to him. A&M should just load the box and make Arnold throw the ball. You can play it even, A&M has done that this year, and it hasn’t worked out for them. I would make Arnold throw it, doesn’t matter who's running out there.