First of all, as a fan, I love Mallard Creek's schedule this year. As far as national rankings go, as I understand it, there's no national champ officially crowned. So, national rankings are irrelevant. Regarding point spreads, I really don't care. If MC wins their regular season and playoff games each by 1 point, they still take home the trophy.
I didn't make it to a game this past week, so I'm just going by what others said, who were at the games. Butler's QB can pass it. But, if MC's defense is what it was advertised to be (and I believe it is, with the stands they made at Dillon), they should be fine.
From what I've read, Coach Palmieri is doing what he always does early..shuffling players to see what works. An analogy would be the US men's basketball team. Coach K did the same thing. They looked unimpressive in pool play but the further down the road they went, they turned on the afterburners.
You can't compare their current QB with Smith. They are two different people and it's unfair to the team and their QB. But, that young man is involved with a learning curve himself.
This should be a great game. I'd officially call it a tossup, but with an additional week of experience in a hostile environment, I think MC's offense will improve. Butler really wasn't tested much last week. But that's happened before and Butler has risen to the occasion in big games. I'd pick the Creek by around 6 points. But, I wouldn't be surprised at a Butler win either.