Ten Questions
A few bonus questions for you this week. Plenty of good games to watch too so put off the yard work or shop-vac-ing the water from your front yard (if you live in Atlanta) until Sunday.
1. Which top ten team is going to lose this week? During each of the first three weeks of this season, two top ten college football teams have lost. Several teams should be on high alert for potential upsets- Mississippi, LSU, Alabama, Cal and Penn State all have potential trouble looming.
2. Which Juice Williams is coming to Columbus Saturday? Good Juice- the Juice that’s still in my nightmares, came into Ohio Stadium in 2007 and went 4 touchdowns/0 interceptions through the air and ran for what seemed like fifty 1st down conversions. Bad Juice includes his career figures of 52% completion and 44 touchdowns vs. 38 interceptions. The head-to-head comparison will be interesting to watch since in my book, Terrelle Pryor when he’s bad is very Juice like. So perhaps the better question is who’s going to be good Juice, and he’s going to be bad Juice? Ohio State is favored by 14.5. 3:30pm, ESPN.
3. Is this the year Steve Spurrier gets fired at South Carolina? Largely under the national media radar is the incredible mediocrity Spurrier has achieved at South Carolina. Spurrier is in his 5th year at SC posting previous records of 7-5, 8-5, 6-6 and 7-6, and not finishing any of those four season ranked in the top 25. The ‘ole ball coach is banking $1.75 million per year and has a current deal through 2012. The difficulty in the SEC and his Gator legacy aside, SS better start winning some games. Tonight would be a great place to start- at home against # 4 Mississippi. 7:30pm, ESPN. Ole Miss favored by 4.
4. Why isn’t Mark Dantonio following the Michigan State handbook? Page 32, section 5.3 reads “collapses are to occur in October, once the apples are picked and the leaves have turned all sorts of beautiful colors…”. The Spartans are coming off two crushing losses in a row by a total of 5 points. The path forward doesn’t spare Sparty as they play Wisconsin this week followed by Michigan and Illinois. MSU is in desperate need of a win and I think they’ll get it on the road this week (Noon, ESPN). Wisconsin is favored by 3.
5. Let down time for the Wolverines? Michigan should take care of Indiana at home this Saturday handily (Noon, ESPN2), but this is precisely the kind of game that tests the maturity of a very young team. Indiana will come in confident as a result of their 3-0 record. Michigan is favored by 20.5.
6. How white can it get? 3-0 Iowa plays at # 5 Penn State Saturday night (8pm, ABC, you should be looking live). Iowa was all that stood in the way of Penn State getting their ass kicked by Florida in the National Championship game last year. Ricky Stanzi will test a young Penn State secondary, especially if Linebackers Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman aren’t out there (word late is Bowman is in, Lee is out). Penn State is favored by 9.5. I like Iowa to cover the spread in a losing effort.
7. Is this the game where it starts going downhill for Notre Dame? Without leading receiver Michael Floyd and with Jimmy Clausen’s turf toe (Jimmy doesn’t like turf toe. Jimmy hates turf toe), Notre Dame could get challenged by Purdue (Saturday, 8pm, ESPN360). Like Michigan State, Purdue has lost two in a row by a close margin. The loss last week to Northern Illinois had to be especially disappointing to Danny Hope and his Joe-Tiller-facial-hair starter kit. Notre Dame is favored by 7.
8. Hammer or Mallett? Arkansas brings the #2 passing offense into Tuscaloosa Saturday for an SEC West matchup against # 3 Alabama. Alabama will bring a fierce defense to the party (the hammer) that will test the Razorbacks powerful offense. Defense usually wins those battles in the SEC but I sure would love to see an Alabama upset. Alabama is favored by 17.5.
9. This game just doesn’t feel right not being played on Thursday night. Ok, that wasn’t a question, but I can’t help but feel like # 9 Miami at # 11 Virginia Tech was made for Thursday night ACC football (Saturday, 3:30pm, ABC). The game pits two teams that are mirror images of each other- fast athletic defenses, running quarterbacks that are developing into legitimate passers, and dreams of restoring former program glory. The game is in Blacksburg so that should keep things interesting, but I like the Canes to win. Miami is favored by 2.5.
10. How will Cal fare over a tricky four-pack? After surviving a scrappy Minnesota team last week in Minneapolis, # 6 Cal goes to Oregon to face a wounded Ducks program with infinite uniform choices. If they beat Oregon, they go back home for USC and then play at UCLA. Sound the upset alarm big time. After losing to Boise State in week 1, Oregon got back on the saddle by squeaking by Purdue and beating Utah by a touchdown. If the Ducks are to pull the upset, they’ll need a much better than usual performance from QB Jeremiah Masoli. Cal is favored by 5, 3:30pm, ABC/ESPN 360.
11. Over or under? Two very productive offenses get together Saturday night when Texas Tech plays at # 17 Houston (Saturday 9:15pm, ESPN2). The over/under on this baby is 73 points and Houston is favored by 1 so expect a shootout. Texas Tech is coming off their loss to Texas and Houston is coming off a two-week layoff following their win over Oklahoma State.
12. Will Cincinnati go undefeated in 2009? They’re 3-0 and facing a remaining schedule without a ranked team on it (previous schedule didn’t have one either. With UC’s recent # 14 ranking, some Bearcats are even going as far as suggesting they’re the best team in Ohio (aka better than Ohio State). I don’t believe they will go undefeated and obviously they’re not the best team in Ohio; the 2009 version is exciting to watch though and Brian Kelly is a heck of a coach. Fresno State @ # 14 Cincinnati- Saturday noon, Gameplan/ESPN360. Cincinnati is favored by 16.5.
13. Who’s going to win the battle of the little Pac-10 team that could? The ghosts of USC’s present and past meet up in Palo Alto and one of them will leave 3-1. I’m not sure who it speaks to worse (UW or USC) but Stanford is a 7.5 point favorite. Saturday, 9pm, in the stadium or with a good pair of binoculars.
14. Can Mississippi State find their rush defense and upset # 7 LSU at home (Saturday noon, ESPN360, Gameplan)? LSU’s offense hasn’t lit the world on fire yet ranking 53rd in scoring offense and 103rd in pass offense. Lucky for them Mississippi State has a pretty porous rush defense giving up an average of 162 yards per game, including giving up 390 yards to Auburn. Expect to see a heavy dose of Charles Scott and Keiland Williams. LSU is favored by 13.
You’re welcome.
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