Many of this weekend's game feature FBS teams against FCS teams, or face-offs between minor teams. Thus, there's not a large number of games to spotlight. I still have a Game of the Week, though.
South Carolina Gamecocks at NC State Wolfpack: NC State hasn't been very competitive in the last few years, and this year will be no exception. This will be a great warm-up for the Gamecocks. SOUTH CAROLINA
Utah State Aggies at Utah Utes: The Aggies may win a couple this year, but not against the intended BCS buster Utes. UTAH
Navy Midshipmen at Ohio State Buckeyes: The Buckeyes lost plenty of starters, but this team reloads almost as well as USC. Navy may actually take a step down this year from last. OHIO STATE
Akron Zips at Penn State Nittany Lions: Penn State wants to compete for the Big Ten title, and they know that they need to win all of their non-conference games to have an edge in a tiebreaker. This game will start that run. PENN STATE
Northern Iowa Panthers at Iowa Hawkeyes: This may be a FBS v FCS game, but the in-state rivals have often played Iowa tough. Northern Iowa typically fields strong teams, and this year should be no exception. If Iowa wants to convince the country that they can compete in the Big Ten, this game is imperative. IOWA
San Jose State Spartans at USC Trojans: This one doesn't deserve commentary. Take about starting off their new QB easy! USC
Georgia Bulldogs at Oklahoma State Cowboys: This one was in the running for game of the week, but I think the Cowboys have more firepower. The Bulldogs lost their two best offensive tools, QB Matthew Stafford and RB Knowshon Moreno, which means they can't keep pace with the Cowboys. OKLAHOMA STATE
Western Michigan Broncos at Michigan Wolverines: The Broncos should be a good team, and may heckle the still stumbling Wolverines. Coach Rich Rodriquez has taken some lumps in the media recently, so I think the Wolverines will pull this one out, but it'll be closer than Michigan fans would like. MICHIGAN
Missouri Tigers at Illinois Fighting Illini: This annual "battle across the border" has frequently gone to Missouri. With the Tigers having to restructure their offense this year, the Illini have the upper hand. Playing at home helps them, too. ILLINOIS
Charleston Southern at Florida Gators: Okay, I usually ignore FBS v FCS games, but I HAVE to include the first game of the defending champs. They certainly made it easy for themselves, didn't they? FLORIDA with a victory that won't count in my Top 25
Louisiana-Monroe Indians at Texas Longhorns Texas gives themselves nearly as easy a game as Florida, helping their AP ranking. It won't help mine, though, until they get into tougher opponents. TEXAS
BYU Cougars at Oklahoma Sooners: This was my runner-up for Game of the Week. These two teams are fairly evenly matched. The Sooners defense is better, and the home crowd should help. If this game were played in Provo, though, I might have to change my pick. OKLAHOMA
Alabama Crimson Tide at Virginia Tech Hokies: Alabama was situated on top of the rankings at one point last season. They want to get back there. A victory over the Hokies, a frequent bowl team, will really help give them an early boost. ALABAMA
LSU Tigers at Washington Huskies: This game might be a shut-out, with the powerful LSU defense stuffing the hapless Huskies offense. LSU
Ole Miss Rebels at Memphis Tigers: Ole Miss is hoping to carry their late season success last year into a tremendous start. Memphis might give them a different view than they are used to, but the Rebs should still have the upper hand. OLE MISS
Colorado State Rams at Colorado Buffaloes: This in-state rivalry always gets intense, no matter who has the better team. This year that's Colorado, who are aided by playing at home. COLORADO
Cincinnati Bearcats at Rutgers Scarlet Knights: The Big East starts early, as these two battle for an early lead in the conference. Rutgers has looked good the past few years, but they lost too many key players from last season to start off well. Unless their defense steps up, they will lose this game, and the defense hasn't been stepping up recently. CINCINNATI in an upset
Miami Hurricanes at Florida State Seminoles: Another hard-fought in-state rivalry. The last couple of years has been a defensive battle, but the Seminoles have improved their offense enough to make a more balanced squad. That certainly gives them the edge. FLORIDA STATE
GAME OF THE WEEK: Oregon Ducks at Boise State Broncos: This should be a grudge match! Oregon comes to Boise State to avenge their loss to the Broncos last season. Both teams are well-stocked and looking to compete for a national title. Boise has greater incentive, since the BCS has announced that they are planning to adjust their automatic bids depending upon conference results this year. Both the Mountain West and the WAC want consideration, hoping to supplant the Big East. A victory here would help Boise State and the WAC tremendously. This will be a great offensive battle, but I give a slight to the Ducks. OREGON
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Whew! The first night of the NCAA Football season had several surprises. Who would have thought the South Carolina-NC State contest would turn out to be such a defensive battle? The bigger surprise was the Game of the Week between Oregon and Boise State. Except for a couple of drives, the Oregon offense looked anemic. The Ducks defense seemed confused for most of the first half. While both of those seemed to be started to fix themselves in the second half, Oregon proved themselves to be a team that has trouble coming from behind.
ReplyDeleteBoise's defense was good, but they were helped by some Oregon mistakes. It looks like Boise might have trouble running the table, as they have trouble holding leads. Once Oregon figured out their offense, too, they couldn't move much late in the third quarter and into the fourth. This team needs to look at that if they want to compete for a BCS bowl.
It was still an impressive victory, and could place them in my Top 10. We'll have to see how Saturday's and Sunday's games turn out.