The third week of the college football season has some games that are of a little more interest. The top three teams (#1 Florida against Tennessee; #2 Texas at Texas Tech; and #3 USC at Washington) have games that are at least interesting.
So here are my third week of predictions. Last week in my Five Predictions I was 3-2 and now I’m 7-3 for the season. We’ll see how I do this week.
Game #1: Nebraska #19 at Virginia Tech #13. This may be the most interesting game of the week. Tom Osborne and his coach Bo Pelini have the Cornhuskers going in the right direction. In their first two games they’ve racked up nearly 1000 yards of offense. Virginia Tech, which seems to be making an effort to take over the “Thug U” mantle now that Miami has been re-working their program. They looked bad against Alabama and looked good against Marshall. Tech won’t be able to push Nebraska around. Tech’s streak of 31 non-conference home wins comes to an end. Virginia Tech is currently favored by 5. I’m not persuaded by the new Thug U of the ACC. Take Nebraska and the points.
Game #2: Georgia Tech #14 at Miami #20. Georgia Tech is coming off a game that they should have won handily. The squandered a 24-7 lead against Clemson and only a questionable call enabled Tech to pull out the game. I’m not a fan of the option offense and if they get far behind they don’t have the passing game to catch up. Miami looked impressive against Florida State (who admittedly may not be as good as thought). Miami is currently favored by 6. The Hurricanes have a very good QB and have looked good, take the Canes.
Game #3: Michigan State at Notre Dame. The loss last week to Michigan may be the equivalent of Tennessee’s loss to UCLA last season. That loss marked the beginning of the end for Coach Fulmer. Coach Weiss is on the chopping block now. If Michigan State continues their dominance over the Irish, Weiss will meet the same fate of Fulmer. The Spartans have beaten the Irish at Notre Dame with regularity in the last several years. The Irish put together a seemingly soft schedule with the hope of getting back in the BCS game, they’re out of the championship game already and another loss will put them out of any BCS game. Notre Dame is currently favored by 7. This is a do or die game for the Irish and they won’t live. Take the Spartans and the points.
Game #4: Texas Tech at Texas #2. Last year in one of the best games of the year (and certainly the best ending) Texas Tech gave the Longhorns their only loss. These two teams can put up lots of points and as usual don’t look particularly impressive on defense. Texas is currently favored by 18. The Longhorns may want revenge, but this is too many points, even at home. Take the Red Raiders and the points.
Game #5: Florida State at Brigham Young #7. The Mountain West Conference has three really good teams that could all mess up the BCS system and are showing everyone that they should be in the BCS club. Florida State lost their opener and then nearly lost to 1aa school Jacksonville State. In one of the clearest examples of a coach hanging around far too long, Bobby Bowden is looking at a long (and probably last) season. Currently the Cougars are favored by 8 in their home opener. All is safe here, the Seminoles are really terrible, take BYU +13.
Various Rantings:
When exactly is #5 Penn State required to play a legitimate opponent? And on what basis are they ranked #5? Wins against Akron and Syracuse will be followed up this week with a contest with the Temple Owls. Even if they go undefeated this season they can’t possibly be allowed into the BCS championship with this schedule. Besides playing in the overall weak Big 10 Conference, their other remaining non-conference game is against that traditional power the Eastern Illinois Panthers. Hopefully the BCS Voters will repay them by keeping them out of the championship game regardless of their record.
#11 Ohio State go visiting the Red Rockets of Toledo, who, while the Buckeyes were getting their guts ripped out by the Matt Barkley drive, dispatched Colorado Buffalos, running up 58 points. The Buckeyes should win this game, but they can’t afford any hangover from last week. This is a very good offensive team in Toledo. OSU is currently favored by 21. That’s probably a little too steep.
#1 Florida plays host to Tennessee in the swamp. There is already plenty of bad blood here. New Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin provided plenty of bulletin board red meat for the Gators. The Volunteers were thoroughly out played were caught by surprised by the physical play of UCLA and couldn’t keep up. Florida is favored by 30. Either Lane Kiffin is a genius and has this all figured out or the Gators will humiliate Tennessee. I think Kiffin is a genius, but I also think the later scenario is highly probable. Urban Myer runs up the score on regular weeks; this week he will put a brick down on the accelerator stand back and watch the fun. If it's possible to score 100 points he will try.
#3 USC travels to Washington to visit their old offensive coordinator. The Huskies are an improving team and played very well against LSU and got their first in a year last week. But unlike previous years, the Trojans I think are focused and will not play down to their opponents. Barkley may not play a lot or even at all, but USC, favored by 20, will simply wear out Wazzu with superior depth and players and win going away.