Category: College Football (Page 285 of 296)

Date: Sept. 13
Time: 8:00pm ET CBS

Why to tune in:
What did the Volunteers have to do to get their first four games to all be at the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium? Before its convincing 35-18 victory over California in the opening week of the season, Tennessee was 5-9 under coach Phillip Fulmer against top 10 teams. Urban Meyer will travel to Knoxville for the first time as a head coach, but he has experience coaching against Fulmer as the Gators beat UT 16-7 in Gainesville last year. Although Florida comes into this game ranked #7, it really didn’t fair well on the road last year, going just 1-3 in the SEC. With both of these teams vying for supremacy in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, this is shaping up to be a one of the biggest games in a weekend chalked full of great showdowns.

When Florida has the ball:
Florida is ranked number four in the nation through the air and with Chris Leak already throwing for 600 yards in two games; he’s ready to roll. Meyer loves to spread the field with multiple receiver sets and run the misdirection to try and open up lanes for his backs. Leak has seven touchdowns and loves to get the ball in the hands of his favorite target Dallas Baker. Tennessee will be without cornerback Inky Johnson who may never play football again since having to undergo vascular surgery to repair torn blood vessels in his right shoulder area and faces additional surgery to correct nerve damage in his right shoulder and arm. The Vols will counter with Jonathan Hefney who will move from free safety to cornerback to replace while Demetrice Morley entering the starting lineup at safety. The UT defense did get a lift when DT Justin Harrell, after being declared out for the season with a ruptured left biceps tendon, decided to push back his surgery so he could play more game against Florida.

When Tennessee has the ball:
The Vols love to throw the ball themselves, but will be tested by an extremely talented secondary of the Gators. Florida has given up an average of just over 78 yards through the air in two games and gets great play out of Reggie Johnson, Tony Joiner and Reggie Lewis. The play of Florida’s secondary won’t stop Erik Ainge (who also has over 600 yards passing in two games) from trying to get Robert Meachem involved early. Meachem has close to 300 yards receiving and four touchdowns. UT will split carries with Montario Hardesty and Arian Foster, but Foster left the game last week against Air Force because of an ankle injury. If he can’t go, Hardesty can handle the load, but look for Fulmer to run off tackle to counter Florida’s tough run defense and limit whichever runner he uses to one cut so they can get as much positive yards before contact.

Prediction:
After a heralding performance by Tennessee in the rout over California, the Volunteers almost succumbed to looking past Air Force in a one-point victory last week. Although it seems like Fulmer has his team playing at a high level at home again, his defense is really banged up and the Gators have to be chomping at the bits to throw the ball all over that remade secondary. Fulmer will try to use a balanced attack against Florida and try to keep the Gators off-balanced throughout the game. However, if Florida just has to key on one facet of Tennessee’s game, the Gators can swarm on defense and possibly cause a key turnover or two and turn the Volunteer’s momentum upside down.

Florida shows it is better equipped for big games on the road this year: Florida 30, Tennessee 21.

Date: Sept. 13
Time: 3:30pm ET NBC

Why to tune in:
Why? It’s Michigan-Notre Dame, that’s why. Two of the most storied franchises in NCAA history will square off again in one of the most heated rivalries. Here’s a bit of a history lesson on this series: Michigan and Notre Dame once had a gentlemen’s agreement a few decades ago that the schools would play each other in its first game every season. After a few battles, the Fighting Irish started to sneak teams onto their schedule before playing U of M so that they would have a tune-up game (much like today’s college programs have) in order to be sharper for the Wolverines. Needless to say, Michigan didn’t appreciate what ND was doing and called off the agreement. That’s why every time these two schools play each other it’s usually the third game of the season. These programs, coaches and players hate each other and that usually leads to one heck of a battle.

When Michigan has the ball:
In last season’s defeat at the hands of Notre Dame in Ann Arbor, Michigan was without one of its best linemen in Jake Long. The Wolverines also didn’t have All-Pro running back Mike Hart for more than three plays and that left too much pressure on then-sophomore quarterback Chad Henne and freshmen Kevin Grady. Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and the Wolverines offense love to play smash mouth football and rely on their defense late in games. When Michigan has a lead, it will run in between the tackles and lean on the offensive line to get the job done. One weakness ND has on defense is that so far in two games, the Irish have allowed an average of 138.5 yards on the ground. Notre Dame has faired much better in pass defense, but don’t expect with Hart fully healthy that the Irish are going to be dropping into coverage all day.

When Notre Dame has the ball:
Quarterback Brady Quinn looked much more comfortable in the pocket throwing for three touchdowns and 287 yards against Penn State last week than he did in the opener. Running back Darius Walker has had a lot of success running in this series, but Michigan has also made marked improvements in its run defense. As much as Charlie Weis might want to open up the passing game in this contest, the Wolverines are third in the nation in sacks and can put a lot of pressure on Quinn. If the Irish do deciede to throw the ball often, the best match up to watch of the day will be ND receivers Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight vs. cornerbacks Leon Hall and Morgan Trent for Michigan.

Prediction:
Even though I like Michigan’s team a lot better than the two previous seasons, Notre Dame has already played two decent opponents (including Georgia Tech on the road) where as the Wolverines are coming off of two cupcakes. I just don’t see U of M as mentally prepared as ND is right now. Quinn won’t be the difference maker against Michigan this week – Walker will be. As a nobody underclassmen two years ago, Walker tore up the Wolverines for 115 yards on the ground. Last year, Walker rushed for 104 yards and also caught five passes out of the backfield. Although Michigan has shored up its run defense this season, Walker is still going to get going and the Irish won’t have to rely on Quinn to get pummeled by the Wolverines pass rush. Even though I think both teams will try to establish the run early and often, I still expect a high scoring affair.

It will be close, but I like the Irish to make it three in a row: Notre Dame 30, Michigan 24.