Category: College Football (Page 286 of 296)

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

Why to tune in:
This will be the first time Nebraska travels to Southern California in 36 years. USC, which has won 33 consecutive regular-season games, has not played since opening its season with a 50-14 rout at Arkansas on September 2. The Cornhuskers are 2-0 after defeating Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State, respectively.

When Nebraska has the ball:
Head coach Bill Callahan has Nebraska heading in the right direction with its run game. Callahan and the Cornhuskers have generated back-to-back 200 yard rushing games, but how much of a test did Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State really prove to be? Through three quarters against Arkansas, USC let up 90 yards on the ground on defense and 130 overall in the contest. If that just wasn’t lack of cohesion on the part of USC’s defense, Callahan can run his duo of backs Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn to try to keep the game close. Quarterback Zac Taylor has looked good in two games this season, throwing for 489 yards and seven touchdowns, but Callahan doesn’t want to get into a high scoring affair with the Trojans.

When USC has the ball:
Pete Carroll would love to open the run game early against Nebraska and might have a lot of success doing it. Carroll loves to throw on second down to put his offense in a manageable third and short, which would give the Trojans a better chance against the Cornhuskers underrated secondary. However, quarterback John David Booty did attempt 35 passes against the Razorbacks in week one and Carroll isn’t opposed to throwing to set up the run either. As evidence by Booty’s three touchdowns in the red zone against Arkansas, Carroll will throw near the goal line.

Prediction:
People have mentioned marked improvement for the Cornhuskers this season nobody can argue that with the way Nebraska won its first two games. But USC isn’t Nicholls State and they have no resemblance to Louisiana Tech either. If Nebraska can’t get its run game going early, the Trojans are going to tighten up in pass coverage and force Taylor to beat them through the air. As mentioned before, Callahan doesn’t want to get into a high scoring affair with USC, because he’ll undoubtedly lose that battle.

Nebraska hasn’t beaten a top 10 team on the road since 1997 and don’t expect its luck to change in Southern Cali either: USC 38, Nebraska 17.

With Ohio State and Texas in the books, here are my College Football Players of the Week.

Before we get to the offensive and defensive players of the week, let me first say that anyone who thinks that I’m going to crown a player as top dog in a game where they played a high school team you’ve got another thing coming. Unless the young man did something unheard of, the game has to hold some kind of importance to a national audience.

However, if you feel that a different player is just as deserving as the guys I mention below, give me a post and we’ll discuss it.

Offensive Player of the Week: Brady Quinn, QB Notre Dame
Quinn looked uncomfortable while trying to get his feet wet in Notre Dame’s win over Georgia Tech in week one. Against Penn State, however, Quinn showed everybody why he is being considered a Heisman candidate in ND’s 41-17 victory over the Nittany Lions. He was 25 of 36 for 287 yards and threw three touchdowns with no picks in getting the Irish back into the #2 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll. Quinn also looked very comfortable in the pocket and went through his progressions better than he did a week before in Atlanta. He will face his second Big Ten opponent in as many weeks when (#11) Michigan comes to South Bend this weekend.

Defensive Player of the Week: James Laurinaitis, LB Ohio State
Anybody who witnessed Laurinaitis’ play against Texas this past weekend had to have thought they were watching A.J. Hawk from a year ago. Laurinaitis led the Buckeyes with a career-best 13 tackles and added a tackle for loss, two forced fumbles and intercepted Long Horns QB Colt McCoy early in the second half to propel OSU to a 24-7 victory. Both turnovers that he had a hand in, caused killed any momentum Texas had built in each half. The sophomore linebacker was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

Texas head coach Mack Brown is quoted in a recent ESPN.com article stating that he hates the new college football rules regarding the clock.

Brown said Monday during the weekly Big 12 teleconference that the new rules, which were designed to limit the time of games, hurt the No. 8 Longhorns in Saturday’s loss to No. 1 Ohio State.

“They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything,” Brown said. “I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over.”

So, you’re telling me that you waited until six minutes were left in the game to do anything on offense? It’s not like you didn’t have time to prepare for the new rules – your Long Horns seemed to have no problem putting up 56 points on North Texas two weeks ago under the same game clock.

Plus, your team took advantage of a technicality in a rule with that helmet-to-helmet hit on Colt McCoy to lead to your only points.

Sorry Mack, the game was over when you didn’t have a solid plan in place to limit Troy Smith throwing the ball all over your depleted secondary.