Category: College Football (Page 295 of 296)

Mack Brown has put together some great teams at Texas, but he hasn’t been able to get over the hump against Bob Stoops and the Sooners. So many excellent seasons have been spoiled by losses to Oklahoma. Can they finally do it this year? This year the Longhorns are 14.5 point favorites over the Sooners.

The key to the game will probably be the health of Adrian Peterson. Oklahoma needs a healthy Peterson to have a chance in this game. If he can carry the ball 30 times and be effective, Mack Brown and the Longhorns might once again blow their chance at a National Championship.

Penn State is 5-0 for the first time in years, but they’ve racked up those wins against a pretty weak schedule. This weak reality sets in as they host the #6 Buckeyes in an old-school matchup. Ohio State is a 3.5 point favorite on the road.

One of the reasons for Penn State’s success thus far has been Paterno’s willingness to finally play freshman. The young wide receivers have helped to spark the Nittany Lion offense. Yet this week they face an Ohio State defense that completely dismantled Iowa. Paterno has been gushing about the Ohio State defense this week, calling it one of the best he has ever seen. We’ll see if they can live up to those lofty statements this week. Ohio State should win without too much trouble.

The biggest game of the week involves the SEC showdown between #6 Florida and #5 Tennessee. Urban Meyer has Gator fans giddy again, while Tennesse opened with a not-so-impressive win over UAB. I’ve compiled some perspectives on the game from “experts” around the web.

John Harris of CollegeFootballNews.com sees Florida winning a close one. Money quotes:

“Typically, Florida comes into this game with a powerful offense and a ho-hum defense. Even though they’ve tangled with Wyoming and La. Tech, you can see that this might be the most talented unit since the 1998 bunch that featured Jevon Kearse and Fred Weary. LB Brandon Siler is a beast inside and he’ll have it out for Gerald Riggs all game long. The Tennessee secondary, on the other hand, got sliced by Leak last year and the revamped unit got shredded in the second half against UAB. The implication is that Gator WR Chad Jackson has to be licking his chops. Although UT has left Gainesville the last two times with a W, the Gators should end that short streak on Saturday. Florida – 29 vs. Tennessee – 27”

Yet Harris sees Casey Clausen as an asset for the Vols:

“Since Clausen became the starter late in the 2004 season, he’s been tremendous, even when he’s come into the game in a relief role as he did against UAB. The one trait that Clausen seems to have over Erik Ainge and even over his older brother is the ability to see the whole field and find the mismatch, if one exists. He uses the whole field and will find any of his versatile wide receivers anywhere on the field. The senior doesn’t seem to get rattled and he seems to have the respect of the entire offense. Now, he’s going to see a much more athletic and better defense than Ainge saw last year in Knoxville, and he’ll have his hands full with that bunch. But, Clausen has a guy named Riggs that can help take some of the focus off of the nifty lefty, so keep an eye on how much play action the Vols use and how successful he is in finding the open man in the intermediate to deep areas of the field.”

The Palm Beach Post questions whether Chris Leak can get it done for the Gators:

“Quarterback Chris Leak might never fit Urban Meyer’s offense as well as Alex Smith did at Utah last season. Leak is off to a so-so start, despite a school-record 17 straight completions, which featured four shovel passes and two screens, in the opener against Wyoming. On Saturday, he floated several throws into coverage that a team better than Louisiana Tech might have intercepted. Leak’s longest run was 5 yards, and he’s averaging less than half a yard on 17 carries. He should improve, but must do so against Tennessee, Alabama and LSU.”

The Gators are favored by 6.5 points. That seems high to me. The game is just too close call.

Many of us thought that the Big Ten was the best conference in football this season. It still might be the deepest, but the top three teams took a hit last night.

The big game of course was the Ohio State/Texas matchup in the Horseshoe. Vince Young led Texas to a spectacular late touchdown to snach a victory from the Buckeyes. The football game lived up to all the pregame hype, and it’s a shame either team had to lose. Both Vince Young and A.J. Hawke showed why they are special football players. Too bad we don’t have a playoff system in college football, because I’m sure both fans would love to see these teams play again. Now Texas has a clear shot at playing for the National Championship if they can finally manage a win over Oklahoma.

No. 3 Michigan lost at home against the resurgent Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Michigan offense looked very weak, as Chad Henne looked more like a freshman quarterback. Charlie Weis has Notre Dame playing great football, and they’ll get another good test next week against Michigan State.

Finally, No. 8 Iowa got creamed by Iowa State. The Hawkeyes lost their quarterback in the second quarter, but that’s no excuse for their poor performance yesterday. maybe this Iowa team was overrated.

Each of these teams will probably bounce back to have good seasons, but for a while no Big Ten team will be part of the national Championship controversy, That may change as more teams get knocked off, but for now the Big Ten will have to sit on the sidelines.

The Ohio State Buckeyes (#4) will host will host the Texas Longhorns (#2) at the Horseshoe on Saturday night in one of the biggest non-conference match-ups in years. The winner of this game should be the consensus #2 team behind USC in the polls and should be able to control its own destiny for a shot at the National Championship.

The Buckeyes are only a half-point favorite at home, so in the eyes of many the Longhorns are the better team. Here’s why they’re wrong and why the Buckeyes will win this showdown:

1. The Buckeye defense.
The Buckeyes under Jim Tressel are known for their defense, and this year is no different. They have the best linebackers in the country along with excellent defensive backs, making this defense reminiscent of the dominating 2002 defense that led Ohio State to the National Championship. Texas quarterback Vince Young shredded the Michigan defense last year with his running, but I suspect that the Buckeye linebackers will be a much bigger challenge. The Buckeyes will force Young to beat them with his arm, which could lead to some big turnovers.

2. The Buckeyes now have an offense.
For the first time in several years, the Buckeyes have an offense that strikes fear in the eyes of opponents. Their trio of receivers – Ginn, Holmes and Gonzales – might be the most explosive in the country. Jim Tressel completely revamped the offense starting with the Purdue game last year, implementing a spread offense that puts the quarterback in the shotgun and takes advantage of the awesome talent at receiver. The new offense was instrumental in their dominating wins over Michigan and Oklahoma State at the end of last season and it carried over in their opener against Miami. Ginn was constantly double-teamed, leaving Santonio Holmes with single coverage which was exploited with ease by the Buckeyes.

Everyone is focusing on who will play quarterback for the Buckeyes but they are missing the point. Both quarterbacks have excelled under the new offense because they have so many tools, and both quarterbacks bring different skills to the table. If Tressel controls this situation, he will be able to utilize both players and adjust his game plan based on the opponent. Troy Smith in particular can spark an offense with his tremendous running ability. His performance against Michigan last year was just as impressive as Vince Young’s performance in the Rose Bowl.

3. Tressel vs. Brown.
Finally, you have to look at both coaches and give the edge to Jim Tressel over Mack Brown. Brown has never won a conference championship, let alone a National Championship. He finds ways to lose big games. On the other hand, Tressel’s teams excel in big games. Tressel is 3-1 against Michigan and 3-1 in bowl games along with winning the National Championship in 2002. If you give him time to prepare for an opponent his teams are very tough to beat.

Throw in the fact that the game is in Columbus and I have to give the edge to Ohio State. This should be one of the best games of the year as two of the most storied programs in NCAA history face off for the first time ever. Right or wrong, I’ll post again after the game with a recap.