Well we’re into Week 2, the time fabled to produce the biggest improvement for a team. I don’t really believe that because I think that depends on the opponents and the experience level of starters. Oklahoma State, for example, played 94 different players in their thrashing of Savannah State. They won 84-0 and played just ten more players than they scored points! I don’t think they really had the opportunity to work out any kinks given that the first string was pulled before the finish of the first quarter. This week is our first glance at TCU, Texas A&M, and Oregon State all of whom didn’t play last week. (The latter two had their games postponed due to Hurricane Isaac) There are several intra-divisional and intra-conference match-ups this week, so those “warm up” games better have come in handy for the teams participating. The SEC, for example, has three intra-conference match-ups; two of them involve the newest members of the conference: Texas A&M and Missouri. I’m just as excited about the second week of games as I was about the first. Let’s see what we have!
1. Central Florida at #14 Ohio State: I didn’t expect to pick a Buckeye game so early in the season, but I actually think it’s one of the top five match-ups that intrigue me this week. It’s the first of two games this season that involves TOSU and another school that is ineligible for the postseason this year (the second will be against Penn State). Central Florida ruined Terry Bowden’s return to the FBS when it beat the Akron Zips 56-14 last week. That came as no surprise given that Akron’s starting quarterback, Dalton Williams, was a backup quarterback the past two seasons at Stephen F. Austin -- not exactly a building block for confidence. He passed for 77 more yards than UCF’s starter Blake Bortles -- but on 34 more pass attempts. Urban Meyer has voiced some concern over UCF’s strength in the return game and that he has a lot of youth on kick and punt coverage. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if UCF scored on a return, especialyl early on. The Buckeyes struggled in the first quarter against Miami (OH) last week before exploding for 56 points in the final three quarters. I expect fewer designed runs for quarterback Braxton Miller this week so that he gets a little more comfortable sitting in the pocket, especially after his receivers made him look great last week (did you see Devin Smith’s one-handed touchdown grab? Youtube it!). Buckeyes win fairly handily, but I look for Buckeyes corners Travis Howard and Bradley Roby to have at least one interception a piece.
2. Washington at #3 LSU: This isn’t as high-class nonconference match-up for LSU as last year’s games against Oregon and West Virginia, but I think it may surprise a few people. When people think of the Pac-10, thoughts don’t usually go beyond Oregon, USC, and Stanford and I can’t even blame them for it. Mike Leach’s return to coaching at Washington State made some headlines (although he got beat down by his alma mater, BYU, last week in his debut). If you aren’t in the habit of watching west coast teams, you probably don’t know about quarterback Keith Price, but this kid is good. Remember that high-scoring bowl game that finished RGIII’s season last year? Keith Price is the guy who threw for more yards and touchdowns than RGIII. Keith Price is the guy who ran for more touchdowns than RGIII, but eventually lost the game. This is LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger’s (who I wanted to see start at the beginning of last season) first test. Mettenberger, in my view, is the best quarterback Les Miles has had since he took over at LSU. He started out at Georgia, then won the the Junior College National Championship the year after Cam Newton did, then came to LSU and didn’t play much at all last year. LSU isn’t as strong at the cornerback position as it was last year and I expect Price to go right at them. Additionally, he has a tight end named Austin Sefarian-Jenkins that may be an All-American by year’s end. LSU’s biggest advantages are their four-deep running back stable, their two defensive linemen Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery, and safety Eric Reid. LSU wins, and may even win big because Washington’s defense is still a work in progress under a first-year defensive coordinator, but I think Washington will surprise a lot of people who don’t really give them much thought. At the very least, Keith Price will be on the radar nationwide after this game.
3. Texas Tech at Texas State: I know you’re thinking what is so special about this match-up, Chris? I think there are several things! First, it’s a battle of two coaches who were once fairly high profile names in Tommy Tuberville and Dennis Franchione, who were 1-1 against each other in Iron Bowl face-offs when they were the Auburn and Alabama coach respectively. Secondly, Texas State has already pulled off one upset of a fellow Longhorn State team this season (Houston). Finally, Tuberville comes into this season on the proverbial hot seat after being barely over .500 in his first two seasons. TTU may have fired Mike Leach, but they still have expectations for Leach-like results in the wins column. Houston was favored by 34.5 points last week and lost by 17! With the pressure already on Tuberville to have a successful season, the pressure has only increased this week knowing what Texas State pulled off last week. Last week’s Bobcats win led to Houston’s offensive coordinator’s resignation, would a TTU loss here lead to Tuberville stepping down? I doubt it, but one never knows! I expect a special teams touchdown from Franchione’s team this week. I’m calling it folks, Texas State does it again and not only beats the spread (which, last I saw was 18.5), but wins outright and pulls off yet another upset!
4. #7 Georgia at Missouri: Missouri’s first SEC conference game and it’s against a ranked divisional opponent -- welcome to the league! I know Missouri is getting no credit because they’re coming from the Big 12, but this is not a team that is your typical gunslinging Big 12 team. James Franklin, the Missouri quarterback who shares his name with Vanderbilt’s head coach, was one of the nation’s most underrated and unknown signal callers last season. He’s a dual-threat guy, but he’s a pass-first quarterback (much like the aforementioned Keith Price), and he has a deep wide receiving corps. In fact, I think freshman wideout Dorial Green-Beckham (I’m going to call him DGB) will likely win SEC Freshman of the Year. He’s in the mold of Julio Jones and AJ Green, folks. He’s a great combination of speed and size (6’6” 220 pounds). Georgia had a tougher time than they expected with Buffalo last week and if not for the Bulldog’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown it might have been a little too close for comfort. Aaron Murray is one of the best quarterback’s in the SEC and I expect him to test Missouri’s young safeties, but don’t be surprised of Franklin meets him stride for stride. The difference will be Georgia’s running game -- can it keep Missouri off the field especially if Georgia gets a lead? Can Georgia stop Missouri’s running game after allowing Buffalo to rush for nearly 200 yards against them? The former puts a lot of weight on freshman running back Todd Gurley (can he handle it?) and the latter seems unlikely given the running ability of Franklin and senior back Kendial Lawrence (they lost their top rusher Henry Josey for the season due to an injury incurred last season). Ultimately, I think the difference will be Georgia’s secondary which can be exploited due to suspensions (safety), injury (cornerback), and youth (other safety and cornerback spots, and replacements); Mizzou’s wide receivers could have a big day. Second upset pick of the week: Missouri squeaks out a win against the Bulldogs and welcomes itself to the SEC!
5. #18 Oklahoma State at Arizona: We didn’t learn much about Oklahoma State’s replacement for Brandon Weeden at quarterback, Wes Lunt, last week. Savannah State took their $375,000 dollars and their 84-point loss and didn’t let us learn anything about the new-look Cowboys. Arizona is a new-look squad as well under first-year head coach Rich Rodriguez. Quarterback Matt Scott fits Rodriguez’s spread-option offense perfectly and could be a surprise in the Pac-12 this season. His dual-threat game is a much better fit than Nick Foles’ drop-back style. However, we’ve seen before that Rodriguez is not good at building a strong defense (Michigan fans remember, right?) so its tough to know what to expect against a potentially high-octane Cowboy offense. It’s tough to imagine Oklahoma State being too offensively prolific with no Weeden and no Blackmon, especially this early in the season, but Lunt is supposedly more accurate than Weeden was! A first glance at last week’s game it looks like Arizona struggled against Toledo -- after all, they needed overtime to win. However, upon a closer look, they had two touchdowns called back due to penalties and missed two short field goals. So is that a case of Week 1 kinks that need worked out, or is that is a reflection of what is to be expected from the Wildcats this season? This game will be a great measuring stick for both teams. OSU wins but Arizona puts up more points than anyone expects -- at least 24.
Note: Both UTs, Texas and Tennessee play lesser teams that run the triple-option offense (New Mexico and Georgia State respectively). Neither should have an issue winning, but it's easy for a team to get sucked into letting a team like that dictate tempo on both sides of the ball. No one practices against the triple-option because so few teams run it. Nevertheless, it makes for intriguing games to follow.
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