What to watch for this week in college football

Two weeks into the college football season and the drama is already building. A pair of true freshmen quarterbacks played the hero last week for their respective teams as USC survived an ugly showing against Ohio State with a last-minute drive led by Matt Barkley, while Michigan knocked Notre Dame out of the Top-25 and jumped in with a touchdown pass from Tate Forcier with 11 seconds remaining. Houston out-gunned Oklahoma State, 45-35. North Carolina got help from Connecticut, winning a 12-10 decision, thanks to a holding call on the Huskies in their own end zone.

So what are the things to look for as we head into Week 3 action tomorrow night?


Miami defense vs. Georgia Tech
Miami's offense will put up points if it gets the football, so the question is how often will they get it. Miami has two ailing starters in their defensive backfield that aren't expected to play, but if there's ever a time for that, this is it. Georgia Tech likely won't pass nearly enough to make that a big factor. The Yellow Jackets have averaged just under 50 rushes per game this season, ranking them ninth in that category. Miami was a middle of the road team in terms of stopping the run last year, but were also playing a boatload of young players. The defense, which has returned eight of those players from last year, held Florida state to 3.7 yards per carry. If Georgia Tech finds holes, works the clock and keeps the ball out of Jacory Harris' hands, they should be fine. However, if the offense fails to do so, the Hurricanes' explosive offense could exploit a defense that is vulnerable to the big play. Three of the five touchdowns GT has allowed this season have been for 20 yards or more.

Matt Barkley's status
After his late-game heroics against Ohio State, Barkley could likely be headed for the sidelines. Barkley suffered a bone bruise in his shoulder and as a result, Aaron Corp has been working with the first-team offense. Corp lost his starting job to Barkley, thanks to an injury of his own during the preseason, but has been dubbed "95 percent healthy." While Corp is a more than capable quarterback, who should handle Washington easily, don't expect a quarterback controversy to start brewing unless Barkley missed another week (unlikely) and even then, he's probably still the better option going into a game that could decide the Pac-10 vs. Cal in Week 5.

Michigan State secondary vs. Notre Dame receivers
Michigan State is certainly not looking incredibly strong in the secondary this season. After a solid game, which you would expect against Montana State, the Spartans gave up 352 yards and three touchdowns through the air as Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour posted a 104.3 passer rating. Notre Dame has a much more talented group. Jimmy Clausen has made it a habit of vicitmizing weak secondaries and so far has passed for 654 yards and seven touchdowns, while not getting picked off once for a passer rating of 196.31. Michael Floyd, who suffered a gash on his knee after landing on the track beyond the end zone at Michigan last week, will be back and at full speed. Notre Dame needs to win this week if it wants any shot at returning to the Top-25.

Fresno State offense vs. Boise State defense
Fresno State has had pretty much as balanced an attack as you could possibly have this season, averaging 255.5 yards through the air and 244.5 yards on the ground. Granted, those numbers have been put up against UC-Davis and Wisconsin, but they're still pretty impressive numbers. On the other side, the Broncos have looked pretty incredible, stopping one of the Pac-10's best runners for negative yardage in their season opener, then holding Miami of Ohio to just 1.5 yards on the ground. Oh, they're not giving up much through the air, either. This is by far the toughest test of the season for the Bulldogs and if they can't do anything against the Boise State defense, you can pretty much guarantee the Broncos the WAC championship and a spot at a BCS bowl.

Urban Meyer vs. Lane Kiffin
There really is no contest here as Meyer has proven himself to be one of - if not THE - the most talented coaches in college football and he's got far more firepower than Kiffin. Tennessee has a whole host of problems, not the least of which is the offense averaged just a mere three yards per play against UCLA. More interesting than anything will be the way the media plays this up after an offseason that included Kiffin accusing Meyer of shady recruiting practices.

Sam Bradford's recovery
Not much has been said this week about his status - in fact, nothing has been said at all - but Oklahoma is almost definitely going to sit Bradford again this week. The Sooners probably feel more comfortable about that decision after Landry Jones tossed three touchdowns against Idaho State last week. Week 4 is a bye, so it only makes sence to give Bradford more time to recover before taking on Miami, which could be a crucial game when it comes down to Oklahoma's hopes for a BCS game. As of Saturday, Bradford said he could not throw without pain in his shoulder, though he could throw if he wanted to.

Bradford's injury highlights weekend for the Big XII

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The questions about the Sooners' offensive line proved to have true merit and just like that, Oklahoma's BCS hopes could be gone.

After getting taken out - literally - by BYU late in the first half, Sam Bradford will miss at least two more weeks and maybe up to a month with his shoulder injury, leaving a lot of doubt about just where the Sooners will end up come season's end. They were lucky enough to find their Heisman winning signal-caller won't need surgery, but by the time he returns to game action, it could all be moot.

Tulsa and Idaho State are not exactly marquis opponents, which works in OU's favor, but if the Sooners have to go into Miami without Bradford, they could be in a world of trouble. Quite possibly, Oklahoma could have two losses before even entering conference play, which includes very losable games against Texas and Oklahoma State, not to mention pretty decent Nebraska and Kansas squads.

The weak schedule in the upcoming weeks has Sooner fans thinking better now than in October, but let's not forget, that this is an injury to his throwing shoulder. First of all, who knows if it will actually be healed in four weeks. Second of all, even if it is strong enough to play with, you can pretty much bet on the fact that it won't be 100 percent until he is able to give it a full offseason to recover. Bradford is a competitor and will want to get out there and play, especially if it looks like his team is in danger of missing a chance at the national championship. But can a 75-80 percent Sam Bradford be able to navigate a Big XII schedule like the Sooners have?

One thing working for OU is the fact they have something a lot of teams in the Big XII don't - a defense. Now more than they ever thought they would need to this season, the Sooners will have to lean on its defense to win games. That may work early on, but they'll need Bradford back if they want to have a chance once the Big XII schedule comes along.

Notre Dame's schedule: Built for success or set up for failure?

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

There are officially 31 days remaining until Notre Dame football kicks off and only a few days until two-a-days start. Along with that comes more and more buzz surrounding the Fighting Irish. Will this team finally realize its full potential? Will Charlie Weis be able to hold his job? Is a BCS bowl a legitimate possibility for the Irish?

For all the talk of how soft the schedule is, there are quite a few teams that will provide serious challenges for the Irish. While actual preseason polls by the AP and USA Today don't come out a little while yet, some have already gone ahead and made their own and it's interesting to note some of the tough matchups found on this "easy" schedule:

According to CollegeFootballPoll.com, which uses strictly computer-generated projections, Notre Dame has three Top-25 teams on its schedule: USC at No. 3, Michigan State at No. 7 and Pittsburgh at No. 12. It also has both Michigan State and USC going undefeated, so take this as you would any computer ranking, with a grain of salt. Still, many times computers have the advantage of not overthinking things and this particular computer module has been pretty accurate.

At any rate, if you put any stock in these rankings, Notre Dame (ranked 45th by the computer, by the way), faces a total of five teams in college football's Top-50 and seven in the top half, giving them a strength of schedule that ranks 38th. On top of MSU, USC and Pitt, Nevada ranks 33rd, while Boston College ranks 41st. Connecticut comes in at 55, while Stanford ranks 60th.

Outside of these teams, the competition does drop off. But then again, Florida plays Florida International and Missisippi State. Washington, Washington State and Purdue all are all but sure to be wins and while they might be a tad underrated, Notre Dame has dominated Navy with the exception of 2007. So let's just assume (yeah, we all know what that does) that these are four wins in the books. Despite the fact Michigan is ranked 77th, you can't consider any game played at the Big House a definite win, so they don't fall into this category. That leaves the Irish with eight potentially "lose-able" games. Let's take a look at each matchup and what Notre Dame needs to do to win.

USC
Even without Mark Sanchez, the USC offense will be fully charged and ready to give the Notre Dame defense all it can handle. Nine returners, including the entire offensive line will make it a long day for the Notre Dame front seven. The only shot Notre Dame really has in this game is to take advantage of a young USC secondary. The problem with that lies in the fact that though they're young, the Tojans are exceptionally talented on defense. Weis will need to do some serious coaching to try and get Tate and Floyd out on an island in the passing game. Still, it probably won't be enough.

Michigan State
Javon Ringer won't torch the Blue And Gold for 200 yards this year and it's hard to tell exactly what the identity of the offense is going to be this season, making this a very difficult game to break down so early. The key may lie in an improved Spartans' defense. They did not do an excellent job at getting at the quarterback last year and if the Notre Dame offensive line can give Clausen time, it could very well spell victory for the Irish

Pittsburgh
Last year's classic 4OT game was a heartbreaker for the Irish and pretty much the epitome of their season. This year the biggest factor in this game could be turnovers. With LeSean McCoy gone, the Panthers will have to rely on Bill Stull, a quarterback with a career 11-10 TD-INT ratio. Notre Dame did not do much in the way of forcing turnovers last year, but if they are able to put pressure on Stull and force some mistakes, it puts the team in a very good position. If Clausen can also avoid turnovers himself (something he managed to do in last year's matchup, surprisingly), chalk up an Irish victory.

Nevada
Nevada's offense has been well-documented and the Irish's woes in stopping the run last year, while not as well documented, were also apparent. Moving to a 4-3 defense should help with that as the defensive line will be this team's main strength. While the Blue and Gold like to blitz under defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta, but will probably have to be more disciplined against a great running team like the Wolf Pack. Offensively, Jimmy Clausen and company will have plenty of chances against the defense that ranked 119th in the league last season. To use a Maddenism, it will come down to who can score more often and given the weapons the Irish have in the passing game in Golden Tate, Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph, they have to be considered to have an edge.

Boston College
The Eagles' main strength last year becomes a major question mark this season with the departure of B.J. Raji and Ron Brace and the fact that All-American linebacker Mark Herzlich is not expected to play at all while battling a rare bone cancer. The linebackers and secondary are still solid, but major holes exist on the defensive line. If Notre Dame can generate a running game, something they've lacked the past two seasons, it will make life a lot easier on Clausen. The Eagles most likely will rely on the running game. They probably would have done this with or without Dominque Davis, who was suspended and announced he's transferring, but now the ground game becomes ever-important. The Irish have to remain stout against the run and make the passing game (led by whichever backup wins the starting job) beat them. But let's not forget that Irish teams better than this year's have lost to BC teams worse than this one.

Connecticut
The Nutmegers have just decided rightly not to accept Notre Dame's proposal of a series in which UConn's home games would be played at either Foxboro Stadium or the Meadowlands. They're basically saying they're big-time enough that they don't need Notre Dame. Now's their chance to prove it. However, they'll be trying to do so without Donald Brown and his 2,000-plus yards. Defense will be a huge key in this game. UConn quietly put together one of the best defensive seasons in the country last year. Most notable in regards to this matchup is the fact that they were ninth in passing defense, allowing just 168.2 yards per game. They were also very good against the run, but are much weaker this season on the line, so if the Irish can put together some kind of rushing attack and hold onto the football, they should be able to control this game.

Stanford
Stanford has gotten better each of the past two seasons and looks to continue improving. Throw on top of that the fact that Stanford could have a chance to play spoiler the way they did for USC two years ago and this is a dangerous matchup. If Stanford somehow gets a lead, they can use Toby Gerhart to control the clock. That is, IF Stanford can get the ball back by any other means besides a kickoff. The Cardinal's defense is less than spectacular, ranking in the bottom half of the nation in points allowed and total defense and the offense doesn't figure to be able to put up as many points as they are letting up. If the Irish can get a big enough lead and put the game in Tavita Prichard's hands, they are in a good position.

Michigan
Year two of the Rich Rodriguez experiment will be in full swing and the team's expectations will be the exact opposite of a year ago. Last season the defense was expected to make up for the lack of offense. This season, the offense holds the strength in their experience and having a year or Rodriguez's spread option under its belt. The defense turned out to be dismal last year with a boatload of star power and that is all but gone this year, leaving the cupboard very bare for defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. The Irish would welcome a shootout with the Wolverines and jsut might get their wish.

WAC Preview: Can Boise State grab BCS glory now?

By Chris Maza Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

(Note: As the college football season approaches, I will be breaking down the following conferences: The Big XII, the PAC-10, the WAC and the Big East. This week I tackle the WAC. If you haven't already, don't forget to check out past previews of independent Notre Dame, the Big XII and the PAC-10)

It has been an interesting off season for the WAC as it and the Mountain West signed a BCS television contract in July. Along with the signed contract, the WAC sent along a letter with it's "concerns" about the BCS process. But in reality, they are still on the receiving end of one of the biggest screw jobs in sports in the fact that even after signing the contract, WAC teams are still not given automatic BCS bowl consideration. The conference vowed to continue its fight for equality, but how many waves can you make while being part of a $500 million machine?

So Boise State remains the WAC's best chance at busting things open for the WAC. Not that that means very much. The WAC champion Broncos were ninth in BCS polling at the end of the regular season, ahead of Ohio State (who lost to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl) and Cincinnati (who were thumped by Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl). If you weren't paying attention, even with a decent strength of schedule ranking of 56th, undefeated Boise State was relegated to the Poinsettia Bowl, which did turn out to be one of the best games of the bowl schedule against TCU. Still, the fact that it was a great game against another underappreciated team does not take away the sting of such an obvious snub. Especially when you lose that game.

So the Broncos once again will look for legitimacy in the college football ranks. And while their conference schedule gives them little help in that regard, but if they are able to beat a tough Oregon team in their season opener, it will be a pretty good indication that this team can beat teams with top talent.

Defense remains the main strength of the Broncos - they were 10th in the country in points allowed last season - and that is not likely to change, even with turnover in the front seven. Ryan Winterswyk is a young, but active d-lineman who will help solidify the front line and an experienced secondary will jam up receivers, giving the youngsters up front enough time to get at opposing quarterbacks.

Offensively, sophomore Kellen Moore figures to be even better than his first year and a good line and capable running backs will look to take some of the load off Moore's shoulders. That's a good thing, because if the Broncos have a major weakness, it's in the receiving corps. Beyond Austin Pettis, there isn't much there in terms of truly reliable options for the passing game.

Nevada will be an interesting team to watch coming out of the conference with an absolutely explosive offense. Even though they and Hawaii were tied with 5-3 conference records, many make the argument that Nevada was the better team, citing specifically the Wolf Pack's 38-31 victory over the Warriors. This year there will be no doubt who the number two team in the conference is. Colin Kaepernick is an absolute stud, having compiled nearly 4,000 of total offense (2,849 passing, 1,130 rushing) and 39 touchdowns. Also returning is Vai Taua, the man who actually led the team in rushing, believe it or not, with 1,521 yards, good for eighth in the nation. Nevada's problem last year remains its problem this year - defense. Nevada was ranked 150th in points allowed, giving up an average of 31.5 points per contest. The Wolf Pack had the worst defense in football against the pass, which makes life difficult for them when they face good throwing teams on their schedule like Notre Dame, Missouri and Boise State. The good thing is they are a year older, but adding a year to a bad secondary doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be better.

Two teams that could make a major leap in the conference on Fresno State and Louisiana Tech. The killer for Fresno State could be the fact they play a heavier out-of-conference schedule than others, which includes traveling to Wisconsin and Cincinnati. Its strength lies in its defense, which may sound stupid, considering it ranked seventh in the conference last year. However, let's not forget that a multitude of injuries and the fact defensive coordinator Dan Brown was battling cancer had a lot to do with that. Brown died in March of this year. If they can stay healthy and the players buy into the new coordinator's game plan, 2009 could be a much different story. The big question is who will lead the offense for the Bulldogs? If Ryan Colburn turns out to be even a decent quarterback, with the backfield the Bulldogs have, they could be very successful, especially in conference play.

Louisiana Tech might be ready to step into the big time in the WAC. Last year's defense was the best in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 10 points per game. That was good for sixth in the nation, too, by the way. Their 8-5 record earned them a spot in the Independence Bowl, where they beat Northern Illinois by a score of 17 - (you guessed it) 10. While the defense probably won't be quite that good this year with several key pieces missing, the offense should be able to pick up a bit more of the slack this season. With a strong line in front of him, Daniel Porter should find similar success in the running game as he did in 2008, but for this team to get over the hump, Ross Jenkins will have to become a true leader at the quarterback position.

Hawaii has made news recently because head coach Greg McMackin is still stewing about getting trounced on his home field by a disappointing Notre Dame team, so he felt the need to call them a derogatory term. That's pretty much the only reason this team will make headlines this year. The suspension is a joke, as McMackin will still be able to coach on a "volunteer basis," so don't expect the Rainbow Warriors (ironic, isn't it?) to skip a beat in that regard. Where they will be hurting is on defense, where the team returns just three starters. Offensively, they should be fine, having found a competent quarterback in Greg Alexander, who threw 14 touchdowns and five interceptions in the final six games of the year with a 63 percent completion rate. But is that offense good enough to make up for all the shortcomings they will have on defense? Don't count on it.

Prediction: Boise State again takes the conference, but not without a bump in the road at Louisiana Tech, causing them to fall short in their quest for a BCS bid.

Projected WAC standings:
1. Boise State
2. Nevada
3. Louisiana Tech
4. Fresno State
5. Hawaii
6. San Diego State
7. Utah State
8. New Mexico State
9. Idaho

Mountain West, WAC had to do it

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Don't blame the Mountain West and the WAC for joining the BCS.

They fought a valiant battle, but in the end, it was all about survival. Several times over the years, there has been a Boise State or a Utah that has threatened to blow up the BCS once and for all. But it never happened. They couldn't beat it, so they had to join it.

The worst part about the whole thing is everytime a non-BCS team ended up faltering in its quest to screw up the system, the powers that be would say, "See? The system works."

Well, it still doesn't work. Just because it's better than the old corrupt system does not mean that it is a good system.

It is still unbelievable that so many conferences and Notre Dame would be so against the only truly proper way of determining a champion - a playoff. It's something that should happen in college football for two reasons. First, the fans want it.

But secondly, and seemingly more important to conference officials, it would make them more money. Think of the ratings and advertising dollars a playoff would bring in. Think of the borderline fans that would tune it. They do it for college basketball. Why wouldn't they do it for football? Face it, as Americans, we love drama and there's no better place to get great sports stories than in a tournament. Underdogs and upsets are what make sports great. Remember what George Mason's run in the NCAA basketball tournament in 2006 did for college basketball? Even to a lesser degree, having Bemidji State (ranked 16 out of 16 teams in the NCAA hockey tournament) in the frozen four peaked more interest in the event than normal.

But the BCS is the system we have and, well, it's what we're going to have to accept as being around for a long time with it's two biggest opponents joining its ranks.

But what were the MWC and WAC supposed to do? Let their conferences wither and die while the larger conferences bathe in their riches? No. They needed to survive and this was the only way they could. It doesn't make them hypocrites.

Let's just hope that now they're in, they can influence some changes from the inside.