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.

It's still OU, Texas, then everyone else in the Big XII

By Chris Maza

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

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

Sorry, all you Jayhawks, Cowboys, Huskers and Raiders.

The Big XII is still Sooner and Longhorn country.

While the Big XII will remain one of the most competitive conferences in college football and could possibly be even more competitive than last year, there’s no reason to think anyone but Oklahoma or Texas is going to walk away with the conference title.

Once again in 2009, you can’t have a conversation about the national championship without these two, who are considered by many to be the two of the top three teams in the country. Exactly where they rank is debatable, but one thing is clear – these two teams are clearly in front in a conference full of offensive firepower.

That fact statement in and of itself seems odd to say. Isn’t the Big XII supposed to be a rough-and-tumble conference dominated by defense? Well, times have changed and while several teams still have top-notch defenses, explosive offense is the name of the game.

And how can you talk about explosive offense without first mentioning Sam Bradford? Bradford led the Sooner’s No. 1 ranked scoring offense (51.14 points per game) with the nation’s third-best passing attack. But coming off his 50 touchdown 2008 season, there are questions revolving the Sooners. First off is who is he going to throw to? Juaquin Iglesias and Manuel Johnson are gone and there’s not a lot of experience coming in to fill those spots. Also, while Trent Williams will be back, the Sooners are missing four starting offensive linemen from the 2008 squad. Not that OU has to really worry about a lack of talent at any position, but don’t expect them to match last year’s No. 3 ranking in sacks allowed. With the parts missing, Bradford will have to adjust and there’s no reason to think he won’t and Chris Brown - who would have been a sure-fire first-rounder if he opted for the draft – returns to give him support in the backfield. Oh, don’t forget OU returns nine starters on defense, too. OU remains a powerhouse, but the one question still remains: Can they win the big game?

The Texas Longhorns felt last year they deserved to be in the Big XII title game last year and they might have had a valid point, having beaten the Sooners during the regular season. Instead, the Sooners broke a three-way tie in the South with the fifth tiebreaker and eventually won the Big XII championship and punched their ticket to the BCS national championship. This year, Texas wants to make sure this year they don’t leave anything up to statistics. Colt McCoy returns to lead one of the Top-5 offenses in football and the defense remains one of the best in the nation. If there’s one knock on the offense, it’s the lack of a running attack, as McCoy led the team in rushing last year. Still, it didn’t seem to hinder things in 2008. Defensively, the Longhorns boast one of the nation’s best linebacking corps and a solid secondary unit, but the defensive line needs to be totally overhauled. Only if the line can create pressure can the defense maintain the kind of pass defense they had in the past.

Just because there are only two clear contenders for a national championship in the conference, does not mean the rest of the bunch is a collection of stiffs.

Oklahoma State is looking to make a big statement this year with possibly the best offense it has ever had in its history, but doesn’t stand much of a chance of winning the conference. Beating both Texas and Oklahoma for the South division title is an extremely tall task for any team, regardless of how good they may be

.

Kansas, another big offense team, is a quickly up-and-coming team and with Mizzou looking much weaker this year and Nebraska seemingly not quite there yet, the Jayhawks could take the Big XII North.

Nebraska is going to rely on the old way of doing things in the Big XII, relying on its defense to pull out games. They have improved quite a bit and won the Gator Bowl last year, but let’s remember that was against a Clemson team that really wasn’t that good.

Texas Tech is replacing both Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, but it still runs a system that could make a boatload of quarterbacks very successful, making them still a very dangerous offensive team.

Missouri won the Big XII North last year, but will have to move on without Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman and William Moore. While they’ll still be good enough to make some competitive games and maybe make things interesting in the division, there’s just too much turnover for them to be considered a true contender.

When it’s all said and done, it all comes down to the classic rivalry – Texas and Oklahoma. So who’s the best? It’s too close to say definitively, but more question marks seem to revolve around the Sooners than the ‘Horns. It could come down to Oklahoma’s last game of the season, on the road at Oklahoma State. OSU will be in the mix for some serious bowl consideration, making this maybe the most critical matchup of the season for OU, OSU AND Texas.

Prediction: Texas wins the South, Kansas wins the North. Texas wins the conference and carries its 12-1 record into the BSC national championship.