Thursday, October 05, 2006

On Campus 10/7

5 Games to Watch:

Washington vs. #3 Southern Cal- Coach Tyrone (there you go Paul) Willingham is starting to turn the Huskies program around in year 2. They have won 3 consecutive games including their first two Pac-10 games against UCLA and Arizona. Senior QB Isaiah Stanback will lead his option attack offense into the coliseum trying to upset the Trojans. The Trojans last regular season loss came over three years ago against Cal. Pete Carroll’s squad is certainly not as strong as they have been the past few years and narrowly escaped getting upset in Pullman Washington last week. This could be a prime opportunity for the Huskies to announce they are back and pull off a stunning upset.


#15 Clemson vs. Wake Forest- Again this is the Tommy Bowden trap game, just when things are going well for his Tigers he finds away to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Wake Forest is the worst 5-0 team in football history, their opponents are 6-12 and that doesn’t include the I-AA team they beat. Clemson has a myriad of injuries they are fighting through but as long as they can hand off to James Davis and CJ Spiller they have a chance. With a yawner against Temple next week and games versus Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech later in the month the Tigers cannot afford a slip up here. Look for them to keep the ball on the ground and try not to make mistakes through the air since Chansi Stuckey their best receiver is injured.


#23 Missouri vs. Texas Tech- Quick, who’s the only Big 12 team that is still undefeated? You guessed it, the Missouri Tigers. Who would have thought that after losing the best QB in school history you could come back and start 5-0 the next season? This week QB Chase Daniel takes his team to the plains of west Texas for an old fashioned shootout with Graham Harrell and the Red Raiders. The winner of this game will go to 2-0 in the Big 12 and have a leg up in their respective divisions. The Red Raiders have only given up 3 points at home this season, but the Tigers are averaging 33 points a game, so something will have to give.


Memphis vs. UAB- The Blazers are only 2-3 but they are 1-0 in the conference and are looking to try and take a stranglehold on the East division of Conference USA. The Memphis Tigers are downright awful this season. Tommy West’s Tigers have only one win and that is versus I-AA UT-Chattanooga. The Blazers have one of the worst offenses in the country, but if QB Sam Hunt can get things going his team could get to 2-0 in the conference which would give them the inside track to winning the whole thing. Sometimes a game between two crappy teams can be a fun one to watch.


#7 Texas vs. #10 Oklahoma- The Ole Red River Shootout, there is nothing quite like it in all of college football. This is the first time this decade that neither team is ranked in the top 3 in the country when facing off, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t still important. Texas is 1-0 in Big 12 play and they could gain a three game advantage on Oklahoma by putting them at 0-1 in the conference race. This may be a must win for Oklahoma because they still have road games at Missouri and Texas A&M looming later this month. The Longhorns have one of the best rushing defenses in the country giving up only 36 yards per game; they will make life tough for Heisman candidate Adrian Peterson.





4 Players to See:

Calvin Johnson, WR Georgia Tech- Johnson is simply the best receiver in the country, hands down. The guy who etches the name on the Biletnikoff award might as well start putting Johnson’s name on it. For the third consecutive season he is averaging 17 yards a catch and this season he matched his career high for touchdowns with 7 and he still has 7 games to go. He has had three games where he’s caught multiple touchdown passes this season and this week against Maryland should be no different.


Mario Manningham, WR Michigan- If Johnson is the best, Manningham is not far behind. The sophomore has shown the ability to shine brightest in the biggest games, earlier this season he caught 3 touchdown passes in an upset of Notre Dame. Over his last three games he is averaging 120 ypg. and the Michigan State defense has been susceptible to the big play this year. QB Chad Henne will be looking for Manningham down the field and he should have another big week adding to his 100 yard game totals.


Tyler Palko, QB Pittsburgh- Maligned throughout his career Palko is playing as well as any QB in the country. This season he has an off the chart QB rating of 191.32 and has thrown 14 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions. Over the last two weeks he has completed a ridiculous 84% of his passes while racking up 96 points. This week he goes against the weak Syracuse Orange defense, Palko will have another huge game as his Panthers roll over the Orange.


Tyson Jackson, DE LSU- Jackson leads the formidable LSU Tiger defensive attack. The Tiger defense is second in the country is scoring defense. Jackson and the rest of his mates have racked up 19 sacks and 9 interceptions. Jackson is the freak defensive end who leads the team with 5 ½ sacks this season. He and his line mates will try to wreak havoc on Florida QB Chris Leak and disrupt Urban Meyers offense in the Swamp.

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