Sportaholic College Football Weekend Setup

At last the time has come for another season of college football. I unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to post an article last week for the season opener and I still can’t get that out of my head. But alas I am now back in the game and have a fresh take of the biggest games of the weekend. Bama and Penn State should be an interesting game among two of college football’s flagship programs. Michigan vs. Notre Dame just conjures up those old school images of football and this will be a slobberknocker in the Big House. Those are two of the better games this weekend we will touch on plus more. So sit back and enjoy as we set your primer for the weekend in college football.

Alabama (1-0) vs. Penn State (1-0) – This will be the 15th meeting between the two football juggernauts and the first time in Happy Valley since 1989. Joe Pa and the Nittany Lions traveled to Tuscaloosa last year and got whipped 24-3. This year shouldn’t be any different as Bama’s vaunted defense is just as good as or even better than last year’s. Led by Dre Kiltpatrick, Mark Barron and Dont’a Hightower, they are loaded on that side of the ball. In last week’s dismantling of Kent State, the Tide held them to a paltry 90 total yards of offense on 70 plays. Penn State has a chance though because Bama is relying on A.J McCarron, who looked good but not great last week. If Rob Bolden and or Matt McGloin can generate enough offense to at least put a bit of fear into the Crimson Tide, then they may be able to make a game out of this one. In the end though, Bama will just be too strong on the ground with Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy and will just wear down Joe Pa’s boys with their defense. The Pick: Bama 28-14

Michigan (1-0) vs. Notre Dame (0-1) – You know the Big House will be rocking in Ann Arbor for this one Saturday. This is the first time in 84 years that the game will be played at night. The Wolverines looked good in Brady Hoke’s new pro-style offense including Denard “Shoelaces” Robinson. I thought he would have a difficult transition from the spread to Hoke’s more disciplined pro style but so far so good. His numbers may not have showed it as he was 9 of 13 for 98 yards passing and added 46 yards on the ground but he looked comfortable in the pocket and didn’t look to run as much as did last year. The Michigan defense is still a work in progress as they let lowly Western Michigan gain almost 300 yards in total offense (279) but they did make some big plays as they forced 3 turnovers. And what can we say about Notre Dame? Once again they were hyped as being championship material this year and low and behold they lose their season opener to South Florida. As I was watching that game I kept saying to myself “Alright Notre Dame lets get for real now.” But they never could compose themselves and take over the game. Coach Brian Kelly subbed the inefficient Danye Crist for Tommy Rees and that seemed to spark the Fighting Irish offense as they finished with 508 total yards of offense. In order for the Irish to win this game they will need to get Michael Floyd the ball early and often. He had 12 catches for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns last game and could be just as effective in this one. I get the feeling that Notre Dame has a lot to prove in this game and will be up to the challenge against the Wolverines. The Pick: Notre Dame 35-30

South Carolina (1-0) vs. Georgia (0-1) – The SEC game of week features the two favorites to win the SEC East. The Bulldogs are facing yet another stiff challenge after losing to Boise State last week. I was very disappointed in Andy Murray and the entire Georgia offense with their dismal performance against the Broncos. I was also disappointed with those ugly red uniforms but that’s another story. With all due respect to Boise State’s defense, I believe the Bulldogs were not prepared for the challenge and intensity of the first game on that side of the ball which says something to the coaching of that team. Mark Richt already is on the hot seat and how warm will that seat get if the “Dawgs” get off to a 0-2 start. The Gamecocks on the other hand did won in extraordinary fashion last year as they spotted East Carolina an early 17 point lead with hand picked Connor Shaw at the helm. It was at this point the “Ol Ball Coach” Steve Spurrier realized that umm yeah that Stephen Garcia is pretty good and put him in. Garcia immediately got to work as he ran for a 32-yard touchdown and the offense took off from that point. Marcus Lattimore is just a beast in every meaning of the word. He tore up the ECU defense for 122 yards on the ground and just controlled the game once he got into his groove. Alshon Jeffrey continues to be the big time wide receiver he is suppose to be with 5 catches for 92 yards. This one will come down to the trenches as Georgia will have to find a way to stop Lattimore. He is the key to the game in my opinion and I just don’t think the Bulldogs will be able to stop him even though they have a good defense. The Pick: South Carolina 23-16

Game of the week – Notre Dame vs. Michigan - For traditions sake, I have to go with the old Midwest rivalry dating back 84 years ago. And this one will be the first time they face off under the lights. Notre Dame can’t start off 0-2 if they plan on going to a BCS game but I get the feeling the Wolverines could care less about any of that.

Most Intriguing game - Mississippi State vs. Auburn - Why is this intriguing you ask? Well lets see, this will be the first test for Miss. State and coach Dan Mullen who some have pegged as a darkhorse in the SEC West. The defending national champs Auburn dropped out the poles with a unsavory victory over lowly Utah State. Auburn has won 17 of 18 SEC openers and nine in a row at home. They have also won 9 of the past 10 against the Bulldogs, so something has to give here in this game.

Under the radar game – BYU vs. Texas - This is just the third meeting between the two and BYU actually has the upper hand 2-0 against the Longhorns. The Longhorns and Garrett Gilbert better come to play because if not, BYU can spring the upset over Texas. Malcolm Brown has to continue to be the foundation of the Texas offense.

Wake me when its over game – Memphis vs. Arkansas State - Yes my hometown of Memphis has a football team and no they are not very good. Arkansas State also has a pretty bad team so this one gets the first triple Z’s rating this season. Memphis has lost 10 straight and couldn’t beat an elite JV high school football team. Arkansas State has lost 8 straight non-conference games as well. Sounds like a sleeper to me as in I will sleep through this one. Keep it classy Memphis.

Coach better get it right game – South Carolina vs. Georgia - Mark Richt can go down two roads this game. If the Bulldogs win, then all is well and Georgia can make a run at the SEC East crown. If they lose then all the swirling negativity will engulf the program Its hard enough to play in the SEC but when you’re a coach who trying to keep your job its makes it that much harder. Richt and co better get this one right before its too late. And I can’t wait to see those away jerseys.

College Football Weekend Finale Spectacular

Last week due to being under the weather, I was unable to post my usual picks for the weekend (out of all weekends to be sick, it would be on championship Saturday). But thanks to a little Nyquil and some chicken noodle soup, I am good to go now. I did get to witness the massacre that was the SEC championship game, a thriller in the last Big 12 championship game and Virginia Tech holding its annual ACC invitational.




Championship Saturday always is special as it is the last week before the bowl season. Most bowls games are set and the national championship will be Auburn vs. Oregon. That one has all the makings of one the more interesting championships match-ups we’ve had in years but more on that later. As for now, lets breakdown the championship games.

SEC Championship: Auburn 56 South Carolina 14 - This one was actually interesting until the second half, as it turned into the Cam Newton show from there. The projected Heisman winner was just sensational as he displayed his talents in the Georgia Dome. He would prove that he can do it with his arm as he finished 17/28 for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns to no interceptions. He made plays are over the field, dropping beautiful passes to various receivers including a lucky Hail Mary at the end of the first half. The Hail Mary pass seemed to shift the momentum going into the second half and poor South Carolina could do nothing but watch as Newton put a stamp on his Heisman campaign. The Tigers beat the Gamecocks in every conceivable way as they rolled up 589 yards of total offense. The game was put out of reach on a Stephen Garcia interception, as he tried to lob a screen pass but was heavily pressured and T'Sharvan Bell of Auburn took the easy pick to the house. The look on Steve Spurrier’s face was priceless. He looked like a man who had no answers. Auburn goes on to face Oregon in BCS championship game.

Big 12 Championship: Oklahoma 23 Nebraska 20 – I didn’t know much about the Sooners Travis Jackson but by the end of this one I knew he was a playmaker. Jackson had 2 fumble recoveries and an interception in the win against the Cornhuskers. Nebraska shot out to an early 17-0 lead off the strength of its power run game. Roy Helu Jr. won a footrace and bolted for a 66-yard run up the gut and the Cornhuskers tacked on a field goal. Nebraska would also pull out a trick play as the former high school QB and now RB Rex Burkhead would find Kyler Reed down the middle for a 5-yard touchdown. Don’t call it a comeback though as the Sooners would strike back with Landry Jones finding an open Kenny Stills down the middle for a 42-yard touchdown. The Boomer Sooners would add their own field goal after Jackson intercepted Taylor Martinez to tie the score at 17-10. Nebraska would have another turnover on their next possession as they fumbled and the Sooners would take advantage as Landry Jones would lead Oklahoma on a short field drive and take it in on a 1-yard touchdown run tying the score at 17 all. Nebraska would get the back with 1:26 and would be able to add on another field goal to make it 20-17 at halftime. The Sooners would be the only team to score from their as they added two more field goals in the second half. Nebraska continued to shoot themselves in the foot as Martinez fumbled on their first possession and again Jackson was spot on for clean up duty. The Cornhuskers would fumble yet again as Rex Burkhead coughed it up and guess who scooped it up? You guessed right with Jackson. Oklahoma would take it down field and kick the go ahead field goal. The Cornhuskers had so many chances to take control of this game but couldn’t hold on to the ball. It’s fitting though as the title stays in the Big 12 with the Cornhuskers going to the Big 10 next year. Oklahoma will now face Uconn in the Fiesta bowl.

ACC Championship: Virginia Tech 44 Florida State 33 – As I stated above, the annual Virginia Tech invitational was held in Charlotte, North Carolina this year instead of Florida and the result was still the same. After starting the season 0-2 as everyone knows, The Hokies ran the table and took home the ACC championship for the third time in four years. This game belonged to Tyrod Taylor. He may not be the second coming of Michael Vick as he was perceived at the beginning of his career at Tech, but the senior exposed the FSU secondary going 18/28 for 263 yards and 3 touchdowns. His top target was Danny Coale and he finished the day with 6 catches for 143 yards and 1 touchdown. If there was an excuse for FSU it was that Senior starting QB Christan Ponder was unable to go after sustaining an injury last week. E.J. Manuel filled in admirably for Ponder and made a few good plays but also some very bad ones including two interceptions, with one being returned for a touchdown. His numbers weren’t that bad as he passed for 288 yards and one touchdown, but this game belonged to the Hokies. The Seminoles had a good first year for new head coach Jimbo Fisher finishing 9-4 and headed to the Chick-Fil-A bowl. The Hokies will be on their way to the Orange to face a tough Stanford team lead by Andrew Luck.



Other notables and news:

Oregon 37 Oregon State 20 – The old civil war lived up to its billing in the first half before the Ducks pulled away in the Second. LaMichael James did what LaMichael James always does rushing for 134 yards on 28 carries. Darron Thomas looked solid going 14/24 for 145 yards and two touchdowns. The win setups the match-up everyone wants to see with Auburn. Oregon State started the year with such high hopes but won’t even be bowling this year. I’ll touch on the Auburn-Oregon game later in this column. Man I loved those Jersey's Oregon had on in this one.

SEC Power – The SEC had a total of 10 schools selected to bowl games this year. That’s remarkable when you consider there are only 12 schools in the league. The match-ups include: Music City Bowl (Tennessee vs. North Carolina), BBVA Compass Bowl (Kentucky vs. Pittsburgh), Outback Bowl (Florida vs. Penn State) Liberty Bowl (Georgia vs. UCF) Chick-fil-A Bowl (Florida State vs. South Carolina) Gator Bowl (Michigan vs. Mississppi State) Capital One Bowl (Alabama vs. Michigan State) Cotton Bowl (LSU vs. Texas A&M) Sugar Bowl (Arkansas vs. Ohio State) and of course BCS Championship Game (Auburn vs. Oregon)



Auburn vs. Oregon – These are two very similar teams from the outside looking in. Both feature a spread option attack that keeps the tempo of the game at a high pace. They both have bend but don’t break defenses. The one thing the separates the two is none other than Cam Newton. I haven’t seen Oregon (Or any team that hasn’t played Auburn for that matter) face someone with the talents of the Auburn phenom. He will present a different set of challenges for the defensively stout Ducks. He has proven that he can beat you with arm as well as feet now as well. I’m interested in the scheme Oregon DC Nick Allotti comes up with. Luckily he will until Jan 10 to figure that part out. Auburn will have a tough time containing James but they have seen similar backs in the SEC after facing the likes of Marcus Lattimore, Mark Ingram, and Trent Richardson so I think they will be able to deal with him. The game will come down to Newton in the end and I believe he will be up to the challenge.



Next week I will be predicting each bowl game on a week to week basis and that should be fun. The college football regular season has ended and it’s a bittersweet moment for me. This has been a wild and unpredictable year to say the least. From the Cam Newton Bombshell to Joe Pa winning his 400th game we saw it all. The game brings out the best and worst in people but most of the time good over runs the bad. Here is to another fine college football season, now let the bowling bonanza begin.

Vandy vs. South Carolina review

Vandy came into this game looking to recover from the thrashing it took from Uconn, but South Carolina was also looking to retake first place in the SEC East. Senior Brian Maddox, in for the super freshman Marcus Lattimore due to an injury, had a career day with 146 yards rushing en route to defeating the Commodores 21-7.

Vanderbilt looked strong in the first half and the game was tied 7-7 going into the 3rd quarter. Coach Steve Spurrier replaced an ineffective Kenny Miles with Maddox in the 4th series of the game. Maddox at first was proving just as ineffective as Miles until a game changing drive that saw him eat up 48 yards on the ground in the 3rd quarter. The Gamecocks let Vandy hang around with an errant snap on one drive and Casey Heyward's SEC-leading fifth interception on another and a blocked field goal as well. The Commodores had consistent pressure on Stephen Garcia and had a total of 4 sacks. To Garcia's credit, he remained tough in the pocket and finally found his rhythm and hit a couple of long passes late in the game. I figured Vandy would have problems covering Alshon Jeffrey with his size and athleticism and was proved to be correct. Garcia was able to connect with Jeffrey for a 24-yard catch that set up a Maddox touchdown and later Jeffrey had a spectacular 72-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth. A surprise to me and apparently to the Commodores was receiver Tori Gurley who finished with 13 catches for 109 yards. When you combine Jeffrey's number and Gurley's numbers you can see it was hard for Vandy's secondary to keep up with the Gamecocks passing game.

Vanderbilt's offense looked as stagnant as ever finishing with just 250 total yards. Larry Smith continues to have trouble passing going 13/31 for 142 and no touchdowns. The run game was OK at best going for 108 yards. Vandy will continue to have problems as long as there middling offense doesn't find the continuity it needs to help out its defense. The Commodores are now 2-5 and are headed to Fayetville next in a dual with Arkansas, lead by QB Ryan Mallett and the Razorbacks intricate passing game. There is definitely no rest for the weary in the SEC but hopefully Vandy can try to rebound from consecutive losses.