On Campus 9/15/07

5 Games to Watch

#9 Louisville @ Kentucky- This one could be the shootout in the Bluegrass State, the lowest point total for either team this season is 50. Recently Louisville has owned this rivalry for the Governors Cup, but Kentucky is about as good as they have been in the last ten years. The one thing we know is that Louisville is going to score and they will do so on the right arm of Brian Brohm, who has 9 TD's and over 750 yards of offense this season. The Louisville defense has resembled a sive more than anything else recently and Andre Woodson and the Widlcats can score in bunches. This game could easily come down to who has the ball last. The one advantage may go to Kentucky who has the stronger rushing attack lead by the 9.5 yards per carry of Raphael Little and 8.7 yards per carry of Tony Dixon

Florida State @ Colorado- The Seminoles take to the road to see if they can get this season going in the right direction. They will be facing an up and coming Colorado team, which has played well going 1-1 in this early season. Dan Hawkins Buff's are lead by a freshmen QB who just happens to be the son of the Head Coach and in his first home game this year he threw for 200 yards and 2 TD's in a win against Colorado State. The Seminole offense has had its struggles this season but then again so has the Buffaloes defense. This is a classic case of the stoppable force going against the moveable object. For a young Colorado team this is a chance to get off to a good start and for the Noles a loss here could be absolutely devastating to their season and to their longtime coach.

#21 Boston College @ #15 Georgia Tech- A marquee match-up of top 25 teams and for Boston College a chance to get off to a 3-0 start in the ACC. If BC gets a win here they have 4 straight easy out of conference games (Army, BGSU, UMass & Notre Dame) and then a bye week before going to Virginia Tech, where they could come in as a Top 10 team. Georgia Tech already has a big win on the road at South Bend and would love to get off to a 1-0 start in conference play, with the Coastal Division clearly up for grabs. Yellow Jacket running back Tashard Choice is tearing it up again this year but the Eagles defense has been stout only yielding 58 total rushing yards this season. This game could come down to the arm of Tech QB Taylor Bennett who hasn't had to win a game yet, but the BC defense has given up over 300 yards a game through the air. If the Eagles can go on the road and get this win I think they will be playing in Jacksonville for the ACC title.

Pittsburgh @ Michigan State- Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has had back to back 6-6 campaigns, but has a chance to get his Panthers to 3-0 here early this season. His stout defense will be going into a high powered environment where the Spartans have the 19th ranked offense in the country. Michigan State is lead by a pair of Juniors, QB Brian Hoyer and WR Devin Thomas. Thomas has begun to emerge this season going for over 100 yards in each of the first 2 games. The Spartans have the high powered offense that can stretch the field and against the Panthers they will need to. On of these teams will move to 3-0 on the early season and give a young team confidence as they go into conference play; the winner of this game will go on to have a very good season.

#20 Tennessee @ #5 Florida- Always the first marquee game in the Southeastern Conference, the Vols and the Gators. The Gators are coming off a national championship and two easy blowout victories and 2 straight big wins in the series. Tim Tebow has taken over the fulltime QB duties and has shown the double threat ability that he was so highly touted for. The Vols defense will have a hard time trying to control Tebow, but I don't think the Gator defense has an easy task. Senior QB Erik Ainge has continued to improve and has not thrown an interception yet this season. Ainge has found two new targets down field in Junior Lucas Taylor and Sophomore Austin Rogers and against an untested Gator defense they could put some points on the board. I think this will be a high scoring affair and could be a chance for Phillip Fullmer and the Vols to make a statement and say they haven’t faded into oblivion like most fans think

4 Players to See

Kevin Smith, RB UCF- Smith has averaged a little over 1,000 yards each of his first two seasons and this year is poised for a breakout year. Averaging over 6 yards per carry in the early season he will need to continue to carry the load for the Golden Knights. In the seasons only game on the road at NC State he rushed for over 200 yards in a two point victory. In order for UCF to have a chance this week they will need to control the clock and Smith's running will be a key as he goes against one of the most formidable defensive fronts in the country; the Longhorns have only given up 170 yards rushing in 2 games.

Rey Maualuga, MLB Southern Cal- He is one of those guys who they say has a motor that never quits. Well his motor better be revved up and ready to go Saturday because as the MLB he will have a singular focus against the Cornhuskers and that is stop Marlon Lucky. Lucky has racked up over 300 yards and 4 TD’s in two games. Maulaga will have to spearhead the Trojan defense and keep Lucky under control if they want to have a chance in Lincoln this weekend,

Todd Boeckman, QB Ohio State- The Buckeyes have been able to ease Boeckman into the starting job replacing Heisman winner Troy Smith by playing Akron and Youngstown. But now all of sudden Boeckman has to grow up in a hurry on the road going against one of the most improved teams in the country. So far he has been efficient and he will have to be the same in Husky Stadium as the noise level will rise each possession. Boeckman’s poise in this game will show Coach Tressel what he has for the Big 10 wars.

Adarius Bowman, WR Oklahoma State- Bowman has been steady so far but is looking for a breakout game. The Troy defense has given up yards in bunches this year and Bowman is looking to exploit their small unproven secondary. This could be a showcase for Bowman to go for over 200 yards and 3 TD’s.