WEEK 1, Saturday Sept. 5

5 Games to Watch

Missouri vs. Illinois- Mizzou is coming off its best 4 year stretch in football but doesn’t have a dynamic QB like Brad Smith or Chase Daniels anymore, so it will be interesting to see how good Gary Pinkle’s team is. A lot of people are picking the Illini to have a huge year. We know Ron Zook can assemble talent; Senior QB Juice Williams and Junior WR Arrelius Benn figure to be one of the best tandems in all of college footbal


5 Alabama vs. 7 Virginia Tech- Clearly the premier matchup of the weekend. Some are touting the Hokies for a national title shot and this game could ruin that before we get to Labor Day. The Hokies are playing for conference pride also. For the second year in a row the NC State Wolfpack looked miserable against a middle tier South Carolina team to lead off the season, and last year in this game the Clemson Tigers fumbled on the opening play and got embarrassed. Alabama may have the best defense in the country and just found out that their starting receivers will be eligible for te game.


11 LSU vs. Washington- Les Miles takes his bayou bengals across the country to face new coach Steve Sarkisian’s Huskie squad. Sarkisian was a successful assistant at Southern Cal and has a big time talent at QB in JakeLocker. Locker is big and strong and can run the ball as well as throw it. The Huskies will find out a lot about their team going against a speedy SEC opponent. Coach Miles needs to find a steady QB and testing it out on the road will give him a good idea if he has a good one.


Cincinnati vs. Rutgers- The Big East isn’t as good as the Pac-10, Big 12 or SEC but it will be one of the most competitive conferences in the land. Two of the leading candidates to win it all this year are Cincy and Rutgers who meet to start the season here. Many experts think Greg Schiano’s team could go undefeated because of a favorable schedule including getting this game at home. Both teams are replacing starting QB’s so it will probably be a low scoring contest.


8 Ole Miss vs. Memphis- Ole Miss is the darling pick of the season with top flight QB Jevon Snead and the fact that they were the only team to beat the invincible Florida Gators last year. The Reb’s always start the season off playing regional rival Memphis and some times the game is a whole lot closer than people expect. Memphis has a decent squad but the opportunity to knock of the darlings of college football could provide for an exciting early season game. I think we will see if Ole Miss is for real right off the bat.


4 Players to See

Josh Nesbitt, QB Georgia Tech- Nesbitt took like a duck to water under first years coach hkjjhjhj option offense last season. The Rambling Wreck bring back most of their team from last year and Nesbitt could be the most dynamic player in the ACC with his dual threat ability. The one thing he needs to work on is completing a higher percentage of passes this year.


Paki O’Meara, RB Iowa- Okay, so who is Paki O’Meara and why would you be talking about him? Well Shonn Greene was the best RB in the country last year rushing for 1800 yards and propelled Iowa to an Outback Bowl route of South Carolina.. The Hawkeyes are ranked in the preseason for the first in a few years and they usually have a proven ground attack. Jewel Hampton was supposed to replace Greene but hurt his knee and out for the year, so that duty falls to O’Meara who in two seasons has accumulated 62 yards and 2 TD’s.


Joe Cox, QB Georgia- A fifth year senior who will finally get his crack at running the Dawgs offense. He is replacing one of the best QB’s in school history and #1 NFL Draft Pick Mathew Stafford. Cox has only thrown for 400+ yards in limited duty in his time in Athens but Coach Richt is confident in his knowledge of the offense and leadership ability. Starting off on the road in Stillwater Cox will be tested early.


Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma- Perhaps the best defensive player in the country, McCoy controls the line of scrimmage. This years Sooner defense is much stronger than the last few years and that is due to McCoy staying for his junior season. McCoy isn’t a stat hog but a complete disruptive force in the middle of the field