College Football - Live Thread - Week Two

ESPN.com Scoreboard ^ | From September 7th to September 9th

[MikefromOhio]

Week Two – College Football

Week One finally brought some much needed intensity to the summertime months for most of us. It was a relief for some (Ohio State, Notre Dame) and a crushing time for others (Colorado and Cal especially). Now that we’ve seen most every team in action, now we have something to go on other than perceptions when making picks.

As always, all rankings are from the ESPN.com Scoreboard page. I will also list any games of interest (FReepmail me if you want your team included and I will include them from here on out) and any other games listed in my Yahoo league.

GAME of the WEEK

Saturday, September 9th, 2006

(1) Ohio State at (2) Texas (-2.5)

Ohio State’s offense is fine. Their defense remains a question mark. Texas looked ok on offense and their defense is seemingly solid. Might we have another #1 after this week? Yes, probably. While there was quite a bit of holding in the Northern Illinois game, there was more of an issue of the Ohio State defenders getting off of blocks and making tackles. Now sure Garrett Wolfe would PROBABLY start on a team like Texas (he’s that good), NIU doesn’t have the offensive line that Texas does. Going into a hostile environment with a young and unproven defense isn’t quite as bit a hinderance as going in with a young and unproven offense, but Texas as a relatively experienced offense, just a redshirt freshman QB. Assuming he makes no mistakes, which is a hard thing to do in a game like this, Texas will win outright. Ohio State’s offense won’t make very many mistakes either, but their defense is the major question mark of this game.

Ohio State 25 – Texas 22

Thursday September 7th, 2006 (ESPN Thursday Night Game)

Oregon State at Boise State (-8)

This game should be a shootout. Neither team is especially known for defense. And we get to see that horrible blue turf they have in Boise very early this year.

Saturday September 9th 2006 (in ranking order)

(19) Penn State at (4) Notre Dame (-8)

The Prediction:

Penn State 21 – Notre Dame 17**** UPSET ALERT

(4) Auburn (-20) at Mississippi State

Auburn 38 – Miss St. 10

Eastern Washington at (6) West Virginia (NL)

WVU 56 – Eastern Washington 7

UCF at (7) Florida (-23)

Florida 40 – UCF 14

Arizona at (8) LSU (-16)

LSU 32 – Arizona 10

Troy at (9) Florida State (-30)

FSU 55 – Troy 3

Central Michigan at (10) Michigan (-28)

Michigan 35 – Central Michigan 14

Air Force at (11) Tennessee (-20)

Tennessee 43 – Air Force 7

(12) UGA (-3) at South Carolina

UGA 28 – South Carolina 10

(13) Louisville (-40.5) at Temple

Louisville 70 – Temple 3

(14) Iowa (-20) - Syracuse

Iowa 45 – Syracuse 17

Washington at (15) Oklahoma (-17)

Oklahoma 34 - Washington 14

(16) Virginia Tech (-12) at North Carolina

VT 32 – North Carolina 10

(18) Clemson (-2.5) at Boston college

Clemson 17 – BC 14

(20) Oregon (-11) at Fresno State

Oregon 34 – Fresno State 18

Nicholls St. at (21) Nebraska (-20.5)

Nebraska 45 – Nicholls State 0

Minnesota at (22) California (-8.5)

Minnesota 32 – Cal 28*****UPSET ALERT

UC Davis at (23) TCU (NL)

TCU 54 – UC Davis 10

(24) Texas Tech (-7) at UTEP

Texas Tech 59 – UTEP 16

Nevada at (25) Arizona St. (-14.5)

ASU 43 – Nevada 12

20-1 Straight UP
19-2 Against the Spread

[MikefromOhio]

To everyone in the FReeper College Football Pick'Em league on Yahoo, the new week is up and ready to be picked.

[MikefromOhio]

College Football Ping.

Freepmail me to be added to this list.

[GOP_Raider]

And we get to see that horrible blue turf they have in Boise very early this year.

LOLOL, my grandparents have been Boise State season ticket holders for a REALLY long time--at least as long as I've been alive. Well, when they laid down the new blue turf the BSU Athletic Dept. auctioned off a bunch of the original turf that first debuted back in' 86. Not only did they win a very big piece of the old turf, I went on Google Earth and checked out their house and you can see the piece of blue turf they have in their backyard.

Anyway, thought I'd share that.

[MikefromOhio]

LOL!!

Actually that's pretty cool!!

I remember seeing a short piece on ESPN about how they have to clean dead birds off of the field sometimes during migration season because the birds mistake the turf as a pond.

[Dog Gone]

I think you're dreaming about Cal, although I hope you're right. I NEVER pull for conference opponents. Maybe once in awhile in bowl games where it doesn't matter to the rankings, but even then, I don't want recruits to even consider signing with conference opponents.

[JLS]

Can I join a week late?

[NittanyLion]

Penn State 21 – Notre Dame 17

I like the way you think...

[They'reGone2000]

(19) Penn State at (4) Notre Dame (-8) The Prediction: Penn State 21 – Notre Dame 17**** UPSET ALERT

Mike, I like the way you think.

[MikefromOhio]

Minnesota has it's usual power running game.

Cal hasn't shown any guts yet when they get smacked in the mouth.

Maybe being at home will help them, we will see.

[MikefromOhio]

I kinda doubt it...but give it a shot...

League ID: 18344
Password: football

[MikefromOhio]

Thank you :)


We will see, there is always one or two games that I miss narrowly and one game that I blow completely.....

[NittanyLion]

one game that I blow completely.....

I'm hoping that'll be FSU v. Troy. hahaha....

[MikefromOhio]

LOL

actually I'm hoping it's one of the No Line games....

You can't lose those unless an upset occurs.

:)

[Roccus]

You were pretty close to 'on the money' with the WVU/Marshall game. Hope your prediction is just as good this week. Although I thought Coach Rodriguez left him in too long, Slaton got 204 yds. White played like he was on cruise control. A lotta poise in that lad.

[lepton]

Ohio State 25 – Texas 22

I think that that is too low. I think OSUs offense may well score much more than that, but I agree, that unless it's technical corrections that can be done between weeks, that OSUs defense is going to get mauled by Texas. Expect that, at least during some 8-10 minute part of the game, that there will be 28-35 points scored.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah..

Eastern Washington isn't going to be much of a challenge.

[MikefromOhio]

I don't think they will be mauled.

I honestly think that both offenses will come out a bit tight, especially Texas.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

I've got a good feeling about Ohio State. The buckeyes are the sexy pick to lose according to sports talk guru's. This year its Texas who has to deal with off the field distractions. They also lost a special teams player.

Hey Mike my tixs to Penn State game are in the south stands (the last time I was there they really were stands).

Next week is the big week. I think there are 8 games pitting top 25 teams against each other.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

Lookout for Troy. Sometimes they surprise ya.

[lepton]

Let me clarify a bit:

OSU's defense getting "mauled" means several big plays and a general inability to shut down drives. At least the 25 points you project, and maybe into the mid 30s.

I expect that the game will go in waves with some point in the game points falling like water, then things clamping down and the team that's behind laboriously closing the gap. I too would not be surprised with a cautious start from both teams.

I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up something like 45-38.