College Football: The Most Dangerous Game

Ohio State at Michigan State (October 18th)- Everyone wants to talk about Ohio State’s early season showdown with Southern California- and rightly so. Yet the expectation has been that if the Buckeyes can get past the Trojans on September 13th than it’ll be smooth sailing for the scarlet and red until the season finale against Michigan. Personally, I think that notion is worth a “not so fast my friend.” If any Big 10 team has the capability to stun Ohio State it’ll be the Spartans, who will have the benefit of getting the Buckeyes coming into East Lansing a week before Ohio State’s Homecoming showdown with Penn State. Remember that Michigan State hung around with the Buckeyes last season, eventually falling 24-17 despite being an 18 point underdog on the road. With the bruising Javon Ringer back at running back and a full year under QB Brian Hoyer’s belt expect a more explosive Spartan offense with the ability to stick with Ohio State once again in 2008.

Southern California at Arizona (October 25th)- A perennial contender when it comes to the National Title, Southern California has dominated the Pacific-10 conference under headman Pete Carrol, who is 76-14 through seven seasons at USC. Arizona meanwhile has struggled under Mike Soops, who has failed to get his team past the 6-6 hump in his four seasons in Tucson. Sounds like a sure-thing, right? Maybe, but USC has slipped up against mid to low level Pac-10 teams the past two seasons and Arizona looks to be much better offensively this year. The Trojans had to stage a second half comeback to overcome the Wildcats in a 20-13 win last season, but with 10 returning starters on offense and another year in Sonny Dykes’ system I think the Wildcats will have the ability to hang around late in the game this year. Keep in mind that Stoops’ 2006 team dashed Cal’s National Title hopes in 2006 with a late season win. Can lightning strike twice?

Texas Tech at Oklahoma (November 22nd)- Seldom is there a more important game for Oklahoma than the annual Red River Rivalry with the University of Texas, but looking into 2008 the late November matchup with Texas Tech may present the more important contest in the Sooners’ presumed run at a National Title. Not that Bob Stoops will have his team looking past the Red Raiders, who stunned then 3rd ranked Oklahoma in Lubbock last year. Still, not everyone is buying into Texas Tech, which despite returning a loaded offense still has yet to breakthrough and capture a Big XII title until headman Mike Leach. Yet with three starters lost from a secondary that gave up 420 passing yards to Tech in last year’s game, I look for the Sooner defense to struggle even more so against Graham Harrell and company in 2008, possibly opening the door for a late season upset opportunity. 

Duke at Clemson (November 15th)- Now that the initial shock has worn off from seeing “Duke” and a “National Championship” in the same post, let’s discuss this one. Some may scoff at the notion of Clemson as a realistic National Title contender, but then again who realistically thought Boston College would be in position to vie for the BCS Title before a late season collapse last year? There isn’t much precedence for Duke to beat an ACC team (much less the most talented ACC team) but that fact alone gives the Blue Devils and new Head Coach David Cutcliffe the ability to sneak up on the Tigers, who will be coming off what could be an energy depleting road game at Florida State. Duke has better talent than most people around the country realize, and with seventeen returning starters more than enough experience to start wining games right away. If the team can catch on to Cutcliffe’s scheme and coaching style, the Blue Devils should be in a position to surprise at least one unlucky ACC team in 2008.

BYU at TCU (October 16th)- I’d be lying if I said that hearing the national media types assess BYU’s schedule this year hasn’t caused me the occasional chuckle. Sure, matchups against Washington and UCLA are huge, but putting the Huskies or Bruins on a pedestal above the likes of TCU or Utah seems almost laughable. Texas Christian is coming off of a somewhat disappointing season, but the Horned Frogs return fifteen total starters from a team which finished the year strong last year. QB Andy Dalton should be better, and despite the loss of both starting defensive ends the Horned Frogs should be stout on defense as usual. Gary Patterson coached teams tend to play with a chip on their shoulder, and having been dethroned from the top of the conference the past two seasons they’ll be primed to pull out all the stops against the Cougars.

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