A Pac-10 Weekend: The Most Excitement in College Football!!

Hurry, hurry, ladies and gentlemen! Step right up! Gather up your popcorn and pretzels, your beer and soda, and sit yourselves in front of your wide-screen TVs for the most exciting show in college football this Labor Day Weekend.

It’s already off to a rousing start. If you didn’t watch last night’s Stanford – Oregon State matchup, you missed one of the better games of the weekend. But don’t worry. There’s more where that came from. Lots more.

Last night’s game had a 404-yard passer and two receivers that accounted for more than 150 yards each. And they were the losers!

That’s the kind of excitement the Pac-10 is all about. Aerial circuses, breakaway runners, interceptions, safeties, and upsets. Last night’s game had them all.

Stanford capitalized on Oregon State turnovers and fumbles to hold onto a surprising but exciting 36-28 upset of the Beavers.

On Saturday, the Pac-10’s Number 1 team, USC, faces Virginia in Charlottesville. While this one won’t be as exciting or as close as Stanford – Oregon State, it will have the best defensive players in college football on display and some guaranteed hard-hitting action.

So, if you are a fan of huge hits, be sure to catch Maualuga, Cushing, Mays, Ellison and company as they go all out to make their statements for best defensive player in the nation. This year the Bronco Nagurski Trophy will live at USC.

As for the Trojan offense, you may see a few exciting breakaway runs by McKnight or Johnson or Gable or all three and a long bomb or two from Marc Sanchez to a stable of excellent receivers. But for the most part, I expect a controlled offense as USC doesn’t want to delve too deeply into its playbook before the upcoming Ohio State Game on September 13^th.

If you’re looking for upsets, you have come to the right place. Although the Cal Golden Bears are very slight favorites because the game is in Berkeley, Cal will exert its dominance on both sides of the ball and soundly throttle their Big Ten rivals, Michigan State.

Expect Jeff Teford’s offensive schemes to outwit Mark Dantonio’s defensive plans. The game will feature two of the harder runners in college football, Michigan State’s Javon Ringer and Cal’s Jahvid Best.

The linebackers are the backbone of both defenses. Cal’s trio of Zach Follett, Anthony Felder and Worrell Williams should give Cal fans plenty to cheer about. Felder and Williams each had over 100 tackles last season.

As the Pac-10 continues its dominance of the Big Ten up at Berkeley, down in Southern California, the UCLA Bruins, the mystery team of the Pac-10, will once again assert the Pac-10’s dominance over the SEC as they upset the Tennessee Volunteers.

Yes, folks, it’s the upset of the weekend, and you heard it here, first. Many pollsters don’t give the Bruins much of chance despite the fact that they have one of the finest coaching tandems in the nation. After all, it’s players not coaches that have to play the game and score the points. And UCLA has lost most of its starters from last year, and injuries have hurt the Bruins at key positions this season.

They are already down to their third-string quarterback, Kevin Craft. Although he is a JC transfer with only five months in the Norm Chow offensive scheme, Craft is the son of Tom Craft, former San Diego State head coach. Coming from a football background, he can probably pick up Chow’s scheme quicker than most quarterbacks.

The game will feature weakness against weakness and strength against strength. That is why I believe the UCLA coaching staff gives the Bruins the winning edge.

Although UCLA’s offensive line is weak, so is the Tennessee defense. And look for Norm Chow to find mismatches as the game goes on and exploit them. On the other side of the ball, it’s strength against strength. Here again, look for DeWayne Walker’s strong defense to shut down the Tennessee offense.

Junior quarterback Jonathan Compton is mobile, but he has never faced a defense as quick as Walker’s. The UCLA secondary is solid all around, and passing yards could be hard to come by. Running backs Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty will have to pick up the slack if the Vols are to have a chance.

So, give the nod here to Chow and Walker as the Pac-10 once again asserts itself in an exciting out-of-conference matchup that could go down to the wire.

Don’t miss any of the exciting action. Watch Pac-10 Football – football the way it was meant to be played.