Trent's Touchdown: Six Games to Watch in Week Two

I do have to say, writing this week’s Touchdown was tough—not as tough as the ACC had it last week, but tough nonetheless.  Everyone who is a straight college football fan is looking forward to the throwdown next weekend between Ohio State and USC.

In fact, let’s get through this as quickly as possible so we can get closer to next weekend.

1) Miami at No. 5 Florida—8:00 on ESPN

Rivalry games are so fun, especially early in the season.  While not your regular cut-and-dry rivalry, I think this fully qualifies.

While most of the U’s players were most worried about prom dates less than two years ago, Florida has the experience and the talent.  I’m not saying Miami isn’t close to resurrecting itself once again, but Florida has enough talent to just beat you into submission.  Of course, it doesn’t help that Miami’s starting QB is making his debut.

2) Stanford at No. 15 Arizona State—10:07 on local networks

Woohoo, Pac-10 showdowns early in the season.  Raise your hand if you’re excited.

If we’ve learned anything from last season (besides the need for a playoff), it’s “don’t sleep on Stanford.”  Now I’m not expecting Stanford to light the world on fire here, but I expect them to be competitive.  Rudy Carpenter should have enough firepower to get past Stanford, but the Sun Devils are going to need their ground game to help out.

3) Mississippi at No. 20 Wake Forest—3:30 on ABC

The reason this gets number three is because it’s yet another ACC/SEC clash in which the ACC is expected to win.  If Clemson proved anything last week (besides how to look completely foolish), it was that the SEC is a far superior conference (duh!).  However, as long as Ole Miss doesn’t wet themselves before kickoff, they should consider it a moral victory.

All kidding aside, Wake should win, considering they have more talent and are not playing with a new offense—but I can’t forget the last two Clemson games.

4) Oregon State at No. 19 Penn State—3:30 on ABC

Penn State is breaking Trent’s third rule of college football, which reads, “Pick one QB and stick with him!”  The revolving door at QB is never a good thing.

The Beavers have a good offense, even if it is prone to the turnover.  You don’t want to get down to Penn State, since they can move the ball.  Both teams have good defenses, so it may come down to who makes the fewest errors—and that favors Penn State.

5) No. 8 West Virginia at East Carolina—4:30 on ESPN

I was ready to gloss over this game until I remembered that ECU beat Virginia Tech last week (a VT loss is always a good thing).  While WVU only had about half of the total offense last week that they averaged all year, Pat White was nearly automatic when throwing the ball.  This promises to be a near weekly thing since the new coach has promised more passing.

ECU has more talent this year than they did when they got thrashed by WVU last season, but don’t expect another upset.

6) All pregame shows in case they mention next week's Ohio State/USC game

Extra Point

7) The first week of college football taughtt us a few things.  It taught us to always expect the upset, that USC is going to run roughshod over anyone in its path, that the ACC can’t beat quality opponents, that marshmallow schedules aren’t fun, that the injury bug can hit anyone at any time, and that it’s so good to have college football back.