College Football Preview: Week Three Features Top 25 Matchups

I'll start off with a remark about the Jake Locker celebration penalty at the end of Saturday's BYU-Washington game, because I think everyone else has put in their two cents by now.

You may or may not know that I typically stand up for the officials.  Never one myself, I still realize (unlike a vast majority of fans and the media) how difficult their job truly is, and the percentage of plays they rule correctly on is astounding.  Unfortunately, the few questionable ones get blown out of proportion, and people start calling for their heads.

I'll stand up for them in this case too.  The college football rule book specifically states that a player cannot throw the ball high in the air as part of a touchdown celebration (or perform any other action that could potentially delay the game).

If it's in the rule book, and it's a clear violation, it will likely be called by the official, regardless of if the penalty happens in the first quarter or with two seconds left in a 28-27 ballgame.

Now I will agree that this is an incredibly stupid rule, and generally the attempts by the NCAA to curtail celebration this year have been laughable.

I can understand flagging players for prolonged displays that have served the sole purpose of drawing attention to themselves, but in one game on opening weekend, I saw a player penalized for making a fist pump or something along those lines.

The guy just sacked the quarterback.  What do you want him to do?  Walk back to the huddle like nothing ever happened?

The NCAA must feel like that is better than the extreme alternative of the player standing there doing Ray Lewis' dance routines for 30 seconds.

I feel sorry for the Pac-10 officiating office.  Those poor guys cannot avoid controversial finishes to games (remember Oklahoma-Oregon?).

It doesn't help that the commentators at ESPN, most of whom have been involved in the game their whole lives yet haven't bothered to learn the rules, blast them continuously on air.  Of course, their sentiment gets passed on to the fan listening to their blabbering at home.

Anyway, it's time to move onto Week Three, which of course is being headlined by Ohio State's visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum.  But there are a couple of other matchups between Top 25 teams to keep an eye on as well.  It should be the best weekend to date for college pigskin fanatics across the United States.

First, the weekend television schedule.



THURSDAY 9/11

North Carolina at Rutgers, 7:30 (ESPN)

FRIDAY 9/12

Kansas at South Florida, 8 (ESPN 2)

SATURDAY 9/13

California at Maryland, 12 (ESPN)
Florida Atlantic at Michigan State, 12 (ESPN 2)
Navy at Duke, 12 (ESPN U)
Iowa State at Iowa, 12 (BTN)
Louisiana-Lafayette at Illinois, 12 (BTN)
Montana State at Minnesota, 12 (BTN)
Southern Illinois at Northwestern, 12 (BTN)
Washington State at Baylor, 12:30 (FSN)
Michigan at Notre Dame, 3:30 (NBC)
Georgia at South Carolina, 3:30 (CBS)
Penn State at Syracuse, 3:30 (ABC)
Arkansas at Texas, 3:30 (ABC)
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech, 3:30 (ABC/ESPN 2)
Oregon at Purdue, 3:30 (ABC/ESPN 2)
UCLA at BYU, 3:30 (Versus)
Air Force at Houston, 3:30 (CBS College Sports)
Chattanooga at Florida State, 3:45 (ESPN U)
Auburn at Mississippi State, 7 (ESPN 2)
Virginia at Connecticut, 7:30 (ESPN U)
Oklahoma at Washington, 7:45 (ESPN)
Ohio State at USC, 8 (ABC)
Arizona at New Mexico, 8 (CBS College Sports)
Wisconsin at Fresno State, 10:30 (ESPN 2)

Games of the week

Ohio State at USC

Here's the game everyone has been talking about all offseason.  It's now or never for Ohio State if they want to prove they are more than a big fish in a little pond in the Big Ten, because LSU and Florida made them look like minnows in the sea in the past two national championship games.

The Buckeyes weren't impressive without Beanie Wells against Ohio, at least from the parts of the game that I did not miss due to a nap.  They probably were just not pulling out all of their stops in anticipation of this contest, or they flatly overlooked the Bobcats.

I have a hard time believing this team is that average without Wells, because Todd Boeckman, for the most part, performed admirably a year ago, and the team has a solid corps of backup running backs.

The Men of Troy were impressive over Virginia in Week One and have had a week to prepare for the Buckeyes.

I think the speed and athleticism of Pete Carroll's team are too much for Jim Tressel's squad, but the Buckeyes will be able to make this a great game.  Like I said above, they want to prove they are one of the big boys on the national stage and not just a Big Ten bully. 

Wisconsin at Fresno State

Pat Hill's mantra has always been "anybody, anytime, anywhere."  Well, he scored a big coup getting Big Ten power Wisconsin to come out to the Central Valley, and the Badgers will be the first Big Ten team (and just the second squad in the top 10) to visit the Bulldogs.

This should be a dandy, and both teams are going to need a victory if they want to make a push at a BCS at-large berth (in Wisconsin's case, I don't see them beating Ohio State or Penn State for the conference crown).

Wisconsin has been known to schedule lightly in non-conference play in the past, but they will have to be on their toes in this one.  Expect a heavy dose of P.J. Hill to keep the pressure off of Allen Evridge.

Fresno State is treating this as the biggest game in school history, as they should, and I like them to take the win in a minor upset. 

Kansas at South Florida

Ten years ago, people at Kansas probably didn't even know the school had a football program.  At the same time, I don't think USF even had one yet.  But in the changing landscape of college football where the 85-scholarship limit has increased parity, these non-traditional powers are able to compete.

Both the Jayhawks and Bulls had breakout seasons last year and are off to good starts against less than stellar competition.  If I had any concern, it would be in the fact USF struggled to knock off UCF and Kansas' high-flying offense only put up 29 on Louisiana Tech.  Of course, they could have been looking forward to this game.

I like Kansas by a small margin.

UCLA at BYU

If BYU is going to crash the BCS party, they will have to earn it.  UCLA was an afterthought to many people entering this season, but with the way the defense and QB Kevin Craft played against Tennessee, this will be a tough team to take down.

I think it's safe to say that if the Cougars get through this one with a W and can escape a trip to TCU, they should enter the Utah rivalry game at 11-0.  What a dandy that would be, although let's not get ahead of ourselves. 

Oregon at Purdue

As an appetizer for the night's big Big Ten-Pac-10 showdown, how about this Big Ten-Pac-10 tilt?  Both teams like to utilize a spread offense to get up and down the field, so there should be plenty of points, although the Ducks will offer more of a run-based threat, while the Boilermakers allow Curtis Painter to chuck it around.

Oregon has scored 110 points in their first two games (against Washington and Utah State, I remind you) and should be able to move the ball against Purdue's suspect defense, but I like Purdue to use the home field advantage and win by less than a touchdown.

Other games of interest

California at Maryland

Granted, Maryland struggled with Delaware, lost to Middle Tennessee, and cannot generate a consistent offensive attack.  But this is the type of interconference game that we need to see on a yearly basis with the addition of the 12th game: two schools, with no obvious connections or previous history, meeting on the gridiron for conference bragging rights.

Arkansas at Texas

The Hogs struggled with Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe, so they'll probably just be a candle in the wind to Texas in this matchup of former Southwest Conference rivals, who in my opinion should play every year.

However, Arkansas is resuming a yearly series with A&M next year, and judging by the fact that the rivalry was held off from resuming this year because they didn't want to play both A&M and Texas in '08 (pansies), I presume it will never happen.

 

Georgia at South Carolina

This is Georgia's first serious test in what is going to be one of the nation's most difficult schedules.  Just because SC lost to Vandy last week doesn't mean the Dawgs can take the Gamecocks lightly.  As we all know, nothing is a given in the SEC.  This game marks the 2008 debut of Gary Danielson in the broadcast booth.  Mute buttons ready!

Oklahoma at Washington

First, the Locker celebration penalty that cost his team a shot at upsetting BYU—now hosting a likely shellacking at the hands of OU on national television.  At least Ty Willingham can take solace in the fact that everyone will probably be watching Ohio State-USC as this one gets out of hand.

Then again, the Huskies did compete with a top 25 team in the Cougars for four quarters, so you never know.

North Carolina at Rutgers

Greg Schiano is credited with turning around a program at a school not really known for football (outside of being involved in the first ever game of the sport), and Butch Davis is trying to do the same in Chapel Hill.  Rutgers lost to Fresno State in their opener, and UNC struggled to beat McNeese State, so both squads obviously will be looking to improve those performances.

Michigan at Notre Dame

During the offseason, Charlie Weis said something along the lines of "To hell with Michigan," trying to emulate Bo Schembechler's similar comment about the Irish many years ago.  Someone should tell Charlie Ate the Chocolate Factory that it probably is not a great idea to talk trash about other teams when you are coming off a 3-9 season and struggled to beat San Diego State. 

Florida Atlantic at Michigan State

The wins against BCS schools are starting to come in for the fledgling Sun Belt.  ULM beat Alabama last year and nearly took out Arkansas on Saturday.  Middle Tennessee downed Maryland.  Conference champion FAU goes up to East Lansing this Saturday and will be trying to pick up the biggest upset yet.