College Football Preview: Week Five Features Big Ten Play Getting Underway

This has been a week of controversy in college football. Let's review.

We'll start off with my favorite whipping boys, Notre Dame and Charlie Weis.  During last week's game at Michigan State, an intern apparently took a laptop into the coaches' box, a big no-no according to the NCAA (for obvious reasons).  Oh, the irony.  Where's Belichick when you need him? 

Weis claims this was simply a misunderstanding on the part of the student intern, and I agree with that sentiment.  While his connections to the master of illegal technology Bill Belichick run deep, it's not like you are going to get away with using a laptop in a restricted location for too long.  Notre Dame lost 23-7 anyway. 

Moving on to Moscow (Idaho, that is) and the bowels of the WAC, Idaho is making headlines for the first time in, well, history, this week thanks to risqué cheerleader uniforms.  This comes just a couple weeks after the school logo was removed from the buttocks area of the football team's pants.

Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is when it comes to these uniforms.  Maybe people in Idaho are just that far behind the times.  I'd be more offended by some of the girls wearing the uniforms than anything else (specifically the bottom one...finding beautiful women must be a problem in the potato state).

Georgia has decided to wear their alternate black uniforms for Saturday night's showdown against Alabama, and for some reason, everyone is making a big deal out of it.  Nick Saban seemed a little peeved when asked about it earlier this week, and I don't really blame him.  Black jerseys, red jerseys, my God, no jerseys at all—this is going to be a hell of a football game. 

And apparently, counting to 11 is not part of the Pac-10 officiating curriculum.  At least this call did not affect the outcome of the game, but isn't it ironic that the Pac-10 coordinator of officials, Dave Cutaia, was the referee during the Oklahoma-Oregon fiasco two years back? 

Let's move on to this week's schedule, which is a little light.  Things should begin picking up next week as the Big 12 kicks off conference action.
 
THURSDAY 9/25

SMU at Tulane, 8 (CBS College)
USC at Oregon State, 9 (ESPN)

FRIDAY 9/26

Connecticut at Louisville, 8 (ESPN 2)

SATURDAY 9/27

Michigan State at Indiana, 12 (ESPN)
North Carolina at Miami (FL), 12 (ESPN 2)
Virginia at Duke, 12 (ESPN U)
Northwestern at Iowa, 12 (ESPN Classic)
Minnesota at Ohio State, 12 (BTN)
Army at Texas A&M, 12:30 (Versus)
Wisconsin at Michigan, 3:30 (ABC/ESPN)
Colorado vs. Florida State in Jacksonville, 3:30 (ABC/ESPN)
Fresno State at UCLA, 3:30 (ABC)
Arkansas at Texas, 3:30 (ABC)
Tennessee at Auburn, 3:30 (CBS)
Purdue at Notre Dame, 3:30 (NBC)
Houston at East Carolina, 3:30 (CBS College)
Navy at Wake Forest, 3:45 (ESPN U)
TCU at Oklahoma, 7 (FSN)
Mississippi State at LSU, 7:30 (ESPN 2)
South Florida at North Carolina State, 7:30 (ESPN U)
Alabama at Georgia, 7:45 (ESPN)
Illinois at Penn State, 8 (ABC)
Virginia Tech at Nebraska, 8 (ABC)
UCF at UTEP, 8 (CBS College)



GAMES OF THE WEEK

Alabama at Georgia

I don't think too many people expected Alabama to be in the top 10 at this juncture in the season, but aided by the big win over Clemson, the Tide have climbed the polls rapidly.

While I believe Nick Saban has a very good football team, I am not ready to put them at the level of SEC elite just yet.  Let's see how they handle Matt Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, the Dawgs defense, and the UGA faithful participating in a "blackout." 

After being criticized for not beating South Carolina convincingly, Georgia responded nicely at Arizona State last week.  They can take another step in getting back in the good graces of pundits by handling Alabama.

If you are going to watch anything specific in this game, keep an eye on the play of the two star true freshman receivers who will be featured.  A.J. Green of Georgia and Julio Jones of Bama are already major parts of their team's offenses.  I'll take Georgia by a touchdown. 

Illinois at Penn State

Penn State is 4-0, and already many people are pegging them as the favorites to knock Ohio State off their perch in the Big Ten.  While the offense has strayed from their traditional, conservative ways this season with enormous success, none of their opponents were on the level of Illinois. 

Regardless, I think JoePa woke up and smelled the coffee: In order to win in the Big Ten, it was necessary to adapt some kind of spread offense to keep defenses guessing.  Illinois' spread attack is impressive as well, and Juice Williams creates all kinds of problems for the opposition.  

What this game will come down to is defense, and while the Penn State offense has a new look, their defense is no different than it has been for the better part of four decades: full of potential playmakers.  In front of a charged crowd at Beaver Stadium, the Illini don't really stand much of a chance.  

Virginia Tech at Nebraska

When this game was initially scheduled, I am sure both institutions had visions of a top 10 matchup.  Here we are several years later, and Nebraska fans are trying to find Doc Brown to take them back to 1995 and Tom Osborne, while the Hokies are suffering from a slow start.

The Bo Pelini era has gotten off on the right foot in Lincoln, but if you were wondering why you hadn't heard from the Huskers yet in 2008, it is because they have played Western Michigan, San Jose State, and New Mexico State.

Both the offense and defense have played well, but we should probably hold off all judgment on how much progress the team has made until after this game.

The defense probably won't be challenged by an inconsistent Hokie offense, but it will be intriguing to see how the unit holds up against the scoring machines of OU, Kansas, and Mizzou once they get into conference play against the Tigers next Saturday.

North Carolina at Miami (FL)

Butch Davis restored a sense of responsibility, dignity, and respect to an out-of-control program in his time at Miami, only to see it destroyed by his successor, Larry Coker.  For the first time as head coach at UNC, he returns to the institution that put him on the map in the first place.

Davis is already having a positive influence on the Tar Heel program, although I am sure he still has a bitter taste in his mouth after blowing a 17-3 lead against Virginia Tech at home last week.  That very well could have swung the ACC Coastal in their favor.

Now, they have to recover from that loss with a visit to another division contender, minus QB T.J. Yates to boot.  In a twist of irony, Mike Paulus, younger brother of Duke basketball star Greg Paulus, takes over under center.

I think the 'Canes use this as a statement game.  They are 2-1, but those two wins were against Charleston Southern and Texas A&M.  Keeping it close against Florida was a positive to build on, but they didn't get a W. 

TCU at Oklahoma

Move over BYU and Utah: The Mountain West has a third team inside the top 25 with the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian.  They probably won't be there after Saturday night, but here is a great opportunity for the league to get some attention—as if the efforts of the Utah schools weren't doing enough.

Then again, TCU has won the last two times they have gone to Norman, Oklahoma, so never say never.

If the Horned Frogs want to take home the upset, they must find a way to slow down Sam Bradford and the OU offense.  A good place to start would be ball control, and that shouldn't be a problem, considering TCU has racked up 26, 67, 31, and 48 points in their four games.

This will be the Sooners' biggest challenge to date, but they rise to the occasion and enter Big 12 play with an unblemished mark. 

Other games to keep an eye on

USC at Oregon State

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard from an expert to go ahead and lock up USC's spot in the national title game, I could retire tomorrow.

Yes, the Pac-10 is down.  Yes, USC is insanely talented.  But there are still 10 games left, and anything can happen in college football.  Plus, some of the teams they visit in 2008 have caused them problems in recent seasons, led by the Beavers.  Corvallis is a tough place to play. 

Connecticut at Louisville

This is a rematch of that infamous game last season where the UConn punt returner appeared to have called a fair catch, Louisville players stopped, the officials didn't recognize the fair catch, and the punt was returned for the deciding touchdown.

The winner here gets sole possession of first place in the Big East.  After all, this is the first conference game of the year.

Minnesota at Ohio State

Ohio State hasn't had an impressive performance yet, unless you want to count a 43-0 win over Jim Tressel's former FCS employer, Youngstown State.  At least Beanie Wells is on track to return for this game, and Terrelle Pryor has provided a spark under center.

What happened to Todd Boeckman?  Ten weeks into 2007, he was a Heisman contender.  Since then, the guy seems to have lost his confidence, and his play deteriorated to the point of being benched.

As for 4-0 Minnesota, the honeymoon's over: It's time to play someone their own size after a cupcake non-conference slate. 

Wisconsin at Michigan

Considering the struggles of Ohio State, the Big Ten race looks to be wide open, and Wisconsin figures to play an instrumental part in who wins the crown.  They host Ohio State and Penn State the next two weeks, but they cannot overlook the business at hand in Ann Arbor.

Big Blue may be struggling, but now that conference play has commenced, they can roll the clock back to zero and start over essentially.  Whatever happens, Wolverine fans will likely be an ecstatic bunch on Saturday considering the fact Matt Millen finally got fired by the Lions. 

Colorado vs. Florida State

CU and FSU come into this intriguing non-conference showdown at opposite ends of the spectrum.  The Buffaloes are riding high at 3-0 after a home win on national TV against West Virginia.

The Seminoles, meanwhile, are still wondering what the hell happened against Wake Forest in a key ACC Atlantic game.  Frankly, the offense was about effective as teaching monkeys fractions.  It may be time to turn back to Drew Weatherford at QB.

Tennessee at Auburn

Phil Fulmer is quickly becoming unpopular in Knoxville, as the once elite Tennessee program has slipped to mediocrity by their standards.  Not even putting up a fight against Florida at home is unacceptable, and it won't get any easier from this point forward, starting with a trip to Auburn.

In all likelihood the Vols will drop to 1-3 after this one, with that single victory against C-USA doormat UAB. 

Fresno State at UCLA

This may seem shocking in the aftermath of Fresno State's loss to Wisconsin, but if they win out, an at-large BCS berth is an outside possibility (assuming both BYU and Utah falter along the way, and at least one of them is guaranteed to do so since they play on Nov. 22).

Of course, to help their chances, they should be rooting for the Badgers to run the table and win the Big Ten. 

South Florida at NC State

The Bulls better be wary, considering the fact that the Pack knocked off ECU at home last Saturday.  They are certainly more than talented enough to win this game easily against a program still trying to get back on its feet under Tom O'Brien.