College Football 2011: The 10 Biggest Games of Week 2

Maryland’s 32-24 victory over Miami tonight put a nice bow on the opening weekend of the 2011 college football season.

Even though the first weekend lacked a lot of sizzle because the two top games, LSU vs. Oregon and Georgia vs. Boise State, failed to deliver on their hype and the rest of the games involving top teams were mostly blow outs, there was still enough great action to get us all excited about what’s to come this season.

We saw great performances from players like Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, and it’s only going to get even more entertaining from here on out, since the season hasn’t even really started to heat up yet.

Luckily, Week 2 offers up a few more pivotal matchups for us to sink our teeth into.

We kick off the weekend with two very interesting Big 12-Pac-12 battles on Thursday and Friday, and then, we’ve got a full plate of great games set for Saturday.

Set your DVRs now, because here’s a look at the 10 games you don’t want to miss this weekend.

10. Cincinnati at Tennessee

Time: Saturday, 3:30 pm ET

Channel: ESPN 2

This season is a bit of a redemption year for the Big East, and the conference’s eight teams all got off to a strong start, winning each of their games in the first week, with the biggest win being South Florida’s upset of Notre Dame.

This week, it’s Cincinnati’s turn to make a statement, as the Bearcats head down to Knoxville for a showdown with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Beating an SEC team, even a middle-of-the-pack one, would be a major boost to the conference’s credibility.

Cincinnati definitely has the ammunition to get the job done and make a statement.

After putting up 72 points on Austin Peay in Week 1, QB Zach Collaros and RB Isaiah Pead, who combined for six TDs in that game, will be looking for some more offensive fireworks against a Tennessee defense that ranked 10th in the SEC last season.

The environment will probably be one of the toughest that Cincinnati has ever played in, but coach Butch Jones should have his team ready for the challenge.

9. TCU at Air Force

Time: Saturday, 3:30 pm ET

Channel: Versus

Could TCU really start off the year 0-2?

It’s actually not as crazy as it sounds.

The Horned Frogs are still licking their wounds after getting lit up for 50 points by Robert Griffin III, Kendall Wright and the rest of the Baylor Bears last Friday.

Now coach Gary Patterson will have to try his hardest to get his team regrouped and refocused to go up against QB Tim Jefferson and the unorthodox Air Force offensive attack this weekend.

The Falcons piled up 391 yards on the ground in their opening win over South Dakota, so the TCU defense will have to do a complete 180 after facing Baylor’s aerial arsenal last week.

Jefferson and RB Asher Clark are a dangerous rushing duo, and TCU’s linebackers Tanner Brock and Tank Carder will have their hands full, trying to slow them down.

8. Brigham Young at Texas

Time: Saturday, 7:00 pm ET

Channel: ESPN 2

BYU’s first game as an independent certainly wasn’t perfect, but coach Bronco Mendenhall has to be pleased with coming away victorious over Mississippi on the road to start the season.

Mendenhall will take his team back on the road again this week, this time, the Cougars will head down to Austin for a big battle with Texas.

The last time BYU faced off against a Big 12 team in the Lone Star State, the Cougars beat then No. 1 ranked Oklahoma in the first game of the 2009 season at Cowboys Stadium.

Sophomore QB Jake Heaps will try to write some of his own history, but he’ll have to deal with a menacing Texas defensive front seven that will be coming after him all game long.

After last year’s disastrous 5-7 campaign, Texas can’t afford a loss to a school like BYU this early in the season, so there’s going to be a lot of pressure on coach Mack Brown and QB Garrett Gilbert to make sure the Longhorns get the job done.

7. Utah at USC

Time: Saturday, 7:30 pm ET

Channel: Versus

The Utah Utes will step right into the fire for their first ever Pac-12 conference game, as Kyle Whittingham takes his team down to Los Angeles to fight it out with new South rival USC.

Neither team looked all that dominant in their season opener, with Utah trudging its way to a 27-10 win over Montana and USC holding on to beat Minnesota 19-17.

Besides the play of QB Matt Barkley and WR Robert Woods, the USC offense looked pretty dismal in the win over the Golden Gophers, as the Trojans failed to score in the second half.

Barkley and Woods are a dangerous passing combination, but even Lane Kiffin made it clear that the offense needs more playmakers to step up.

The Utes also have a pretty effective quarterback in junior Jordan Wynn.

Wynn has the type of poise and experience to handle walking into a hostile environment at the Coliseum.

6. Missouri at Arizona State

Time: Friday, 10:30 pm ET

Channel: ESPN

QB James Franklin’s debut as Missouri’s starting quarterback didn’t exactly drop any jaws, but Franklin did look efficient, even though the Tigers only managed to muster up 17 points.

Franklin will have to continue to mature at a rapid pace, as he now has to go out to the desert and go up against Arizona State’s tough defense, led by vicious linebacker Vontaze Burfict.

The Sun Devils looked strong in their 48-14 victory over UC Davis on Saturday, and their new starting QB Brock Osweiler looked solid, completing 19 of his 26 passes for 262 yards and two TDs.

Both of these defenses are loaded with players who can fly around the field and find the football, so it should be interesting to see how both new quarterbacks fare in this one.

5. Arizona at Oklahoma State

Time: Thursday, 8:00 pm ET

Channel: ESPN

Many thought that last year’s Alamo Bowl, which pitted these two teams against each other, would turn into a shootout between the two quarterbacks, Brandon Weeden and Nick Foles, but that actually only turned out to be half true, as Weeden got the best of Foles by leading the Cowboys to a dominating 36-10 victory.

Foles actually threw for 40 more yards in the game, but his three interceptions proved to be extremely costly.

Now we get Round 2 of the battle.

If Foles can cut down on the mistakes, this one should be a much more even affair.

Not only will we get to watch the two talented signal-callers go after it, we’ll get to see two of the nation’s premier wide receivers, Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon and Arizona’s Juron Criner, try to outdo each other.

All in all, this one should be much more competitive than last year’s bowl game.

4. Mississippi State at Auburn

Time: Saturday, 12:21 pm ET

Channel: SEC Network

We knew Auburn would be in for a tough title defense after losing so much talent from last year’s championship team, but no one expected the Tigers to play as bad as they did against Utah State in their home opener.

Auburn trailed the Aggies by 10 points with under four minutes to go, but Gene Chizik’s squad somehow managed to bounce back and come away with a 42-38 victory.

Even though they got the win, it doesn’t change the fact that the Tigers still struggled mightily on both sides of the ball, and that type of effort just won’t cut it against a Mississippi State team that looks to be much stronger than last year.

QB Chris Relf and RB Vick Ballard, who combined for 404 yards and five touchdowns in the team’s opening week win over Memphis, are a dangerous backfield tandem, and the Auburn defenders better make sure they improve their tackling skills from last week’s debacle.

Last year, Mississippi State came within a dropped interception of taking down the Tigers, but Auburn prevailed 17-14 behind the play of QB Cam Newton and DT Nick Fairley, who wreaked havoc on the Bulldogs offense all game long.

It should be interesting to see how much Auburn misses those two impact players in this year’s contest.

3. Alabama at Penn State

Time: Saturday, 3:30 pm ET

Channel: ABC

This one will be a matchup of two high-profile teams that have yet to decide on a starting quarterback.

Both Alabama and Penn State played two quarterbacks in their blowout wins last week, but you would have to expect that the two teams will narrow it down to one signal-caller for this one.

A.J. McCarron looks to be the guy for Alabama, while Matt McGloin will likely get the nod for Penn State.

McCarron is the more naturally gifted of the two, but McGloin, who started six games last year, has the edge from an experience standpoint.

We'll have to see if the Nittany Lions can manage to establish a running game with RB Silas Redd against an Alabama defense that is one of the strongest and most talented in the country.

Penn State failed to get much going offensively in last year’s 24-3 defeat, and the Tide capitalized on their four turnovers.

Goal No. 1 for Penn State in this game will be to contain RB Trent Richardson, who ran for 144 yards and a TD in last year’s game.

2. Notre Dame at Michigan

Time: Saturday, 8:00 pm ET

Channel: ESPN

Turn on the lights, because we’ve got night football in the Big House, baby!

After a disheartening loss to South Florida last week, Notre Dame will try to get back on track when the Irish visit Michigan for the first ever night game in the history of Michigan Stadium.

The most fascinating storyline for this one revolves around the quarterback position for Notre Dame.

Brian Kelly’s decision to start Dayne Crist in the opener ended up backfiring, and it looks like backup Tommy Rees, who went 4-1 as a starter when Crist was hurt last season, will get the call.

Besides better quarterback play, Notre Dame will need to focus on slowing down Denard Robinson, who ran wild against the Irish last season, totaling over 500 yards of offense and scoring three touchdowns.

Robinson was the key to Michigan’s 28-24 victory in last year’s meeting, and he’ll once again play an important role in this matchup.

1. South Carolina at Georgia

Time: Saturday, 4:30 pm ET

Channel: ESPN

Georgia disappointed many SEC fans, who had been arguing that Boise State could never handle SEC competition, by getting thoroughly outplayed by the Broncos in a 35-21 defeat on Saturday night, right in their own backyard at the Georgia Dome.

The loss certainly won’t help to cool down coach Mark Richt’s hot seat, but the Bulldogs still have a great chance to attain their top goal of winning the SEC East this season.

It all starts with a crucial conference clash with division favorite South Carolina between the hedges on Saturday afternoon.

South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia was motivated by his demotion for the opener against East Carolina, and he came in and solidified his status as the starter for this weekend’s game.

Garcia had a solid outing in last year’s meeting, guiding the Gamecocks to a 17-6 victory, but it was RB Marcus Lattimore, who was the real star of the show, running for 182 yards and scoring both of the team’s touchdowns.

Georgia’s defense, which gave up 390 yards to Boise State in the season opener, will have its hands full trying to stop Garcia, Lattimore and star receiver Alshon Jeffery.

It will be up to QB Aaron Murray to keep the Bulldogs even with the explosive South Carolina offense.