Week Two Preview

Posted by RalphNuts on Sep 6, 2012 in NCAA Football | 1 comment

Week One was exciting and it is always helpful when you can make money at the same time (7-4 in Top 11 plays). We saw much of the same from the SEC with Alabama rolling Michigan and showing that the Big 10 has no business being in the conversation for a National Title game for another year. We saw more of the same from the ACC with NC State laying an egg against Tennessee. More importantly we learned that the Big 10 is down….way down. Wisconsin eeking out a 5 point win against UNI, Iowa with a one point win against Northern Illinois, the Michigan debacle, Minnesota needing triple OT to beat UNLV and Penn State losing to Ohio. Not a good week if you follow the Leaders and the Legends conference.

Top 8 games to watch this weekend

1) Miami (Fla) at Kansas State—This was the springboard game last year for the Wildcats. However, this time around they are the hunted rather than the hunter. The Hurricanes have some explosive weapons on offense but I’m curious how they will be able to handle the Wildcat rushing attack.

2) UCF at Ohio State—Neither team is eligible for a bowl game this year. Central Florida is a very athletic football team that massively underachieved last year. They thumped Akron last week on the road (56-14) and they will give Ohio State some trouble this weekend. With a lot of narrow escapes last week it would behoove the Buckeyes to get a solid win for the Big 10’s sake.

3) Florida at Texas A&M—The Aggies first SEC game against a struggling Florida squad. The Gator offense looked eerily similar to last year’s squad as they struggled to consistently move the ball against Bowling Green last week. A significant jump up in competition this week but they do have a benefit of a game under their belts. The Aggies on the other hand have some question marks (replacing Ryan Tannehill) that remain unanswered due to the cancellation of their game against Louisiana Tech last week. Beware of the 12th man this weekend Gator fans.

4) Air Force at Michigan—Wow…red-headed step child treatment last week for the Wolverines. As I told you the Shoelace is not a QB and cannot compete against a Top 10 defense. Luckily this week he gets a service academy. Air Force has to replace a ton of talent from last year but they are a capable squad if the Wolverines let them hang around.

5) South Florida at Nevada—A little bit of an under the radar game this weekend but Nevada is worthy of this spot after a nice win at California over the weekend. With losses by Boise State, Houston and Tulsa the Wolfpack now become the mid-major darlings. A win over Skip Holtz’s squad would only further benefit their resume. Look for a Nevada win over another BCS team this weekend.

6) Nebraska at UCLA—This is a major game for both of these programs. UCLA has talent…lots of it but we are talking about very young and immature talent. However, Hundley is the real deal at QB and Jonathan Franklin is one of the top 15 RB’s in the nation. Can the UCLA underclassmen hold up against the pressure from the Blackshirts. For Nebraska Bo Pelini needs a win to assure the Cornhusker faithful that this program continues on the right track. Taylor Martinez will give the Bruin defense fits and Burkhead is healthy enough to run for 100 yards in a Nebraska win.

7) Georgia at Missouri—Did a Missouri defensive end just reference Georgia as playing “old man” football? And then to further insult the Bulldog fanbase he compared them to a Big 10 team. That is good way to cold-cocked during the game my friend. By the way if Georgia played in the Big 10 they would have probably won about 10 conference championships in a row. Georgia looked mediocre in their 45-23 win over the Buffalo Bulls. We didn’t learn much from Missouri as they routed SE Louisiana 62-10 on Sat. James Franklin is a quality QB and the fans at Memorial Stadium will be rowdy for the Tiger introduction to SEC football. Missouri has won 12 of their last 13 at home.

8- Oklahoma State at Arizona—The Cowboys just scored another touchdown on Savannah State. 84-0 is not a bad way to open up the post-Weeden and Blackmon era in Stillwater. They will have a much tougher task at hand this weekend in Tucson. The Cowboys have the best RB in the country. Randle, Jeremy Smith and Desmond Roland could each run for over 1000 yds this year. The defense should be improved with 8 starters returning from last year but we didn’t find out much from the Savannah State outing. Rich Rodriguez won the season opener against Toledo in Overtime 24-17. A little misleading as the Wildcats had a huge advantage in total yards but has some costly turnovers. The Cowboys are tough on the road under Gundy going 10-1 SU on the road in the last two years and 10-1 ATS in road games the last two years. Cowboys win by three touchdowns.