College Football Week 3 Preview

by WCT, Wasting Company Time

Week 3 is here and the season is in full swing. This week is the first week where we will start to see the BCS title picture taking shape. No more cupcakes for the big guys, its time to start conference play! And for some teams, no more hapless 1-AA outfits, and in-state patsies! (I'm looking at YOU Buckeyes) its time to prove yourself against some tough non-conference competition!

Lets go!
(all times eastern)

Ohio State at Washington (3:30 pm) When this game came out, who would have thought it would be such a big game? The Huskies are coming off a big win over Boise State (I never thought I would live to see the day when a Pac-10 team would beat a WAC team and we would call it a "big win.") and are 2-0 and brimming with confidence. Redshirt freshman QB Jake Locker has been very impressive so far, but this is the toughest defense he will have faced. Ohio State is completely untested, disposing of Youngstown State and Akron in the first two weeks. The Buckeye defense is much more experienced than the offense, and should be able to keep them in the game. The key will be first-year starting QB Todd Boeckman. If he makes some of the same mistakes that he did at times last week, the Huskies will be tough to beat in Seattle.

Notre Dame at Michigan (3:30 pm) When this game came out, who would have thought it would be between two 0-2 squads? This is an intriguing game on several different levels. First, you can call this the "Hater Bowl," because no two programs engender as much hatred as these two. Admit it, as you are reading this, you know that you hate at least one of these programs. Hell, as I am writing this I know that I hate at least one of these programs. Saturday evening, haters everywhere will rejoice as at least one of them will be 0-3. This is also a matchup of the number 1 and number 2 rated high school quarterbacks from last year in Jimmy Clausen and Ryan Mallet. Wolverine RB Michael Hart made a laughable guarantee of victory for UM (I'm sure somewhere Bo is proud that his tri-captian is 0-2 and guaranteeing victory over other 0-2 teams) but I do not share his confidence. I think that this will be a breakout week for Jimmy Clausen, as this will be the worst defense ND has faced so far. I think ND not only beats the 9.5 point spread, but gets the straight-up win.

Tennessee at Florida (3:30 pm) This game will teach us a lot about both teams. Florida is, at least in my mind, unproven. Blowout wins over Western Kentucky and Troy mean nothing. A win against a ranked conference opponent would go a long way for the Gators, and specifically Tim Tebow. Tennessee’s most impressive performance so far has been a hard-fought win at a tough, revenge-minded Cal team. When a college game is this close on paper, I usually go with the team with the better, more experienced quarterback. Advantage: Volunteers. Put your money on Erik Ainge and Tennessee.

Arkansas at Alabama (6:45 pm) My friends, the “experts” in Vegas are underrating the Crimson Tide. I have been financing Saturday nights of drunken debauchery with the proceeds from gambling winnings on Alabama games on Saturday afternoons, and I do not plan to stop this weekend. Alabama has talent, and Nick Satan Saban can coach. Arkansas is looking more and more like a one man team, and ‘Bama will have a gameplan to slow Darren McFadden down.

Fresno State at Oregon (7:00 pm) If you are a fan of scoring and very little defense, then you are in luck. Take Oregon, and take the over.

Louisville at Kentucky (7:30 pm) The Wildcats have an opportunity to make me look really, really smart. But self-promotion aside, Kentucky has been on the fringe of the national spotlight since they won eight games, including a bowl, last year and Andre’ Woodson was named preseason first-team all-SEC. In fact, I saw a report that Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc. thinks Woodson would be picked ahead of Brian Brohm if the draft were held today. I don’t know about that, and I don’t know if Kentucky can pull off the upset, but I touted this team in the preseason, so I have to ride this bandwagon till it crashes. Take the points!

Boston College at Georgia Tech (8:00 pm) The only two teams in the joke of a conference known as the ACC that are worth a damn will be in the same stadium Saturday night. If you are a glass half-empty person, you can say that this means there are no other watchable games involving ACC teams this week. If you are a glass half-full guy like me, you can say that we are getting a conference championship-level game in the middle of September. The ‘Jackets defense will be the stingiest that BC has seen so far, maybe the best they will see all year. Take G-Tech, and take a drink every time some jackass announcer makes a horrible pun using Tashard Choice’s last name.

USC at Nebraska (8:00 pm) Which coach/manager’s recent contract extension made you say “WHAAA???” louder? Bill Callahan’s or Ozzie Guillen’s? Has Callahan had ONE team that came close to comparing to the 9-3 team that got Frank Solich run out of town? If the Cornhuskers couldn’t put away a bad Wake Forest team starting a backup QB, how are they going to compete with a USC team looking to make a statement to answer LSU’s statement from last week? I don’t know about you, but when I looked up the spread and saw “USC -10.5.” I literally began salivating like Pavlov’s dog. Trojans in a walkover.