Trent's Touchdown - Week 1

Labor Day weekend means the start of good things. You get the start of the Vermont State Fair, you start seeing Sam Adams Octoberfest hit the shelves, and you get the start of the college football season. With the start of the season, you also get the start of the Touchdown. With the start of the Touchdown, you get bashing of Oklahoma, Ohio State, and the BCS system as a whole, but more on that later. Now, on to the Touchdown (all games on Saturday unless otherwise noted).

1) No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech – 8:00 on ESPN on 9/6 (in Landover, MD)

Seeing the hype around Boise State is amazing. They are to college football what Gonzaga was to college basketball multiplied by 100 since every game matters in college football. However, before we start touting Boise State, we need to remember that their schedule is cream puff, with the only real challenges coming from VT and Oregon State, so if they go undefeated, it’s not some sort of miracle.

Most of the reason for the hype is the fact that Boise State is returning all but one starter from last year and the offense is completely intact. Kellen Moore was one of the best QB’s in the country last year and looks to pick up where he left off. The defense for Boise State is also very sound, as they lead the WAC in points allowed last year.

For Virginia Tech, well, all is not as rosy. VT lost seven starters on a defense that is going to be tasked with stopping one of the best offenses in the country. Beamer Ball has always been focused around defense and special teams, so I’m not going to worry too much about this. The question mark is on offense. I still don’t trust Tyrod Taylor. He reminds me too much of Terrelle Pryor, and that’s not a compliment. VT will try and soften up the Boise State defense with healthy doses of the run, then go to the air when they start anticipating the run.

VT’s problem is they can’t get into a shoot-out, since they can’t win that way, they don’t have the offense for that. They need to slow down the game and grind it out. Last year, Boise State showed they could stop high powered offenses (TCU) and find ways to win close games (again, TCU). I think Boise State wins this, and the hype just gets bigger.

2) No. 24 Oregon State vs. No. 6 TCU – 7:45 on ESPN (in Arlington, TX)

So, TCU is finally getting a little respect in the rankings. Don’t expect any respect from me, though, as this is the only game against a ranked opponent. If you are a non BCS conference water carrier, you better be rooting for Boise State, because TCU isn’t the ticket to the National Championship.

Anyway, the TCU game plan this year is a lot like last year, put up an offensive barrage and hope the defense comes up with one or two stops. If TCU has any problems, it’ll be on defense, as they lost most of their best defensive players from last year. On offense, they may have lost their leading rusher, but QB Andy Dalton is the key. Expect him to put up gaudy numbers both passing and rushing all year long.

As for Oregon State, they need to break in a new QB, so expect to hear the name Jacquizz Rodgers a lot. They have a good chuck of players coming back on both sides of the ball, so you might see them take a run at the Pac 10 championship. The problem is that this is pretty much the same team that underperformed against ranked teams, beat up on teams they should beat, and somehow wormed their way into position to with the Pac 10, only to douse their drawers against Oregon.

All that said, as much as I don’t buy into the TCU hype, I think they can outscore Oregon State to win this one. I don’t see a defensive struggle in this one.

3) No. 21 LSU vs. No. 18 North Carolina – 8:00 on ESPN (in Atlanta, GA)

You know, this game was a lot more interesting before the UNC issues surfaced. Basically, some star UNC players are being investigated for academic misconduct and improper contact with agents.

It’s kind of hard to give a run down on UNC if I don’t know who’s playing, but I’ll give it a try. Offensively, you can expect UNC to run the ball, since Ryan Houston and Shaun Draughn should play and are effective at moving the ball. As WR Greg Little may not play, QB T.J. Yates will have to rely on a pair of sophomore receivers as his primary targets. UNC is a sound defense team, returning nine starters, but uncertainty of who will be eligible makes pinning down their strengths tough.

LSU, on the other hand, pretty much knows what’s going on, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. They know they are going to have spotty, inconsistent offense and will need their defense to bail them out all year long. As you can probably tell, I’m not a fan of QB Jordan Jefferson. I do not trust him to lead a premier team in the SEC. That said, Jefferson has all the tools around him to run a successful offense, but it’s up to him to step up and prove he’s capable.

Due to issues surrounding UNC, I think that LSU pulls it off, but does it with defense.

4) No. 14 USC at Hawaii – 11:00 on ESPN on 9/2

The most talked about team in the off-season was USC, and none of the talk was good. It was learned that Reggie Bush received improper benefits, they got slapped with a two-year bowl ban, and they got saddled with Lane Kiffin as a coach. If that’s not a whirlwind of crap, I don’t know what is.

Since USC won’t be going to a bowl this year, they are playing for pride. Pride, you know, that thing they didn’t play with last year. Matt Barkley comes back as QB, which makes me wonder why the Aaron Corp era hasn’t begun yet. Let’s just cut the crap and ask the question we all want an answer to. If you are USC fan, are you excited about anything at all this season? The first person who answers “Matt Barkley’s hair” gets slapped.

The problem with Hawaii is the same problem any one year wonder team has a few years later, everyone remembers the name and expects something worthwhile. Here’s a tip, you’re not going to see anything worthwhile unless you’re rooting for the opponent. Sorry Hawaii fans. Actually, I expect a better Hawaii team this year, considering their starting QB had a year of on the job training last season and still finished a respectable 6-7. Expect bowl eligibility this year!

As for this game, USC will pretty much waltz to victory, with everyone saying “See, Barkley really is good this year.” I know I’ll get the last laugh once the Pac 10 schedule starts up.

5) Miami (OH) at No. 4 Florida – 12:00 on ESPN

Is it me, or does it seem strange that Florida is starting a season without Tim Tebow? I’m actually looking forward to seeing how Florida does with John Brantley at QB. Thankfully for Brantley, he gets an opponent like Miami (OH) to ease his way into the season.

It’s a good thing for Florida too, since they are still transitioning for lost stars to the Draft and injuries to starters on both sides of the ball. Inconsistency may plague Florida early and they’ll need some of their big name freshman recruits to step up and live up to the hype. This first game will be a good practice to get some real game experience.

You should get to see a lot of Florida players in this game, as I expect them to get up big in a hurry. See this game as the first step in the post Tim Tebow era.

6) Purdue at Notre Dame – 3:30 on NBC

Good old Notre Dame. I had a lot of fun last year picking on them. This game should be actually entertaining, with veteran QB Robert Marve (transfer from Miami) leading Purdue against Notre Dame and new coach Brian Kelly. If that doesn’t get you going, Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist has a name that sounds like a character from TV show about vampires, so you can probably talk your girlfriend or wife into watching.

Extra Point:

The other day at work, a co-worker of mine told me that he wanted to see Boise State beat Virginia Tech and go undefeated and win the National Championship. His reasoning, it would blow up the BCS system and force a playoff.

His point was that if Boise State won it all, it would irk the major teams in the country, seeing Boise State roll over unranked opponents all year and slide past whoever they face in the National Championship Game. Is an undefeated Boise State better than a two loss Alabama team? In the BCS setting, we wouldn’t see that match-up, so we wouldn’t know. This would prompt the major college teams to call for a playoff, so a team like Boise State would have to prove their worth, and not just slip past one high ranked opponent who they favorably match up against.

My counter-argument was that a Boise State National Championship would validate all the BCS water carriers. Proponents of the BCS have always stated that the system does not discriminate against non-BCS affiliated schools. A BCS Championship for one of those teams would a major win for BCS lovers. Plus, it would have the added benefit of getting Congress off their backs. I believe that a Boise State Championship would strengthen the BCS, not kill it.

Of course, Boise State still needs to go out on the field and prove that they can do it. Will they go undefeated or will they be crushed by their own expectations? I’ve seen strange things happen during a college football season, but Boise State in the National Championship Game would probably top them all.