Trent's Touchdown: Six Week 2 College Football Games to Watch

Welcome to week 2 of the college football season. While no real huge shockers as far as scores last week, we got a nice quarterback controversy in Notre Dame and a bunch of new head coaches got wins.

I think the biggest shocker was some of those new uniforms. I thought I was going to have a seizure when I saw the new Georgia uniforms. Those things were ghastly. But enough of me auditioning to be a judge on Project Runway, on to the Touchdown.

1) No. 3 Alabama at No. 23 Penn State – 3:30 PM on ABC

Two words you never want to hear when talking about your favorite teams some up when talking about these teams: quarterback controversy. Although, it’s less of a controversy and more of a question mark.

After the Greg McElroy years, Nick Saban is still undecided on who to name as starting quarterback. Neither McCarron nor Sims really distinguished themselves, throwing a combined 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions against Kent State. They’ll have issues with the experienced secondary of Penn State.

For Penn State, while there were no interceptions, Bolden and McGloin only threw for a combined 114 years. The main problem Penn State has is quarterback protection, where the PSU offensive line had troubles against the vaunted pass rush of Indiana State.

The game plan on for both teams will be fairly similar. They both want to use the running game, make sure their quarterbacks don’t screw up, and let the defense win it for them. The edge in this one goes to Alabama because the Bama defense will make Bolden and McGloin throw the ball.

That won’t be an issue for Alabama. Their quarterbacks can throw the ball; it’s just a question of keeping it out of the secondary’s hands. Alabama wins, but it’s closer than it should be.

2) No. 12 South Carolina at Georgia – 4:30 PM on ESPN

The SEC season has begun and not a minute too soon. The winner gets early position in the SEC East race. However, early position in that division doesn’t mean much since all the teams are on an even level really.

South Carolina is the favorite to win the division, yet they seem to want to win with a degree of difficulty. It really comes down to Stephen Garcia, who is really all over the place. One game he’s great, the next he’s horrible. I never know what to make of him.

One thing Garcia should do is throw early and often to Alshon Jeffery. It took me a while to get on the Jeffery bandwagon, but I’m a convert now. However, I know the Spurrier game plan in this one. Run Marcus Lattimore until either Georgia stops him or he passes out from exhaustion.

Georgia is going to have trouble stopping the run as one of their best linebackers is out due to foot surgery. Plus, Lattimore is not an easy guy to take down. Last year they had issues with that and this year won’t be much different.

While I have faith in Aaron Murray, Georgia needs more offensive weapons. I’m starting to get the feeling that Brandon Boykin is going to be asked to play both ways this year. Not that that’s a bad thing, especially when your number one receiver is the tight end.

I’m going to say it’ll stay close due to South Carolina’s inability to play a flawless game, but I think they will win. Although Georgia could win and it wouldn’t surprise me. The only thing I know for certain is that the Georgia uniforms assault my eyes.

3) Notre Dame at Michigan – 8:00 PM on ESPN

I feel kind of bad that ESPN got roped into this being the prime time game and neither team is ranked. But hey, it’s a night game in Ann Arbor and that has to count for something.

After the dismal performance last week against South Florida, Notre Dame is floundering. Brian Kelly did the only thing he could do; bench Dayne Crist in favor of Tommy Rees. While this flies in the face of my personal feelings about someone over the age of five going by the name “Tommy”, it’s the move that needed to be made.

Any football fan will tell you that the fans favorite player is the back-up quarterback, especially if your starter is shaky. While I would normally support Crist (I just love saying the name), I think the rabid Irish fan base needs to see Rees either succeed or fall on his face. I don’t know which it is, though I am growing tired of all the “Rees is the man” articles I’ve been reading by writers who two weeks ago stated that “Crist is the man”.

Michigan has the same problem they had last year and it was the one I was harping on when everyone was jumping on the Michigan bandwagon. Denard Robinson is the problem, not the solution. His mindset is run first, throw second. He needs to get more comfortable in the pocket and look for the open man.

However, Notre Dame showed last week they have issues with mobile quarterback, but I trust B.J. Daniels throwing the ball more than Robinson. The Irish defense needs to be able to contain Robinson if they want a shot a winning. One the flip side, the Irish should be able to get some offense going against Michigan, they just need to start Rees off slowly and let him build confidence.

I feel Notre Dame gets their feet under them in this game and finally gets a victory. The defense will have issues, but will be able to stop Robinson when it counts.

4) Oregon State at No. 8 Wisconsin – 12:00 PM on ESPN

I know you’re all wondering why I’m putting this game up here, considering Oregon State lost last week, at home, to Sacramento State. Of course, you’re all probably wondering when Sacramento became a state too (yeah, yeah, bad pun).

Listen, even though Oregon State lost, they are still a scary team. The OSU running attack under Malcolm Agnew is brilliant. He carried the ball 33 times for 223 yards and 3 touchdowns. Those are crazy numbers. The only issue is can he get those types of yards against a tough Wisconsin defense.

As for Wisconsin, they have the luxury of replacing their seasoned starting quarterback from last year with a seasoned starting quarterback from another school. Russell Wilson has two straight seasons with over 3000 yards passing at North Carolina State before making the move to Wisconsin.

Of course, Wilson has the luxury of having one of the better backfields in the country with Montee Ball and James While. Even Dayne Crist would be successful with that backfield. Even if defenses can stop these two, they then need to be able to stop Wilson. Not an easy task for anyone.

I think Oregon State can actually keep it close for a little bit. They have talent all over the field, but are a bit rudderless. While I think Wisconsin wins it, it’ll be closer than people expect.

5) BYU at No.24 Texas – 7:00 PM on ESPN2

Texas is trying to rebound from a tough season last year while BYU is looking to make a name for itself as an Independent. It’s fun all around.

Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert is becoming more comfortable running the offense at Texas and no longer looking like a deer in the headlights. Last week, Texas even busted out the wildcat formation against Rice. To me, the wildcat always seems to be an act of desperation. It basically says that you don’t trust your quarterback and don’t respect the defense.

The big problem for Texas is going to be J.J. DiLuigi. Not that he’s an amazing running back, but the fact that Texas can’t stop the run. Also good news for BYU is that Jake Heaps should have plenty of time to throw since the Texas defense can’t rush the quarterback very well either. That said, the Texas defense is an athletic bunch and make stops when they need to.

I see a game that will remind us of the Ole Miss/BYU game last week, very tightly contested and down to the last minute. I think BYU gets out of Austin with a win.

6) No. 16 Mississippi State at Auburn – 12:21 PM on SEC Network

I think I made the joke last week that Auburn could go from national champion to last in the SEC West. Not to worry Auburn fans, you should be able to finish ahead of Ole Miss.

Extra Point:

I am a huge college football fan and my favorite team is Clemson. I have no ties whatsoever to the school. I do not know anyone who has ever been to Clemson. If fact, I don’t think I know anyone who has even been to South Carolina. Strange?

I don’t think so. The thing I don’t understand is the fierce loyalty to a school that you attended. Basically, you have paid an organization large amounts of money to provide a service that is virtually that same everywhere else (unless it’s an Ivy League school) and, in turn, you pay money for and zealously root for that organizations sports teams. It’s just not clicking in my head.

The college I went to for undergrad did not have a football team, but I currently attend Boston College for grad school. I absolutely hate the Boston College football team. Mostly because they just play an ugly version of football. Why can’t we just look at the teams and make a determination?

That’s what I did. I watched Clemson play one day as a young boy and I liked the way there were playing. I decided at that time that they would be my team. I watch teams I enjoy to watch and root for those teams. When I was younger I hated Notre Dame, but now I love them. They are just fun to watch.

So, the whole point is that we should choice teams we like to watch, not because we went to that college. Either that or you should root for teams based on gentle parental manipulation from a young age. That’s the only way I can explain being a New England Patriots fan in the early 1990’s.