Trent's Touchdown - Week 3

Do you know how painfully boring Week 2 was to watch? In the middle of the afternoon, I debated whether to watch the Clemson/Citadel game on ESPN360 (I ended up watching the third quarter) or “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (I watched up until the end of the second task). I pretty much ended up zoning out during the East Carolina/West Virginia game, but did watch the last series of the Washington/BYU debacle.

Anyway, we finally get to a fairly competitive week, even if I’ll find myself coasting until 8:00. Just for fun, I thought about completely leaving off game 1, but decided even I’m not that coy. Anyway, on with the Touchdown.

1) No. 5 Ohio State at No. 1 USC – 8:00 on ABC – Everyone seems to think this game hinges on just how healthy Beanie Wells is. Let me say this, Beanie Wells could channel Reggie Bush and OSU would still get the beat down. There are two main reasons for this. One, USC is just a great team on both sides of the ball. There offense is high flying and the defense is hard hitting. Two, the OSU Quarterback is Todd Boeckman. I wouldn’t trust him to make a tuna fish sandwich, let alone run my team against the best team in the nation. But, if the first two weeks proved anything, I don’t exactly have a great track record in picking who will win.

2) No. 13 Kansas at No. 19 South Florida – 8:00 on ESPN2 on Friday – Either both of these teams are underrated or both are overrated, there really is no in-between here. Kansas has looked impressive so far, but there competition isn’t exactly high caliber. South Florida, on the other hand, had some issues last week with Central Florida. In my opinion, Kansas has the better Quarterback in Reesing, but they aren’t going to surprise anyone this year. South Florida will play them tight, but I expect Kansas to win.

3) No. 2 Georgia at South Carolina – 3:30 on CBS – When all is said and done, I think that the National Championship Game should be between USC and whoever makes it out of the SEC. Georgia could very well be that team. This is the first real test for Georgia in their “heightened expectations” season, where anything less than the National Championship is a failure. I’ll give Mark Richt credit for playing the “nobody respects you” card to Knowshon Moreno in the media, but seriously, it was just a dumb highlights piece. I give Georgia the edge, but you never really know when two SEC clash, especially when Steve Spurrier is involved.

4) No. 10 Wisconsin at No. 21 Fresno State – 10:30 on ESPN2 – An overrated Big Ten team? That never happens (a little sarcasm for all you OSU haters out there). Is there an uglier Top 10 team than Wisconsin? Fresno State on the other hand is fun to watch, even if they have balanced their offensive attack more. Plus, they actually have a competent defense, which kind of shocked me. They get credit because they’ve actually played a good opponent on the road and won, unlike Wisconsin, who played Akron and Marshall at home. Fresno State wins and makes me think even more that they should join the Pac 10.

5) No. 16 Oregon at Purdue – 3:30 on ABC – I’m putting this game here for two reasons. One, it’s an overt attempt to kiss up to the Duchess, since she’s a big Oregon fan. Two, I think Purdue is better than they get credit for. I am a big fan of Curtis Painter and the Purdue passing attack. They did have the top offense in the Big Ten last year and this was due to the success of Painter. They will catch someone napping on them, just not Oregon (who happens to have the top offense in the nation). By the by, after Oregon lost a Quarterback to a season-ending knee injury for the second straight year, would you really want to be a Quarterback there?

6) No. 14 East Carolina at Tulane – 3:00 on local channels – Who wouldn’t laugh if East Carolina took the pipe here? Come on, don’t be shy, it would be hilarious. Although, maybe not if you rooted for Virginia Tech or West Virginia.

Extra Point:

7) Please note if you’re an Oklahoma fan, it would be good if you stopped reading now. You’ve been warned. Alright, I was watching a halftime show on ABC (I think) and they were babbling about all the good Quarterbacks in the Big 12. I slowly nodded my head, as I give big thumbs up to Todd Reesing, Chase Daniel, and Graham Harrell. However, the first Quarterback they mentioned was Sam Bradford.

Um, excuse me? Someone name me the last good Quarterback from Oklahoma (and so help me God if someone says Jason White). Oklahoma is a woefully overhyped team that gets exposed for there true colors when facing quality opponents, which is probably why they don’t schedule any for non-conference games.

I cringe at the thought of them making it unscathed through the Big 12 (a distinct possibility) and making it to the National Championship Game. Why? Because they’ll get blown out by USC, Georgia, or anyone else they face (minus OSU, they can’t beat anyone of quality either). As for Bradford, here’s a phrase you may want to learn after your football career ends at Oklahoma: “Do you want fries with that?”