News & Notes

*BYU could be without two key starters on offense Saturday night when they take on undefeated rival Utah. All-Mountain West offensive lineman Ray Feinga is listed as questionable due to a lower back strain. Tight end Dennis Pitta, a big part of the passing game with 76 receptions for 992 yards (3rd best in the conference), is also listed as questionable due to a sprained knee. If both of these players aren't able to play, it could spell big trouble against the stout Ute defense.

*North Carolina head coach Butch Davis has opened up the quarterback job again. T.J. Yates, the starter until a broken left ankle caused him to miss the last 7 games, is now healthy enough to play. Cam Sexton went 4-2 in his absence, but his struggles against Maryland caused Davis to re-evaluate the position. I expect Yates to win his job back and lead the Tarheels the rest of the way.

*Steven Threet probably won't be available for Michigan this weekend thanks to a shoulder injury. The reeling Wolverines take on bitter rival Ohio State, and they will be forced to go with Nick Sheridan at quarterback. With a 3-8 record already guaranteeing this to be the worst season in the program's history, Threet's injury can't be considered much more than par for the course this year.

*Notre Dame will be without two starters for the next two games. Freshman wide receiver Michael Floyd and middle linebacker Brian Smith both suffered knee injuries in the win against Navy Saturday. Smith was the team's fourth leading tackler, but Floyd is the more damaging loss. The rangy freshman is easily one of the best skill players the Domers have had in years and he has already had a notable impact on the offense.

*Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer is electing to start Jonathan Crompton at quarterback. The Vols travel to face in-state rival Vanderbilt this weekend, who happen to have one of the most talented secondaries in the SEC. I have a feeling it won't take long for Compton to get yanked for poor play once again.

*Finally, here's some early news for the Ball State/Western Michigan game in a couple of weeks. Two time All-MAC cornerback Londen Fryar might miss what could be an epic matchup due to a toe injury. The injury caused him to miss last week's game against Toledo, but the Broncos have a bye week and hope he can recover in time.

Gameday Commentary - 11 o'clock games

Notre Dame 27, Navy 21

Navy nearly made their second remarkable fourth quarter comeback in as many weeks. Trailing 27-7 in the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback Ricky Dobbs sparked a comeback that included two onside kick recoveries, but fell just short.

Notre Dame displayed an excellent running game. The three headed monster of James Aldridge, Armando Allen, and Robert Hughes combined to pound the undersized Navy defense to the tune of 230 rushing yards.

Yet again, Jimmy Clausen was inconsistent and threw two interceptions. If Notre Dame wants to get better, they'll rely more on their solid running game than on the unreliable arm of the overconfident Clausen.

Keep an eye on Navy's Dobbs. I have a feeling you'll be hearing a lot about him over the next two years. He's got great athleticism to run the triple option, but he has a stronger arm than any Navy quarterback in recent memory.

Northwestern 21, Michigan 14
Michigan lost their school record 8th game of the season in snow flurries against Northwestern. I know this is going to prompt even more criticism from Michigan fans and the national media, but everyone needs to hit the breaks a little bit.

Sure, and 8-loss season is something Michigan should never have to experience, but when you consider the magnitude of the overhaul taking place to the offense, you have to expect some setbacks. Watching the game, I didn't get the feeling that Michigan was a terrible team. Defensively they are actually quite good.

The 2008 Wolverines are simply a team in transition, and hasn't been able to catch any breaks this season. So lay off Rich Rodriguez (at least for the time being), because he needs at least a couple more years to get his players in place before it's fair to make a judgment on the job he is doing in Ann Arbor.

Georgia 17, Auburn, 13
As expected this was an ugly, low scoring game. Auburn proved to me they haven't quit on this season. Despite all the coaching turmoil and the mounting losses, the Auburn players were still giving a solid effort on the field, and almost pulled the upset.

The main question I had watching the game is: what in the world was Tony Franklin thinking? For some reason, Franklin had it in his head that Chris Todd was a better quarterback than Kodi Burns. Well, he couldn't have been more wrong - and maybe that had something to do with his firing at mid-season.

Burns played a solid game against Georgia. His athleticism is obviously far superior to Todd's, but Burns proved to me today that he is a much better pocket passer as well. Burns has a stronger arm, and more importantly, doesn't panic in the pocket and make stupid throws the way Todd did. In the SEC, you can't have a quarterback that can't handle a pass rush.

WEEK ELEVEN - Bonus Picks

Kansas @ Nebraska
(Saturday, 1:30 pm, FSN PPV)
Quarterback Joe Ganz is mistake-prone. He tends to make bad throws when he is pressured. Kansas is a solid fundamental football team that makes opponents pay for their mistakes. That doesn’t bode well for Nebraska. Neither does the fact that the Jayhawks potent passing attack (312.8 yards per game) matches up favorably with the Huskers porous secondary. Despite the home crowd, Nebraska will fall to 5-5 with a loss here to Kansas.
J.Pike’s Pick: Kansas 34, Nebraska 27

Clemson @ Florida State
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC/ESPN)
I guess this game can no longer be considered “The Bowden Bowl”. But that doesn’t change the fact that Clemson owns a three game winning streak in the series. Interim coach Dabo Swinney seems to have the Tigers playing with a little more emotion lately, and that’s all they’ll need to beat Florida State. Clemson has more talent on defense than the Seminoles, and they’ll turn those guys loose on freshman quarterback Christian Ponder early and often.
J.Pike’s Pick: Clemson 26, Florida State 16

Stanford @ Oregon
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, FSN)
Stanford will prep for their big upset win over USC next week the only way they know how – by losing big to Oregon. Last year Jim Harbaugh’s troops lost to Arizona State 41-3 a week before pulling off the shocker in Southern California, so why should this year be any different? Oregon’s potent ground game (270.7 yards per game) shouldn’t have any problems steamrolling the Stanford defense, which will put the Cardinal exactly where they want to be going into the USC game.
J.Pike’s Pick: Oregon 37, Stanford 20

Notre Dame @ Boston College
(Saturday, 7 pm, ESPN)
Notre Dame stumbled in quadruple overtime against Pitt last week, but that doesn’t change the fact that their passing game is starting to come together. Wide receivers Golden Tate and Michael Floyd are starting to run down quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s deep passes and turn them into touchdowns. Considering none of the three were on campus prior to last season, the Golden Domers appear to have a bright future on offense. Boston College is a solid team with a solid defense led by linebacker Mike Herzlich. Herzlich makes plays all over the field and will single-handedly wipe out Notre Dame’s running game. But the Eagles don’t have enough players in the secondary to slow down that aerial assault.
J.Pike’s Pick: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 25

WEEK NINE - Preview

There is plenty of intrigue in the schedule this week with four matchups featuring top 16 teams. There is also upset potential all over as 13 top 25 teams must play away from home. But here are three games that aren’t on the national radar that have interesting storylines as well.

SMU @ Navy
This is quite the study in contrasting styles. New SMU head coach June Jones obviously likes to let it fly as he proved so often as the architect of Hawaii’s high flying offense the last several years. Navy on the other hand will run the triple option on first, second, AND third down until you stop them. Then they’ll run some more. Jones isn’t earning his $2 million a year yet, and I’m not sure he ever will. Go with the ground game in this one, even if Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada Nahasapeemapetilon has to miss another game due to his lingering hamstring injury. Running back Shun White (averaging 110 yards per game) will pick up the slack.
J.Pike’s Pick: Navy 30, SMU 20

Ole Miss @ Arkansas
The Nutt Bowl! Despite a successful 8-4 regular season capped by a win over eventual national champion LSU, Houston Nutt was unceremoniously run out of Fayetteville. Arkansas fans have been rewarded with a head coach known more for his disloyalty than his coaching ability, a team that won’t make a bowl game, and a defense that is often allergic to tackling - maybe they should bring in that referee from the South Carolina/LSU game last week! [LINK] That bodes well for Dexter McCluster, the speedy all-purpose threat who will get the ball a number of different ways in this ballgame, including direct snaps at quarterback. Rising freshman running back Enrique Davis should also take advantage of the generous Hogs defense. And keep your eye on Ole Miss defensive end Greg Hardy – he’s an underrated talent that you might know more about if he hadn’t missed so much time early this year due to injury.
J.Pike’s Pick: Ole Miss 28, Arkansas 20

Notre Dame @ Washington
Tyrone Willingham gets to host his former team for what is looking more and more like the last time. At 0-6, the entire state of Washington has basically signed off on his termination at the end of the season. I’m not sure I totally agree with that move, but his record definitely doesn’t help him out. Even without quarterback Jake Locker I still think Washington has some decent young players on the roster, and don’t forget they took BYU down to the wire earlier this year. Notre Dame and Jimmy Clausen seem to finally be growing up, so they should be able to pull out a win in Seattle. But it will be tougher than you might expect.
J.Pike’s Pick: Notre Dame 33, Washington 27

WEEK THREE - Recap

THE GOOD

*Drew Willy and the Buffalo Bulls knocked off Temple on a last second hail mary. After giving up a go ahead touch down with only 38 seconds left in the game, Willy calmly guided his team down the field and completed the 35-yard touchdown pass to Naaman Roosevelt on the last play of the game for the win.

*The Missouri offense looks unstoppable. If we had to hand out the Bo Jackson Award right now, my vote would be split between Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin. Daniel displayed his deadly accuracy and quick decision making yet again, posting ridiculous numbers (405 passing yards, 4 tds) in only two and a half quarters! Maclin's blazing speed was obviously too much for Nevada's defense as he racked up 172 receiving yards and scored on 3 of his 6 receptions. And if you think these are the only two weapons on the offense, you're wrong - three other receivers each grabbed 6 passes and went over 100 yards in the game. Wow.

*BYU and quarterback Max Hall burst UCLA's bubble. After a nice opening weekend win over nationally ranked Tennessee, Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow were geniuses. Now UCLA is 1-1 after suffering the school's most lopsided defeat since, like, the '30s. Max Hall was phenomenal. He had a record breaking stat line by halftime (6 touchdown passes in the first half, 7 in the game) in leading BYU to a 59-0 rout.

*Penn State is looking more and more like your Big Ten champs every week. With Ohio State's struggles, the door is wide open for the Nittany Lions. Against a vastly inferior Syracuse team, they didn't disappoint. The starters barely got to play the whole first half in this blowout! The Darryl Clark to Jordan Norwood connection continues to impress, as does running back Evan Royster. Royster might be one of the best kept secrets in the nation right now - he's fantastic. On top of the offensive firepower, the defense only allowed 159 yards and 8 first downs.

*Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is on a mission to make me look bad for ranking him as the fourth best QB in the Big XII. Bradford simply led the Oklahoma offense to an easy 55-14 victory over Washington in Seattle. The Sooners were never tested thanks to Bradford's efficiency - he threw 5 touchdown passes against only 3 incompletions.

THE BAD

*Cross country road trips were't kind to California and Oregon. Oregon overcame a slow start and 20-6 halftime deficit to beat Purdue in overtime, but Cal wasn't as lucky. Cal had to make the coast-to-coast trip to Maryland, where the game kicked off at noon - or 9 am Berkeley time. They were clearly asleep in the first half as Maryland coasted to an easy 21-6 halftime advantage. This is notable because Maryland was only averaging 14 points PER GAME and was coming off a loss to Middle Tennessee. Cal finally woke up in the fourth quarter and scored three touchdowns, but by then it was too late.

*Oregon could use a quarterback with a bionic knee. A year ago the Ducks season was ruined when they lost potential Heisman Trophy finalist Dennis Dixon late in the season to a knee injury. Backup Nate Costa was already out due to a knee injury so they had to go with Brady Leaf. This season, Costa was projected to be the starter, but he injured the same knee and will be out all year. Then yesterday, Justin Roper injured his knee in overtime and will be out at least two weeks. I'm not sure I would want to play quarterback for Oregon right about now.

*Syracuse. Coach Greg Robinson is obviously on his way out because this team looks completely inept on both sides of the ball. The offense has been awful for years now, but defense was supposed to be Robinson's specialty. Well, this defense is continually out of position and could barely qualify as a speed bump in yesterday's matchup with Penn State's high powered offense.

*Notre Dame and Michigan. Notre Dame won in a downpour, but it looked more like Michigan just gave them the game thanks to 6 turnovers. Rich Rodriguez's offense has a loooooong way to go, there's no question about that. The quarterback play is atrocious, and their best running back right now is Sam McGuffie, who looks like a guy that should be playing in the MAC - not the Big Ten. On the other side of the field, The Ostrich Jimmy Clausen proved yet again that he's the second coming of Ron Powlus with another outstanding stat line: 10-for-21 with 2 interceptions. Notre Dame will make a bowl game because of their lame schedule this year, but don't let that fool you.

*Is there a worse pair of offenses than those featured in the Auburn/Mississippi State game last night? The final score was 3-2. Granted, both defense are pretty good, but those two offenses are putrid. Mississippi State quarterback Wesley Carroll has lead-feet. Even if he had time in the pocket, he couldn't complete a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. I expect that kind of play from the Bulldogs, but shame on Auburn. New offensive coordinator Tony Franklin has that offense headed in the wrong direction. I don't know why they decided to abandon the strong running game they've had for so many years, but now their short yardage running game is embarassing. And the trade off is Chris Todd at quarterback? Ugh. On top of that, Auburn committed numerous holding penalties (one in the end zone that gave Mississippi State their only 2 points in the game) and had a ton of problems with hand-offs that led to two crucial turnovers in the fourth quarter. Auburn scored 3 points in this game, and I think it's an indication of things to come for that offense the rest of the year.

THE GAME OF THE WEEK

*No surprises here. USC dominated Ohio State from start to finish, which falls in line with Ohio State's recent woes in big games. The Buckeyes defense struggled mightily against the speedy Trojan offense, proving once again that they don't have the speed on that side of the ball to compete on a national stage. Joe McKnight ran circles around James Laurinaitis and company, and Mark Sanchez proved he's going to be a step up from John David Booty. I think both teams are right about where we expected them to be.

Gameday Commentary - Afternoon Games

*The call at the end of the BYU/Washington game was a disgrace. In case you missed it, Washington QB Jake Locker made a nice run to get into the end zone with 2 seconds left in the game to potentially tie the game. In the excitement he tossed the ball up in the air over his back and the official threw a flag for excessive celebration. Then the ensuing 35-yard PAT attempt was blocked. I'm sorry, but you don't ever throw a flag on what Locker did - ESPECIALLY in that situation. Washington was robbed - sort of. Should have executed the kick a little better.

*The Cincinnati/Oklahoma game went almost exactly as I expected. Oklahoma jumped on those pretenders early and Cincinnati committed several unnecessary penalties. Oklahoma is up 45-20 early in the 4th quarter and already have well over 500 yards of offense. The kick coverage has been troublesome though as Cincinnati has made several long runs on kick returns, including one that went for a touchdown. They'll need to work on that for sure.

*Stephen McGee has joined JaPorky Lane on the bench - finally. It only took a terrible performance against Arkansas State and a slow start against New Mexico. Jerrod Johnson is in now and he led two touchdown drives prior to halftime. The Aggie defense needs work though. Coach Fran left the cupboard bare on that side of the ball.

*East Carolina is for real, and West Virginia is not. ECU has owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and for some reason the Mountaineers think they are a passing team now. What? Why would you take away a huge advantage by not letting Pat White run? Why even play the game? But I don't want to take anything away from the Pirates. They are playing with a passion that is great to see. Wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia are great wins for the program already this year.

*My upset pick of the week almost came through. Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead scrambled back and forth to find Cordera Eason in the end zone with a minute to go in the game to give Ole Miss a 28-27 lead. But Wake came back with a quick drive down the field to set up the game winning 41-yard FG by Sam Swank. Oh well, maybe next week...

*The Notre Dame offense looks every bit as awful as they were last season. The offensive line is terrible and Jimmy Clausen is the biggest tool of all time. They finally took the lead 14-13 on a touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, but four turnovers and several breakdowns up front have led to yet another inefficient outing for the Charlie Weis offense. This is a bad team yet again.

*And did anybody else notice how much trouble Colorado had with Eastern Washington? They were down 21-7 at halftime and needed an interception return for touchdown with 2 minutes left in the game to win it.

Gameday Commentary (cont.)

*I'm a little sketchy on the new Auburn offense. They no longer have the ability to line up and run the football - something that I believe is necessary to win in the SEC. Luckily the Tiger defense looks as good as it's ever been. They were absolutely dominant in the first half against Southern Miss. USM put some points up in the second half, but Auburn was running a lot of backups in and out of the lineup to get some experience.

*Big ups to ESPN360.com. I have been able to check out the Georgia Tech/Boston College, Southern Miss/Auburn, and Ole Miss/Wake Forest games thanks to this brilliant bit of technology.

*Penn State is every bit as good as I thought they were. I bumped them up into my top 10 last week and they are giving me no reason to reconsider. Both the offensive and defensive line play have been outstanding - which is remarkable considering they are missing a handful of projected starters due to suspension. Almost as impressive is the collection of skill position talent on offense. QB Darryl Clark, RB Evan Royster, and WR Jordan Norwood are a fantastic trio. That doesn't even include speedy wideouts Derrick Williams and Deon Butler! I now consider Penn State a serious threat to Ohio State in the Big Ten.

*Ed Cunningham is an idiot. Please ESPN, give Ron Franklin a real counterpart because he deserves way better than this clown.

*Charlie Weis' offensive brilliance continues! With two minutes to play in the first half against a San Diego State team that lost to Cal Poly SLO last week(!), the Domers unstoppable juggernaut has a grand total of zero points(!!). Congratulations Chuck!

News & Notes

* Wyoming head coach Joe Glenn named JC transfer Dax Crum the starting quarterback. That leaves Karsten Sween, who started for the Cowboys the past two seasons, relegated to backup duty. Which begs the question: what the hell kind of name is “Dax Crum”?

* USC’s Matt Sanchez and Joe McKnight each suffered minor injuries in practice. Both are expected to be fine for the regular season, but this offense has been slipping recently, and these are two first time starters who could use the repetitions to gel with the rest of the offense.

An interesting side note to the Sanchez injury – redshirt freshman Aaron Corp is taking the snaps with the first team offense in his place instead of the highly touted Mitch Mustain. I’m guessing Pete Carroll is going to receive an angry call from Momma Mustain soon.

* Virginia Tech lost another wide receiver when Frank Beamer suspended Zach Luckett from the team indefinitely. The Hokies top four receivers from last season all graduated and the top three heading into ‘08 have all been lost due to injury or suspension. Now Poly must rely on true freshmen to get the job done. Tyrod Taylor better be ready to take over the QB job full time because he’s the only playmaker left on this depleted offense.

* Colorado named Demetrius Sumler the starting running back ahead of stud true freshman Darrell Scott. Sumler is a fine player, so all this means is the Buffs will have excellent depth in the running game.

* Tennessee tight end Brandon Warren has been cleared to play this season after transferring from Florida State. Two years ago Warren was one of the most impressive freshmen in the country, and he’ll make an immediate impact at Tennessee.

This news couldn’t come at a better time for the Vols either. After losing tight ends Chris Brown and Brad Cottam to the NFL draft, projected starter Jeff Cottam injured his knee in practice and will be miss the first half of the season.

* Purdue running back Jaycen Taylor tore up his knee and will miss the 2008 season. Kory Sheets will take over full time, but he doesn’t have quite the same ability Taylor does.

* SMU senior quarterback Justin Willis has been demoted to third string on new head coach June Jones’ depth chart behind somebody called Bo Levi Mitchell. Willis has started for the Mustangs the past three years so the move comes as a surprise.

* As expected, UCLA has named Kevin Craft the starting quarterback. Craft, a transfer from San Diego State, got the nod in large part because Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan are the two most injury-prone players to ever play major college football. But Craft can play a little bit too, so expect him to have a fine season playing for Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow.

* Ralph Friedgen has changed his starting quarterback again. Chris Turner, who played well in spots last season, has been replaced in the lineup by injury-plagued Jordan Steffy. Josh Portis, a transfer from Florida, is expected to see action as well. Friedgen said Portis has as much athleticism as any player he’s ever coached, so expect him to contribute a highlight reel play at some point this year.

* In another quarterback competition that went as expected, Cal has named Kevin Riley the starter over Nate Longshore. Long”spare” has been playing mediocre football for far too long, and Riley proved in the Bears’ bowl win over Air Force that he has what it takes to succeed in Jeff Tedford’s offense.

* Oregon quarterback Nate Costa suffered an injury to the same knee that caused him to miss all of last season. As of now the severity of the injury is unknown, but I have a hunch that Justin Roper is warming up in the bullpen already. Get your panic buttons ready Duck fans.

* Miami has suspended projected starting quarterback Robert Marve for the season opener against Charleston Southern. That means true freshman Jacory Harris will have the first shot at filling the ballerina slippers of Kirby Freeman and Kyle Wright.

* Gene Chizik has chosen a winner in the heated quarterback competition at Iowa State. Austen Arnaud will get first crack at the job. Phillip Bates will see the field though - he played wide receiver last season and has too much athleticism to keep on the sidelines.

* N.C. State redshirt freshman Russell Wilson was tabbed by head coach Tom O’Brien as the starter for the Thursday night opener against South Carolina. Wilson beat out incumbent Daniel Evans, Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck, and Justin Burke, who is transfering to Louisville.

* Notre Dame tight end Mike Ragone tore up his knee and will sit out the season. The Domers were already thin at tight end, so it will be up to incoming freshmen to handle an important position in Charlie Weis’ offense.