#1 Georgia at South Carolina
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, CBS)
South Carolina actually beat Georgia last season thanks to an excellent performance by their defense. The Gamecock D is even better now, and they might be up to the task of containing Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno once again. It wouldn’t surprise me if linebacker Eric Norwood even punched in a defensive touchdown. The big roadblock though is the South Carolina offense. With Chris Smelley at quarterback there really isn’t a chance of scoring many points against Georgia’s extremely athletic defense. Will this be the week Stephen Garcia finally shows his face somewhere other than a police blotter? This should be a tight game much of the way, but Georgia is just too good this year. The Dawgs will pass their first road test of many with flying colors.
J.Pike’s Pick: Georgia 24, South Carolina 13
#3 Ohio State at #2 USC
(Saturday, 7 pm, ABC)
Breakdown can be found here: [LINK]
J.Pike's Pick: USC 31, Ohio State 17
#4 Oklahoma at Washington
(Saturday, 6:45 pm, ESPN)
Oklahoma won’t need any help from the officials or a blocked extra point to dismiss Washington. Husky quarterback Jake Locker seems to have improved his passing this season, but he’ll need a lot of help from his defense to keep this one within range. Oklahoma’s offensive line has been dominating so far this year, and I don’t see any reason for that to change here. Oklahoma wins another one going away.
J.Pike’s Pick: Oklahoma 43, Washington 20
#5 Florida is Idle
Arkansas at #6 Texas
Postponed due to Hurricane Ike
Nevada at #7 Missouri
(Saturday, 11:30 am, FSN PPV)
Nevada is a scrappy ball club and I can see their “Pistol” offense creating some problems for the Missouri defense. But Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin should have no trouble running up and down the field, even against an underrated Wolfpack defense.
J.Pike’s Pick: Missouri 45, Nevada 24
North Texas at #8 LSU
(Saturday, 7 pm, ESPN360.com)
Come on, give me a break. The defending national champs hosting a team that probably couldn’t beat Texas high school champs Trinity High School? This one won’t even be close. LSU will score on one of the first three plays of the game and coast from there.
J.Pike’s Pick: LSU 52, North Texas High 7
#9 Auburn at Mississippi State
(Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN 2)
I’m not sure what to make of Auburn’s new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin so far. Against Southern Miss the Tigers weren’t able to simply line up and run the football, even with Ben Tate in the backfield. Most of their running plays were sideways out of the shotgun, a la Missouri. That’s not going to cut it in the SEC, especially when you don’t have Chase Daniel pulling the trigger at quarterback. Chris Todd moved the offense okay, but he’s very streaky - Derek Pegues and the Mississippi State defense will make him pay for any accuracy woes he suffers in this game. The Auburn defense is more than up to the task of slowing down an erratic Wesley Carroll, but I’m going to go ahead and call the upset. If Carroll can limit the turnovers and make sure every drive ends in a kick (XPT, FG, or punt – there’s nothing wrong with a punt in this game) the Bulldogs will be able to hold onto the ball more than the new Auburn offense and play good enough defense to hold on for the win.
J.Pike’s Pick: Mississippi State 15, Auburn 12
#10 Wisconsin at Fresno State
(Saturday, 9:30 pm, ESPN 2)
In one of the more interesting games of the weekend, a Big Ten team will actually travel half-way across the country to play in Fresno, CA. Pat Hill will play anybody anytime anyplace, and he has backed that up by traveling all over the country to play big time football teams. They finally got somebody to return the favor. Wisconsin averages 281 rushing yards per game thanks to P.J. Hill and John Clay, and Fresno will have a difficult time slowing them down. The Bulldogs have good experience on offense, but I’m not convinced Todd Brandstater is all he’s cracked up to be. Fresno is scrappy so they’ll hang around throughout the game.
J.Pike’s Pick: Wisconsin 22, Fresno State 19
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, CBS)
South Carolina actually beat Georgia last season thanks to an excellent performance by their defense. The Gamecock D is even better now, and they might be up to the task of containing Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno once again. It wouldn’t surprise me if linebacker Eric Norwood even punched in a defensive touchdown. The big roadblock though is the South Carolina offense. With Chris Smelley at quarterback there really isn’t a chance of scoring many points against Georgia’s extremely athletic defense. Will this be the week Stephen Garcia finally shows his face somewhere other than a police blotter? This should be a tight game much of the way, but Georgia is just too good this year. The Dawgs will pass their first road test of many with flying colors.
J.Pike’s Pick: Georgia 24, South Carolina 13
#3 Ohio State at #2 USC
(Saturday, 7 pm, ABC)
Breakdown can be found here: [LINK]
J.Pike's Pick: USC 31, Ohio State 17
#4 Oklahoma at Washington
(Saturday, 6:45 pm, ESPN)
Oklahoma won’t need any help from the officials or a blocked extra point to dismiss Washington. Husky quarterback Jake Locker seems to have improved his passing this season, but he’ll need a lot of help from his defense to keep this one within range. Oklahoma’s offensive line has been dominating so far this year, and I don’t see any reason for that to change here. Oklahoma wins another one going away.
J.Pike’s Pick: Oklahoma 43, Washington 20
#5 Florida is Idle
Arkansas at #6 Texas
Postponed due to Hurricane Ike
Nevada at #7 Missouri
(Saturday, 11:30 am, FSN PPV)
Nevada is a scrappy ball club and I can see their “Pistol” offense creating some problems for the Missouri defense. But Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin should have no trouble running up and down the field, even against an underrated Wolfpack defense.
J.Pike’s Pick: Missouri 45, Nevada 24
North Texas at #8 LSU
(Saturday, 7 pm, ESPN360.com)
Come on, give me a break. The defending national champs hosting a team that probably couldn’t beat Texas high school champs Trinity High School? This one won’t even be close. LSU will score on one of the first three plays of the game and coast from there.
J.Pike’s Pick: LSU 52, North Texas High 7
#9 Auburn at Mississippi State
(Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN 2)
I’m not sure what to make of Auburn’s new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin so far. Against Southern Miss the Tigers weren’t able to simply line up and run the football, even with Ben Tate in the backfield. Most of their running plays were sideways out of the shotgun, a la Missouri. That’s not going to cut it in the SEC, especially when you don’t have Chase Daniel pulling the trigger at quarterback. Chris Todd moved the offense okay, but he’s very streaky - Derek Pegues and the Mississippi State defense will make him pay for any accuracy woes he suffers in this game. The Auburn defense is more than up to the task of slowing down an erratic Wesley Carroll, but I’m going to go ahead and call the upset. If Carroll can limit the turnovers and make sure every drive ends in a kick (XPT, FG, or punt – there’s nothing wrong with a punt in this game) the Bulldogs will be able to hold onto the ball more than the new Auburn offense and play good enough defense to hold on for the win.
J.Pike’s Pick: Mississippi State 15, Auburn 12
#10 Wisconsin at Fresno State
(Saturday, 9:30 pm, ESPN 2)
In one of the more interesting games of the weekend, a Big Ten team will actually travel half-way across the country to play in Fresno, CA. Pat Hill will play anybody anytime anyplace, and he has backed that up by traveling all over the country to play big time football teams. They finally got somebody to return the favor. Wisconsin averages 281 rushing yards per game thanks to P.J. Hill and John Clay, and Fresno will have a difficult time slowing them down. The Bulldogs have good experience on offense, but I’m not convinced Todd Brandstater is all he’s cracked up to be. Fresno is scrappy so they’ll hang around throughout the game.
J.Pike’s Pick: Wisconsin 22, Fresno State 19
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