A big battle in the SEC leads this week's most compelling story lines:
1. Blackout in Athens: Another week and another big top-10 showdown in the SEC as Alabama visits UGA. To ramp the enthusiasm up even higher, the Dawgs are going to have a "blackout," meaning they're breaking out their black jerseys -- and the last time they did that, the Dawgs smashed Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.
"It's just exciting, because last year we had a great time, and hopefully we can continue that, get a little excitement to the game, get the fans into it," wide receiver Kris Durham told the Red and Black. "Anytime you get to bring out the black jerseys, it's exciting. We've played well both times we've worn them, so hopefully we can continue that trend."
Surprisingly enough, this will be just the ninth time in the long history of Sanford Stadium that two top-10 teams have met there. The best game-within-the-game matchup to watch is the terrific Bama run defense trying to contain UGA's Knowshon Moreno. If the Tide can shut down Moreno, just like Bama neutralized Clemson's C.J. Spiller and James Davis, Nick Saban's team will probably have taken down two top-10 teams in September.
One final nugget on this game: Don't underestimate the recruiting implications at stake. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, when Saban agreed to play Clemson in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff to open the 2008 season, he said one of the reasons was Alabama's desire to recruit in the state of Georgia. Alabama has signed five players over the past two years from the state and has four Georgia commitments among its current recruiting class. At least 12 more players from the state have received offers to sign with Alabama.
"We're recruiting Atlanta because it's three hours away and they have a lot of great football players and a lot of good football programs," Saban explained. "Georgia is fourth, I think, in (number of high school) prospects behind Texas, California and Florida. And it's relatively close to us."
2. Buster Alert: It's hard not to drift into the realm of the "what-ifs" when it comes to the programs outside the BCS conferences. The Mountain West has three ranked teams with potential shots at a BCS bowl, meaning they each control their own destinies. And even though early-season favorite East Carolina was bumped from the picture by NC State, Boise State's profile improved significantly with its upset at Oregon. Used to be the big question was could there be a BCS Buster in the works? Now it's not outlandish to think there could be two of them.
First off, let's say this, any undefeated winner of the Mountain West will belong in a BCS bowl. The MWC has posted a 7-3 mark in games against BCS conference opponents this season (including SD State's loss at Notre Dame), with five different teams chalking up victories. The only other conference above .500 against BCS competition is the SEC (5-3) with the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 all at 6-6 while the Pac-10 and Big East are 5-6. In fact, the MWC is kinda resembling a Western version of the SEC, in that the teams have been built on tough defense. The MWC boasts seven teams that have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 2008.
So if that happens and there are some unbeaten outsiders, where does that leave Boise should the Broncos be undefeated? Here's the rule for the Buster criteria: If, say, it's Boise, and the unbeaten MWC are in the top 10 -- which I suspect they'd probably be given the dearth of powerhouse teams right now -- only one gets the automatic berth. And then what happens with the bowl execs picking? Do they defy their conventional hopes of, say, a Rose Bowl with a Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup, especially if the second-best Pac-10 team is an Oregon squad that Boise already beat at Autzen?
3. Revenge in Norman? Oklahoma has won 20 games in a row, dating to the season opener in 2005 against TCU, a 25-point underdog. Guess who visits Norman this weekend? "First time I played," OU senior safety Nic Harris told the Oklahoman. "First time dressing out on the collegiate level. First loss. Sore subject. Sore topic."
Great motivator? "Oh, that's a lot of motivation right there," said the Sooners' other senior safety, Lendy Holmes, who was playing wide receiver on that team. "TCU is coming back again. And it's here again. I'm quite sure that's motivation right there. Nothing else needs to be said. TCU coming back to Norman."
Actually, we can say a few more things about this one. Like those rumors about TCU spying on preseason scrimmages? Bob Stoops doesn't care, just saying "they kicked our butt." And that TCU is fortunate to get back speedy Aaron Brown, the 2007 Mountain West Conference preseason Player of the Year.
TCU is a 17-point underdog this time around. One more thing worth pointing out: OU QB Sam Bradford is light years ahead of the Sooners' QBs back then.
4. JoePa Rides Again? Penn State has been thumping everyone, but now steps up in class quite a bit. Illinois has plenty of firepower too. Can the Nittany Lions keep lighting up the scoreboard? Another issue is how will the Illini's offensive weapons respond to Ron Zook's challenge to them? One final intriguing aspect here is will Penn State's two suspended D-linemen, Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma, play? Paterno also said he's waiting for decisions to be made by the university. Evans and Koroma are not listed on the weekly depth chart released by the school Tuesday.
5. Reality Check: There are a handful of programs that have been pretty suspect over recent years who have gotten off to fast starts, but now things get interesting:
•Minnesota, 1-11 last year, is 4-0 but sees the schedule get tougher with its trip to Columbus.
•UConn, which was strong in '07, is 4-0 but faces the first of three straight road games.
•Duke is 2-1 and favored against visiting UVA to become 3-1. (This the first time in its 25-game ACC losing streak that Duke has gone into a conference football game as a favorite.)
•Northwestern visits Iowa with a chance to go 5-0.
•Colorado can improve to 4-0 if the Buffs can get past underachieving FSU.
•Nebraska can go 4-0 if it can beat visiting Va. Tech.
RANDOM STUFF
•Here's a surprising admission: Joe Tiller admitted he gave his veteran QB Curtis Painter an ultimatum during Saturday's 32-25 victory over Central Michigan, writes Tom Kubat:
Tiller told Painter he had one more series to improve his play or backup Joey Elliott would replace him.
Usually coaches prefer not to own up to such things that didn't ultimately take place. Then again, Tiller, who is about to call it a career, has never been particularly shy about speaking up.
•Just when things appeared to be turning for NC State, more bad news. The Pack has lost arguably their two most important players to injury: Starting quarterback Russell Wilson and leading tackler Nate Irving are out for Saturday's game against 13th-ranked South Florida. Irving injured his right lower leg during last week's 30-24 overtime defeat of East Carolina and missed most of the second half.
According to Ken Tysiac, coach Tom O'Brien refused to divulge Wilson's injury or the length of time either player is expected to miss. The coach said both players are out indefinitely. Asked if Wilson was out because of after-effects from the concussion he suffered Aug. 28 at South Carolina, O'Brien wouldn't comment.
On Mondays, the only requirement for coaches under the new ACC injury policy O'Brien endorsed is to reveal which players have had surgery or are out for the season. "I don't have to discuss the injury until Thursday," O'Brien said. "So I'm not going to say anything."
•The prospect of Steve Spurrier starting Stephen Garcia has sparked a little debate at the Post and Courier in Charleston.
My three cents: Yes, Garcia has had some problems off the field, but if he has in fact done what's been asked by the school and displayed signs of maturity, why not give him a chance to see what he can do on the field? It's not like South Carolina's offense has been sizzling.
•Despite the struggles of the Pac-10 and Notre Dame, Jeff Miller is convinced USC will not run the table:
"The USC Trojans will lose this season, at some point, on some field, against some opponent bent on rattling the rankings. Guaranteed. We promise this because they play on nine more Saturdays, as well. The Trojans will be favored week-to-week often times heavily and yet they are a longshot to win every one of those weeks."
•Speaking of USC, I talked to Trojans safety Taylor Mays about the impact of losing Shareece Wright, the team's best coverman. Mays praised Wright's skills, talking about the CB's ability to be physical at the point of attack. Then again, he also pointed out that the new starter Josh Pinkard is "a freak, just a real thoroughbred." In fact, the addition of the 215-pound Pinkard might give USC the biggest secondary in the history of college football, joining the 230-pound Mays, the 225-pound Kevin Ellison and making 6-0, 180-pound Cary Harris the little man of the bunch. I'm not sure you'll find any secondaries that have ever averaged almost 215 pounds per man.
•Mizzou has a week off and prepares for a tough trip to Nebraska. Last year, the Tigers really benefited from their bye week, writes Tom Timmermann:
"A year ago, Mizzou's bye week came at just the right moment. The Tigers were last in the Big 12 in defense after nonconference play, allowing an average of 434.5 yards per game to the likes of Western Michigan, Mississippi and Illinois State. (Ole Miss had 534 yards of total offense.) Then the Tigers had a week off before their conference season began and had a chance to change some things around.
"Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus modified some of the team's schemes to better suit his personnel, and the Tigers held Nebraska to six points and Texas Tech and Colorado to 10. Texas Tech came into Mizzou averaging 582 yards per game. Mizzou allowed the Red Raiders 388, including minus-9 on the ground. Nebraska had just 297 yards. A string of routs followed."
Another big plus to the week off is that it gives the ailing foot of safety William Moore, Mizzou's best defender, more time to heal.
•WVU coach Bill Stewart may be feeling some heat for his team's bad start, but the first-year coach sure comes across as a heckuva nice guy. This was his take on Mark Snyder, the coach of rival Marshall who is this week's opponent:
"I absolutely think the world of Mark Snyder. I don't care who knows it [and] I don't apologize for it,'' Stewart said Monday. "I think he's great for the game [and] I think he's one of the best character men in the coaching profession today. I absolutely think he's done a tremendous job and I'm happy he's reaping some of the rewards for those early years that he took over a mess.''
•Terrelle Pryor wasn't the only true freshman to get a lot of action for Ohio State last week. Mike Brewster, another blue-chipper, had a strong day playing center for the Buckeyes.
With senior Steve Rehring sidelined, center Jim Cordle moved over to his spot and made room for the prep All-American out of Orlando, Fla., writes Jon Spencer:
"With Steve hurt, someone had to step up," Brewster said. "It was a big test. It was really my first time ever doing shotgun snaps from center. I never did it in high school. It's good to have Jim Cordle next to me. It's great anytime you have a veteran to learn from. But I'm not going to lie. I was nervous. I'm sure Terrelle was nervous. Next time we can just go out and play football."
Bruce Feldman
