ESPN College Football

I had a shaky opening week. I thought I was going to finish .500 against the line, but then UCLA knocked off Tennessee Monday night and I ended up two games under. The good: picking Stanford to upset Oregon State. The bad: picking Virginia Tech to handle East Carolina. The ugly: touting Pitt to thump Bowling Green. Here are this week's guesses:

Thursday, Sept. 4

South Carolina 13, Vanderbilt 10
The Commodores had a nice start, beating a good MAC team, Miami (Ohio), on the road. Their young O-line will face a much tougher test here. Look for the Carolina D to force enough turnovers and negative plays to avenge last year's Vandy upset.

Friday, Sept. 5

Ball State 45, Navy 35
Nate Davis, the Cardinals' QB, is an outstanding triggerman and this is a proven offensive attack, which should win a high-scoring game. Navy ran all over Ball State in 2007, and probably will do more of the same, but expect the Cardinals to make a few more plays.

Saturday, Aug. 30

Ohio State 44, Ohio 3
If the Bobcats can only manage 39 rushing yards against Wyoming, I can't imagine they're going to doing much damage against Laurinaitis, Freeman & Co. I also like how in the past few years the Buckeyes have routed everyone they've faced the week before meeting a top-five opponent in a showdown game.

Wisconsin 38, Marshall 20
P.J. Hill and the talented stable of Badgers backs will be too much for a gritty Herd team that does have some quality skill talent. However, if Illinois State can keep the ball for 39 minutes against Marshall, it might be too tough to get the Wisconsin offense off the field.

Oklahoma 27, Cincinnati 10
Dustin Grutza steps way up in competition after lighting up Eastern Kentucky. The Bearcats have some terrific players, but the Sooners will be too physical in eventually wearing down a game Cincy team that has stayed with a lot of top-10 teams over the past two years.

West Virginia 30, East Carolina 23
The Pirates did a great job on Pat White the last time he visited ECU in 2006, forcing three INTs. Last year, White carved them up, going 18 of 20. ECU's D did a nice job against Virginia Tech's offense, but expect the upgrade in talent of the WVU backfield to be too much for the Pirates.

BYU 31, Washington 28
Jake Locker's team was dismal at Oregon, but U-Dub matches up a lot better against BYU than it does against the aggressive Ducks defense. However, the Cougars' smooth passing attack will be a little too much in the end for the host Huskies.

Georgia 51, Central Michigan 20
Getting bumped out of the No. 1 slot after romping in the opener probably won't put the Dawgs in a charitable mood for Central, which got blown out several times last year when it stepped up in class. CMU QB Dan LeFevour is very talented, but so are the Dawgs, who have won 23 consecutive games at home against non-BCS opponents by an average of 26 ppg.

Southern Miss 23, Auburn 20
The Golden Eagles' recent history against SEC teams isn't good. After all, they haven't beaten anyone from the SEC since knocking off Alabama in 2000, but I think USM's array of skill talent will keep things very interesting, making enough big plays while the Auburn offense continues to try to get into a rhythm.

Oregon 54, Utah State 7
The Ducks, regardless of which QB they throw out there, will be a handful for even a top defense. They also have a salty D-line and a great secondary. Utah State's recent history doesn't bode well since the Aggies have played four top-20 teams in the past two years and the best defensive job they did was "holding" Boise State to 49 points.

Penn State 31, Oregon State 17
The Beavers have plenty of talent at the skill positions, but this will be a tough road trip for a program that has a history of struggling out of the gate. PSU has a rep for beating up on nonconference road teams visiting Happy Valley, and the Nittany Lions ground attack should hit even more big plays than Stanford's offense did.

Wake Forest 33, Ole Miss 31
Few teams execute as well as Wake. The Rebels will be seriously challenged with a D-line that has been hit hard by injury, but getting DT Peria Jerry, their emotional leader, back for at least some action is a big plus. I also like Ole Miss to put a scare into Wake as Jevan Snead and the Rebels' passing game gets its timing down.

Alabama 38, Tulane 3
Tough starting point for the Green Wave, who have lost five consecutive openers -- the past two by an average of almost 30 ppg. The Tide's young talent will shine here, taking advantage of an inexperienced Tulane secondary.

Kansas 44, Louisiana Tech 14
Tech's pass defense gave up a bunch of yards to a shaky attack like Mississippi State's. Look for KU QB Todd Reesing and a quality bunch of receivers to feast on Tech.

South Florida 38, Central Florida 10
The Bulls have playmakers all over the field. Last year, they did an outstanding job of clamping down on UCF star Kevin Smith, holding him to 55 yards rushing. George O'Leary doesn't have anyone as capable as Smith on the Knights' offense now so USF rolls.

Florida 38, Miami 21
This isn't the easiest place for UM QB Robert Marve to make his college debut. The Canes do have a good group of running backs and might be able to do some damage, but ultimately the young Miami team will get caught in a Gator flurry and let the game get away from them.

Texas Tech 63, Nevada 38
Two very sharp passers put on an air show. Nevada's Colin Kaepernick led his team to 629 total yards last week against Grambling. Tech's defense, which has been touted as much-improved, didn't look very sharp in its opener, but should at least outdo the Pack.

Utah 42, UNLV 13
Brian Johnson leads a very potent Ute offense that is equally dangerous on the ground and through the air. Utah also has a big revenge factor because UNLV blanked them last season 27-0. Expect Utah to really come after UNLV RB Frank Summers.

Arizona State 20, Stanford 14
The Cardinal are much improved, but Stanford has not matched up well against ASU recently, having been outscored 79-6 in the past two meetings. Rudy Carpenter was sacked only once by Northern Arizona's D last week. He will get a better test in Week 2, but the Sun Devils' edge in skill talent will win out.

Texas 54, UTEP 3
The Miners' D was carved up by Buffalo, giving up four TD passes. Colt McCoy and the Longhorns' receivers will be way too much for UTEP, and the young Texas secondary really improved over the course of last week's Florida Atlantic game.

Bruce Feldman is a senior writer with ESPN The Magazine. His new book, "Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting," is on sale now.