Figured after how my last few years have gone I really need to start putting these in print somewhere other than subscription based sites (I had Ole Miss losing on Thursday, for what it’s worth).
FSU beats USF by around 24 (something like 48–24). The ‘Noles will struggle a bit defending the read option, but they’ll get a few turnovers again and USF won’t stop Ponder and the offense. I think FSU’ll come out pretty hot as they still feel disrespected after the BYU whipping.
Miami beats VT, but in a very close game (I’m thinking something around 23–18). Jacory Harris is one of the smartest young QBs I’ve ever seen, but he doesn’t like getting hit all that much. VT will bring pressure from everywhere and throw more exotic coverage schemes at him than he’s seen so far in his career. They’ll use a lot of quarter-quarter-half and mixed man-zone schemes along with a lot of zone blitzing. I expect that Foster will be the first DC this year who realizes that to stop this UM offense, you can’t just load the run on first down, because they’ll gash you with play action. He’ll try to win with confusion, and this is the first truly good defensive front UM has seen. They’ll struggle early, turn it over a couple times, and still win because VT can’t score points.
UNC will beat Georgia Tech, but again close. I don’t expect a lot of points here as UNC has the best defensive front GT has seen (their two DTs are outstanding and will take away the midline of the field, critical against Johnson’s attack) and Carolina is still pretty green on offense. If GaTech had a QB who could throw a bit, I’d take them in this game, but I think Carolina takes it, something around 20–17.
Clemson will beat TCU. Clemson’s defense is for real, and if they get any kind of offensive showing, this might get ugly. I’m not sure that happens, though. Clemson wins, 31–17.
Oregon will keep it close, if not beat, Cal. Cal isn’t a good road team, and I think Oregon is better than Minnesota, who Cal struggled to beat last week. Autzen is also not an easy place to play. I’m still not sold enough on Masoli to pick Oregon, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see them win. Cal, 23–20.
Arkansas might make it interesting against an Alabama team I’m still not entirely sold on. Mallett’s presence at the QB position and the coaching duel between Petrino and Saban (two coaches with less than stellar off-field reputations, but outstanding on-field results) will be interesting to watch. Alabama will have to score some points to win this one. I think they do, but closer than they’d like: Alabama, 34–31.
Texas Tech will eliminate the second-to-last BCS buster by beating a good Houston team. This TTU team is better on defense than expected. TTU, 38–31.
