Gold: The Hokie Pokey and week 9.

Okay, so Clemson isn’t going up to Blacksburg to prove to the world that they’re an elite level team.

They’re still – in my mind – the best team in this league. But, Virginia Tech paid Clemson forward for all the crap the world’s been dumping on the Hokies for back-to-back embarrassing ACC losses, and the subsequent poor behavior.

That was a very thorough and respectful beating Tech administered to the Tigers last night, and Frank Beamer’s team is now back in the hunt for the Coastal Division.

There’s still a long way to go, but here’s the best way to see a rematch of this game in Jacksonville....

Virginia Tech becomes very big Miami fans on Saturday. With Georgia Tech sitting at 3-1 in the league and having already beaten the Hokies this year, Tech either needs the Jackets to lose twice (possible, but unlikely), or Miami to win and create the possibilty of a 3-way tie atop the Coastal division at 6-2. If that’s the case, we’ll likely end up with tie-breaker #7 which brings it down to BCS rank and there’s a good chance that the Hokies rank would be ahead of Georgia Tech and Miami.

Clemson, on the other hand will be waving Old Gold and Black pom-poms next week when Boston College comes to Winston-Salem. The Tigers need the Eagles to lose twice or hope that the Deacons catch fire and win four of their remaining five (including that game against BC) to create the possibility of a 3-way tie with Wake in the Atlantic Division. Of course, BC could also lose at Miami at the end of the year...

Should the Tigers, Eagles and Deacons end the year at 6-2, there’s a chance that Chris Clark will be crowned Miss America!

There’s a long way to go and a lot of teams are still in the hunt for Jacksonville.

For instance....

If State can hold on to the football, they should be able to win up in Charlottesville, then all they have to do is beat Georgia Tech and Clemson before....never mind....it’s a little too much of a long shot to even type.

Tomorrow, as Chuck Amato told me yesterday, the mission for the Wolfpack is to simply NOT TURN THE BALL OVER. Is that too simplistic? Maybe, but unless you’re overwhelmingly superior or the luckiest sons of....you just can’t win by turning it over on the road.

NC State is -9 in the turnover department, 114th in the nation in that statistic.

Please, please, PLEASE can we see a little more play action on 1st down? I’m begging you guys, open it up, pretend that you’ve got a quarterback that knows what he’s doing?

The pick: NC State 26 Virginia 24

Boston College takes on Buffalo, one of the worst teams in Division 1. In fact, it would be a stretch to think that they’d be competitive at all in Division 1-AA.

The Pick: BC 40, Buffalo 3

Vanderbilt comes to Duke in what will likely be one of the most intimate gatherings of college football fans in the sport’s history. Vandy’s not bad, and they did manage a win at Georgia (you think Mark Richt wants that Saturday back or what), but they’ve got the 90th rated offense in the country and I say that Duke is on the verge. Whether or not the verge is ready to take that next step....

The Pick: Verge 24 Vandy 16

Wake Forest knew last week that coming to Chapel Hill wasn’t going to be easy because no matter what the circumstances are these in-state games always have more at stake. The players know each other intimately. They’ve grown up together. They were teammates. Lived on the same street. Hung out at Goodberry’s together.

Now, Dick Baddour has gone and fired John Bunting and all the players who love their coach are just a little bit faster, just a little bit stronger, and have their senses heightened just a little bit more. If Carolina doesn’t play their best game of the year I’ll be very surprised. Of course, UNC’s best still shouldn’t beat a very good Wake Forest team that should be able to run the ball to keep the chains moving and allow for Riley Skinner to make plays in the passing game. I think we’re going to have ourselves a little bit of a shootout at Kenan.

The Pick: Wake Forest 48 North Carolina 38

A week ago Georgia Tech allowed Clemson to run for more than 300 yards in a 31-7 whipping on the road. This week, the Yellow Jackets shouldn’t have to worry about a team running the ball like that because Miami isn’t capable of that type of a showing. Not that the Hurricanes can’t hurt Tech, because Kyle Wright is still dangerous and the U does have some outstanding athletes on offense. We’re going to see an SEC style defensive struggle in Atlanta.

The Pick: Georgia Tech 16 Miami 13

The Seminoles have never lost two conference games at home – until this year. Florida State has never lost three ACC games in the same season – until last year, and this year. But it’s been 30 years since the Noles have been .500 or worse heading into November (Bobby Bowden’s 1st season in Tallahassee) and 20 since they’ve been .500 or worse after any game in October. A loss in College Park would leave Florida State at 4-4 for the season and 2-4 in the ACC. I know this seems like it’s all about FSU and that Maryland is just an innocent bystander. I think that’s the way this goes.

The Terrapins are decent. But, they don’t have any real weapons on either side of the ball and therefore rely on the generosity of their opponents (or their weak schedule) to win games. As long as FSU doesn’t gift wrap a 6th win for the Terps (much like the Pack did last week) we’ll hear a lot of tomahawk chopping from whatever band FSU rents.

The Pick: FSU 27 Maryland 20

East Carolina heads to Hattiesburg to attempt what NC State failed miserably a month and a half ago. The Pirates are going to try and beat Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are good, but they’re not as good as you would think of a team that beat NC State by 20 on September 16.

They’ve only won once since and ECU is an improving team that I feel is going to give this one a run.

Can USM handle Pinkney to Allison? If they can’t I’m smelling a road upset.

The Pick: ECU 34 USM 30.

Some other’s worth noting...

It’s the largest outdoor cocktail party, in Jacksonville. And, judging from their home loss to Vanderbilt earlier this year you’d think that Georgia thought it was two weeks ago. The Bulldogs are a bit of a mess on offense and Florida is just a little to solid for the Dawgs.

The Pick: Gators 24 Bulldogs 13

"You can’t spell Citrus without UT!"

I think I’ll laugh about that line forever. Steve Spurrier came back to the college game and beat the Volunteers in Knoxville a year ago. But, Tennessee was bad. I think we’re going to have another good game, maybe a little higher scoring than a year ago.

The Pick: Tennessee 27 South Carolina 23

And a few weeks ago Tommy Tuberville complained about how his Auburn Tigers could go unbeaten and get shut out of a BCS title game and how the SEC was at a disadvantage and how there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll and how Elvis and John Lennon were still alive. Then his team went out and got stomped at home by unranked Arkansas. Suddenly, there’s no more whining.

Charlie Weis spent a fair amount of time during his press conference this week discussing the polls and how his team was jumped by a couple of schools in spite of the fact that the Irish didn’t lose their game. He made some very valid points, but the answer is always going to be the same, "shut up and go play". In many cases, when you complain, you ultimately pay the price with a loss. I don’t know if Navy can do that since they haven’t beaten the Irish since before Viet Nam. But, I won’t be surprised if it’s close.

The Pick: Notre Dame 31 Navy 24

Gravley's Pig Pickin' Oct 25

What an interesting week for football in the triangle. We begin with North Carolina hosting Wake Forest. How will the Tar Heel players respond to the firing of their coach?? Will they still listen to the lame duck coach or will they rally to win for Coach Bunting? Before the firing of Bunting I thought Wake would just run all over the Heels. It's a pretty uneven match-up of the ACC's 4th ranked rushing offense (Wake gains 144 yards per game) against the league's worst rushing defense (Carolina surrenders 205 yards per game).

NC State has to, needs to, and had better get a win at Virginia. The Pack is 0 for their last 4 in Charlottesville and haven't won there since 1994. Since losing at Southern Miss, NC State has shown extreme toughness and a never quit attitude. Just put a handle on the football and quit those game changing turnovers! Virginia is playing better but State is the better team.

Duke steps out of conference play for 2 straight weeks of home games. Vanderbilt visits Wallace Wade this Saturday followed by Navy on November 4th. After scoring only 13 points in their first 4 games, the Devils have been getting on the board much better the past 3 games....13 points at Bama, 24 against FSU and 15 posted against Miami. Vandy's marquee win in a 3-5 season is a 24-22 win at Georgia.

East Carolina travels to Southern Miss in a battle for 1st place in Conference USA's East division. The Eagles are 2-1 in league play, ECU and UAB are 2-2. Against NC State we saw how physical the Golden Eagles can be. Their only losses of the year are at Florida, at CUSA's best team Tulsa and at Virginia Tech. Hattiesburg can be a haunting place for opponents. A win by the Pirates would be their best to date. These 2 teams have developed quite a rivalry although it's been lopsided. In the last 10 games of the series, Southern Miss is 9-1 against the Pirates.

Enjoy the pig this weekend!
Jeff

The Midweek Look at the League

Well, it goes to figure that as soon as you say something in sports...it goes the othere way. The last time that I managed to hammer out a post on the blog it was about Julius Peppers and the way that he was eating up opposing teams and their offensive lines. The result? Peppers went without a sack for the first time since week one against Atlanta. The Panthers did very little on the defensive line to disrupt the Bengals and in the second half, Cinny made them pay.

More from last week:

-Everyone is really excited about Michael Vick's performance(4 TDs) against the Steelers. That's great, but what are the chances that Vick plays anywhere near that level again this season? The Falcons still don't have a identity, and one great game in the passing department from Vick doesn't mean Atlanta is on the fast track to Miami in February.

-Remember back in the offseason when everyone predicted that T.O. would ruin the Cowboys as surely as the leaves would change color in the fall? I'm not saying that T.O. is exactly spreading peace and love in Dallas, but the Cowboys looked capable of ruining themselves without T.O. on Monday Night against the Giants. If your QB can't retreat from a blitz any faster than the polar ice caps...then it's time to make a switch for good. Ro-mo, Ro-mo, Ro-mo...

-Everyone talks about the problems of performace enhancing drugs and baseball, but for some reason it is as if people are struck deaf, blind and dumb when the issue of drugs and football comes up. Shawne Merriman was hit by the league with a four game suspension for testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone. Of course, Merriman is appealing the suspension under the now timeless defense of "don't blame me, blame my supplements". Why is it that the press simply reports NFL steriod suspensions as a disappointing story, but nothing beyond the moral limits of the sport, while treating anything envolving baseball and steriods as if it's an affront to decent people everywhere?

-The NFL has approved two regular-season games a year to be played outside the United States. I'm all for that, but then again...I don't have season tickets to any team and thusly won't miss a home game when the league jerks my team out of the good ole US of A in an effort to parade "American Football" in front of a crowd of people that think soccer is a better sport.

-On a somewhat related note, FIFA said this week that 58% of the injuries that were suffered in this summer's World Cup were faked. Oh, the artisty...oh, the passion...oh, get up and stop pretending.

-I know that the Steelers say Ben Rothlisbuger is ready to play this weekend, but is that really a good idea? Motorcycle accident, emergency appendectomy, mild concussion last week versus the Falcons...dude, it is karmic-ly not your year.

-I don't know if their defense is really good enough, but has anyone else noticed that the Patriots are putting together another very good season and are on top of the AFC East at 5-1. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, etc, etc, etc... The only damper that I would put on the Pats is that four of their wins have come against their division. Two wins over Buffalo(2-5), one over the Dolphins(1-6) and one over the Jets(4-3). Make of that what you will.

-You could argue that Eagles should be 7-0 right now...they are in fact 4-3. How exactly did that happen? That's something that Andy Reid might want to figure it out soon.

Peppers Crushing the Competition

The Panthers are back to being a playoff contender(Super Bowl? Easy...one step at a time) after running off four wins in a row. Yes, there is plenty to talk about in the wake of last weekend's win over AFC North-leading Baltimore and most of that would involve praise for Steve Smith. However, have people noticed what Julius Peppers has been doing so far this season? Peppers picked up two sacks against the Ravens to became the franchise's career leader in sacks. The former UNC defensive end has 8.0 sacks already this year and is likely to exceed his career high total of 12 pretty soon. With three forced fumbles already this season, Peppers is likely to break another franchise record soon. He is one behind Mike Rucker in that category. Rucker marveled at Peppers' ability while talking to the Fayetteville Observer last week,

“Pep is at that point in his career where he can’t do anything wrong,” Rucker said. “His first step puts him in position that he can go inside or outside and it’s hard for a tackle to read that. And if the tackle is a second late, then Pep can do what he wants.”

The frequent knock on Peppers over his first four years in the NFL was that it didn't always look like he was playing with full effort. Anyone want to say that in 2006?

Gold: The Hot List (ACC Style)

Throw out the stats, forget your pre-conceived notions, these are the best teams and elements in the ACC.

Best teams...

1-Clemson...it's a shame they blew the game at Boston College. There aren't going to be a lot of unbeaten teams and the Tigers are an offensive machine.
2-Georgia Tech...if they hadn't stopped throwing the ball to Calvin Johnson in the opener against Notre Dame....
3-NC State...so you're telling me that the same team that lost to Akron and was hammered by Southern Miss then beat BC and FSU?
4-Boston College...So many of their games could have gone either way. Mostly they go theirs and that means something.
5-Wake Forest...do they have the talent of FSU, Miami, or Virginia Tech? No. But, they might be a better team than all three.

Best guess at Jacksonville...

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech

Now, on to the week ahead...

You can't blame State fans for being so jacked up lately. Maybe it's the start of the State Fair this weekend. Personally, I can't wait for my first fried Oreo. But, after starting out 1-2 the Pack has circled the wagons and rallied behind Daniel Evans to beat Boston College and Florida State and now they welcome in Wake Forest for a game that will go a long way towards giving the Pack a shot at an Atlantic Division title.

Here’s the way it goes….and keep in mind that no one is immune to the stinker game because we’ve seen way too much football in this league this year to think that anyone is above getting upset.

If the Pack can manage to control Wake’s running game and not turn the ball over, they’ll beat the Demon Deacons – maybe even convincingly – and set a collision course for a November match up at Clemson with the winner likely being the division representative in Jacksonville. Not to get too far ahead, but if State beats Wake tomorrow they’ll likely head to Death Valley November 11th with no more than 2 losses (they visit Maryland and Virginia before hosting Georgia Tech November 4th) and with the Tigers already having one loss, that game would give the winner the tie-breaker advantage.

Am I moving too fast? Maybe, and believe me when I say that State could very easily lose this game to Wake Forest if they make too many mistakes. But, I have a feeling about this team. I think November 11 – the day after Sidney Lowe’s debut against Wofford – will be a day in which State takes a swing at winning the Atlantic Division.

Would you have guessed that after losses to Akron and Southern Miss?

The Pick: NC State 27, Wake 23

For the record, I went a perfect 6-0 last week in my ACC picks, including nailing the score on the nose between Clemson and Wake.

Thursday night, Boston College turned out the lights on Virginia Tech’s conference title hopes with a very thorough 22-3 beating at Chestnut Hill. BC wasn’t awesome statistically as the Hokies held the Eagles to under 300 yards in total offense. But, Tech did nothing but turn the ball over as they finished the game minus-4 in that category.

On top of that, the Hokie sideline was a mess. Kirk Herbstreit was extremely critical of the program on the broadcast – justifiably so. Vince Hall and Aaron Rouse had to be separated, Brendan Hill was caught dancing on the field late in the game. This is a team right now that looks extremely undisciplined.

Thursday night in Charlotte, Clemson was the big powerful sports sedan going 90 miles an hour on the highway and Temple was the bug. 63-9.

Tomorrow in Chapel Hill, you can call it what you want, but I’ll call it Carolina’s mid-term exam. And, if I recall correctly from my college days, mid terms were usually in the neighborhood of 40% of your grade. I think the Tar Heels had better step it up – to use a horrible sports cliche` – and play well. The Bulls are not a great team, but they are a good team. Their quarterback, Matt Grothe, is 9th in the country in total offense with more than 1650 yards in 6 games. He’s a good thrower, but a dangerous runner, and athletes like that will be an extreme test for a defense that isn’t blessed with tons of speed and has had problems with recognition and assignments.

This is the biggest game of the season for North Carolina.

The Pick: South Florida 30 UNC 27

Florida State and Duke are at Wallace Wade Stadium and if I knew that the Seminoles weren’t going to score on defense and special teams I’d be tempted to think that the Blue Devils would give the Noles a game. But, with Duke’s problems on the O-line and the fact that FSU has already seen the tape of Duke’s game at Alabama, FSU will get at least 1 non-offensive touchdown and probably force at least 4 turnovers.

The Pick: FSU 34 Duke 6 (missed PAT, of course).

Don Strock made a career as a back up QB in Miami, now he’s the head coach at Florida International and he’s bringing his team into Miami where the Hurricanes are still struggling despite a 20-point win over Carolina. FIU gave Maryland a hard time in College Park three weeks ago and I think they’ll give the Canes a few problems early.

The Pick: Miami 26, FIU 13

The Terps and Cavaliers used to be a big game. Neither team is very good and this one isn’t even on TV. It’s on something called ESPN360, which I believe is just a web stream. My wife is going to do some on-line shopping this weekend, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch this one.

The Pick: Virginia 20 Maryland 16

Around the nation….

I think ECU’s offense has a shot to take down defending C-USA champ Tulsa at Dowdy Ficklen. I really like what I see from the Pirates offensively, and they competed defensively with West Virginia.

I think Navy has a shot to beat #22 Rutgers this weekend and look out for Washington State at home against Cal. The Bears won’t be able to surprise the Cougars with hideous uniforms like they did against Oregon.

Another week another heavyweight game in the SEC….for the 5th time this year, two of the best teams in the nation share the field when Florida goes to Auburn. The Tigers are coming off their shocking loss to Arkansas a week ago while the Gators just got through hammering LSU.
Auburn will win this game because, well, just because – 23-17.

See ya next week

Gravley's Pig Pickin' Oct 12

Wake Forest @ NC State

According to Wolfpack defensive tackle Tank Tyler, after every practice the Pack breaks their team huddle with the chant of ACC champs and state champs. Chuck Amato still believes winning beating all of the in state schools on your schedule is a big deal...and it is. It's a good recruiting tool. Wake and State has always been an interesting game and so should the 100th meeting between the 2 schools on Saturday. NC State's defensive front has been stellar in their last 2 wins over BC and FSU. Wake is always a challenge for a run defense and I can't wait to see the match-up of Wake's run offense vs. State's run defense. Pack QB Daniel Evans has been a difference maker since he entered the 4th quarter against Southern Miss. He just flat knows football and where everyone is supposed to be in the offense. So often we incorrectly measure a QB for his arm strength but knowledge of the game and footwork are 2 key elements of a QB. Watch the footwork of Evans how he rarely throws a ball without his feet in the proper position to make the throw.

South Florida @ North Carolina

It's another post expansion ACC vs. Big East match-up and the Heels need this one BIG TIME. At some point they'll need a win over a Division 1 team for goodness sakes. The players are talking about needing to go 5-2 in their final 7 games to become bowl eligible. Beating South Florida is a must for that to happen. The Bulls average 153 yards rushing per game and I'm sure they'll be pawing at the dirt to go up against Carolina's rushing defense that's giving up 202 yards per game. Also, don't forget that South Florida lost to undefeated Rutgers 22-20 and we saw what the Scarlett Knights did at Kenan to open the season. Rutgers 21 Carolina 16.

Tulsa @ East Carolina

The Pirates face a major test with defending conference champ, Tulsa coming to town. The Golden Hurricane lost fewer lettermen than any team in Conference USA's western division and they have started the season 4-1. Included in that record are back to back wins over Southern Miss and Navy. East Carolina has played well in it's last 3 games posting a 2-1 record. To Pirate fans, Tulsa may not be as sexy as West Virginia and Virginia but a win here would REALLY go a long way toward the Pirates extending their season with a bowl bid.

Florida State @ Duke

Gosh...the Devils score more touchdowns at Alabama than they did the entire year!! That's progress. It'll be interesting to see how interested Florida State is in this game. They'll be playing in front of half the folks they are accustomed to having in the stands. The Noles will either play poorly and win by 10 or take out their frustrations on Duke and it could be ugly. As Bobby Bowden once told Lou Holtz after beating Holtz by about 40...It's not my job to stop my offense. You either need to work harder or recruit better. UGH...

Till next week,
Jeff Gravley

Adam Gold: Put that in your hot seat.

Last night at Carter-Finley Stadium two things happened; NC State seriously found out that they have a quarterback that can not only win, but win under pressure. And, Florida State University was slapped completely out of their perch as the leader of the ACC.

Not that the Seminoles can’t win the league this year – though it looks very unlikely – but, the days are over when people can just assume that Florida State is going to be the best team in the league. Tommy Bowden has a better team than his father, and Bobby’s other “son”, Chuck Amato, has his number.

NC State has now won 4 of the last 6 from Florida State after last night’s come-from-behind 24-20 win in front of a national television audience. Daniel Evans was a star, throwing three touchdown passes and showing poise after a rough start. You knew that the Noles were coming after him and they roughed him up a bit but he didn’t back down and made huge plays in the second half.

This was NOT a fluke for the Wolfpack. They have resurrected their season with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents by mixing their running game with a quarterback that knows what he’s doing. Some will say that Evans just threw the ball up for grabs on two of his scoring plays. I disagree. I say he took calculated risks, throwing the ball to taller receivers who were covered by inexperienced players. That’s called understanding the game and taking advantage of your opportunities.

Those are things that good football players do.

Speaking of good football players….how about Geron James, Donald Bowen, Anthony Hill, Andre Brown, Toney Baker, Darrell Blackman, Tank Tyler, Demario Pressley, DeJuan Morgan, A.J. Davis, Garland Heath, etc….those guys and a bunch of their friends played a hack of a ballgame last night. The defense stuffed FSU’s pseudo-running game, and the offensive line did a very solid job.

State is not a perfect team. I still believe that you can run wide against them. I still think that you can hurt State with short passes. But, State has answered the challenge of those losses to Akron and Southern Miss and they’ve decided that this season had a lot left on the bone.

That was a very mature win for the Pack.

It was also a very telling loss for Florida State.

As for the rest of the league we’re going to find out some things this weekend…

We’ll find out if Wake Forest is 5-0 merely because the level of competition has been low, or if they are up to the challenge of a team as explosive as Clemson – for my money the best team in the ACC through five weeks of the season. Can the Demon Deacons slow down the Tigers – even without Chansi Stuckey? Can Wake stop Clemson’s incredible running game, and inflict their own rushing attack on the Tigers’ defense that ranks 11th nationally against the run. Clemson, for those of you scoring at home, is 9th in total defense, 14th in turnover margin, and 2nd in scoring. They don’t rank below 54th in any statistical category, and they’re good at protecting Will Proctor. This is a very good football team, though they do have some special teams issues.
Pick: Clemson 27 Wake Forest 17

We’ll also see how Georgia Tech bounces back from a huge win at Virginia Tech when they deal with a very disappointing Maryland team about to play their first conference game of the year. Even though the Terps are 3-1, they struggled to beat Florida International last week, holding their breath as FIU had the ball in Maryland territory with a chance to steal the game in College Park. Meanwhile Tech is playing very good defense and forcing turnovers. They’ve caused 10 in the last four games and the Terps are -6 on the season.
Pick: Georgia Tech 31 Maryland 10

North Carolina travels to Miami and we’re hoping that John Bunting and company will have fixed the things that ARE broken. Following the Clemson debacle, Coach Bunting mentioned that not everything was broken. Well that may be true, but the things that are broken seem to be the things that cause you to get beat 52-7 and give up over 300 yards rushing and render you completely non-competitive. The best cure for what ails the Tar Heels is a win, and it doesn’t hurt that Miami is almost as offensively challenged as any team in the country. They just don’t seem to have an idea of what they want to do when they’ve got the ball. Look for Miami to try and control this game on the ground – hell, if Larry Coker’s watched ANY FILM AT ALL he might run it on every play – with freshman legacy Javarris James, the nephew of former Hurricane stud Edgerrin James. If they have success on the ground against the Heels, and who doesn’t, they’ll win this game going away.
Pick: Miami 34 North Carolina 13

Duke travels to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama for the first time since 1972. If you ask me, Duke should have waited another 34 years to make this trip. If Duke reaches double digits in 1st downs the Tide ought to be embarrassed. Although, the last time Ted Roof took his Blue Devils on the road in the SEC, they nearly beat Tennessee – losing 23-6 at Neyland Stadium before coming home to beat Georgia Tech for Roof’s first win as a head coach.
Pick: Alabama 23 Duke 0 (what, do you think the Blue Devils are going to score?)

And, Virginia steps outside of the ACC to take on ECU at Dowdy-Ficklen. This will be the second BCS school to make the drive to Greenville, as West Virginia was there a couple of weeks ago and had their hands full. The Pirates should be able to move the ball on the Cavaliers though we’ll see how much carry over there is from UVA’s 37-0 pasting of Duke last week.
Pick: ECU 27 Virginia 20

Around the country….

For the second time the SEC is the spotlight conference with a pair of highly-ranked match ups…

#9 LSU plays at #5 Florida and #13 Tennessee visits #10 Georgia…and #2 Auburn hosts Arkansas…

This is the weekend that Mack Brown used to dread. This is the Texas State fair and the home for the Red River Shootout with Oklahoma. Once upon a time, Bob Stoops used to roll up Brown’s Longhorns. Now, we’ll see how it stands – A.V., or after Vince. I also have a feeling that the Missouri-Texas Tech and Nebraska-Iowa State games are going to be worth the time.

In the Big Ten, the slow train wreck that is Michigan State football heads to Ann Arbor to get pummeled by Michigan. Many Wolverine fans tell me that Big Blue is every bit as good as Ohio State (home to Bowling Green on Saturday). If that’s the case then this game will not be close at all.

And finally, a big match up in the Pac 10 with #11 Oregon on the road at #16 California. Is this the weekend when we finally get a look at the Ducks’ yellow uniforms?

Running with Fast Willie Parker

I had the chance to talk to Pittsburgh Steeler running back, Willie Parker on my radio show this week. The Steelers are coming into Week Five of the season after a bye week and a loss to division rival Cincinnati before that. Parker is ready to carry the load for the Steelers as they head to San Diego for a Sunday night showdown. You can listen to the interview by clicking the link above.