The first week of the college football season is usually a learning experience. Some teams, like Florida and Texas, were doing the schooling. Meanwhile, the nation learned a bit more about the supposed promise of Ohio State and Iowa, and the ACC was taught a thing or two by its superior non-conference rivals.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on what team you play on), Week 2 matches an underwhelming college football schedule against the season premiere of NFL 2009. And while even there seem to be more reasons to be mulling over your fantasy team’s starting roster than to watch a little NCAA action, I’m here to reassure you: there is still a reason to watch football all day on Saturday, too.
Reason #1: We get to see Ohio State (and the Big Ten) put in its place.
Ohio State (as I said last week – and they proved) isn’t the real deal. National championship contenders don’t almost lose at home to a Navy quarterback’s one-man show. The Buckeyes got rolled 35-3 by USC last year while experiencing some uncertainty at quarterback, and I don’t expect things to be much different this time around. The game will be more competitive than last year, seeing that Terrelle Pryor has come into his own behind center, and freshman USC quarterback Matt Barkley will be playing his first road game against 100,000 screaming Buckeye fans inside the Horseshoe.
Luckily for the Trojans, Pryor doesn’t have Beanie Wells around to back him up (just like last year), and Barkley has the best 10,000 players born west of Denver to back him up. USC apparently only loses to conference underdogs and Ohio State can’t win big games anymore, so look for a Trojan victory that will allow the nation to stop talking about OSU like they matter.
Reason #2: Old school rivalry game.
This probably won’t be as good as Florida State-Miami (FL), but what it is? Michigan and Notre Dame both looked strong in Week 1. People expected it from Notre Dame, and Jimmy Clausen is showing that he could be a sleeper for the Heisman if the Irish win all but two or three games. Michigan looked speedy, especially Denard Robinson, who blew through the defense with his shoes untied. Quarterback Tate Forcier gave a good effort in the resurrection of Michigan’s ability to score points (and beat MAC opponents). Rich-Rod should be proud. This game won’t tell us much in terms of national significance, but it will probably tell us which team will play the better bowl game this year.
Reason #3: Greg Paulus is playing a real team.
He looked good against Minnesota last week in an overtime loss, but that was Minnesota. Tomorrow he plays Penn State, and we’ll see how much of a field general the former Duke point guard actually is. Something tells me he won’t be putting his arm around the ref after a touchdown pass this time, but I could be wrong. It’s up to JoePa, really.
Reason #4: Washington will probably tear down a goal post after winning a game.
No, really, it could happen! The Huskies play Idaho. Believe!
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