Pac
10
Arizona
| Arizona St
| California
| Oregon
| Oregon St
Stanford
|
UCLA
| USC |
Washington
| Washington St
Past Predictions:
Week One
Pac 10 Week
Two Fearless Predictions,
Part 2
Pac 10 Game of
the Week
Arizona
(1-0)
at
LSU
(1-0) 6:30 pm EST ESPN2 Saturday, September
9th
Why to watch:
Desert Swarm, meet Death Valley.
Upstart Arizona travels to Baton Rouge
for the program’s biggest non-conference
game in a decade. Win at LSU, and you
can start saying the Cats have turned
the corner and are pointed big things
under Mike Stoops. They were
inconsistent in the opener with BYU, but
snuck out with a momentum-building,
16-13 win on Nick Folk’s last-second
field goal. Compared to last season,
LSU has had a very quiet start to the
season, and the entire community is
thankful for the normalcy. The Tigers
opened with a matter-of-fact, 45-3 win
over UL-Lafayette, but the big story was
the presence of QB JaMarcus Russell and
RBs Alley Broussard and Justin Vincent,
all of whom finished last year on the
shelf. Russell was particularly sharp,
however, Broussard and Vincent are still
somewhere south of 100%.
Arizona might win: Okay, so the
Desert Swarm comparisons are premature,
but this Arizona defense is very
good…and very fast. The best way to
neutralize LSU’s speed is with speed,
and the Cats have it up front and
especially in the defensive backfield.
Last week, they held high-scoring BYU to
a paltry 13 points and 24 yards rushing
and got a pair of sacks from stud JUCO
transfer Louis Holmes.
Why LSU might win: Arizona had
lots of problems moving the ball in Week
1, and things figure to get a whole lot
tougher in Week 2. Despite having to
fill holes on the front seven, the Tiger
D was in mid-season form, running its
streak of consecutive quarters without
allowing a touchdown to 10. Arizona QB
Willie Tuitama needs to rebound from a
shaky start, but it won’t be easy
against one of the nation’s stingiest
secondaries.
Who to watch: For LSU to be more
than just a contender for the SEC West,
Broussard has to be the back he was
before the ACL tear. He had 46 yards
and a score on eight carries Saturday,
but is still carrying a few too many
pounds from the long layoff. An
improved Arizona run defense presents a
stiff test before next week’s pivotal
trek to Auburn.
What will happen: Mike Stoops
clearly has the Wildcats headed in the
right direction, but snapping LSU’s
eight-game winning streak over Pac-10
opponents is skipping ahead too many
chapters. Tuitama has never seen the
kind of pressure he’ll get Saturday
night, and it’ll result in at least two
picks for the opportunistic Tiger
secondary.
CFN Prediction:
LSU 28 ... Arizona 13
... Line: LSU -14.5
Must See Rating: (5
skip the birth of your first born - 1
Fashion House) ... 3
Oregon State
(1-0) at
Boise State
(1-0)
7:30 PM EST ESPN Thursday September 7th
Why to Watch: Outside of the fact
that it’s Beavers and Broncos on blue
turf on national television, this Boise
State team believes that an undefeated
season puts them in a BCS game for the
first time ever, while the Beavers want
to prove they can go out on the road and
win a big game. Neither team was
actually tested in their respective
openers, but that’ll change on Thursday
night in a tone-setting game for the two
programs.
Why Oregon State Might Win:
Oregon State RB Yvenson Bernard picked
up where he left off last season with a
19-carry, 124-yard performance against
Eastern Washington. His quickness and
burst to the hole will test the talented
group of Bronco linebackers that won’t
face another back like him the rest of
the year. On the other side of the ball,
the Beaver defense can penetrate and get
up field and create mayhem with the
Boise State offensive blocking scheme –
they racked up ten tackles for a loss
against EWU. Any chaos that they can
create up front will disrupt the timing
of the passing game and shut down direct
running lanes for the Boise State
running backs.
Why Boise State Might Win: It’s
on the blue turf, right? This is a
different team at home, as the 2003
Beavers can attest to losing 53-34. The
Broncos can put either RB Jon
Helmandollar or Ian Johnson behind QB
Jared Zabransky and be equally effective
in the running game and pound the ball
on the Beavers. The two combined for 128
yards on only 22 carries against
Sacramento State and will try to
establish the tempo early on. The
ability to use two fresh backs takes
some pressure off of Zabransky, keeping
the Bronco offense on the field and
Bernard off of it. The Beaver running
back faces, arguably, the best set of
linebackers in the WAC – Colt Brooks (WAC
defensive player of the week) and Korey
Hall, who combined for 14 tackles
against Sacramento State.
Who to Watch: The Oregon State
linebackers will be under the spotlight
as they attempt to stop Zabransky. The
Bronco QB is equally good scrambling out
of the pocket as he is dropping into
one, so the front seven has to respect
his running ability, which could open
gaping holes in pass coverage. Boise
State CB Orlando Scandrick won’t have to
face former OSU star WR Mike Hass, but
the Beaver receivers can stretch the
field with their speed and open things
up for Bernard.
What Will Happen: Oregon State
doesn’t want the focus of the game to
fall on QB Matt Moore’s shoulders for
two reasons. One, Bernard is tough to
contain and puts the most pressure on
the Bronco defense. Two, Moore is prone
to mistakes in the passing game when he
has to throw the ball excessively.
Boise State should roll a safety into
the box consistently to keep Bernard
from gashing the Bronco defense;
however, that will put their corners out
on an island against the Beaver
receivers. Although the OSU defense
limited Eastern Washington to minus-14
yards rushing, it won’t be able to
handle the Bronco offensive balance
Zabransky doesn’t have to be Superman,
just consistent – 200 yards throwing, no
picks and 40 to 50 yards rushing are
realistic goals.
CFN Prediction: Boise State 28 …
Oregon State 24
... Line: Boise State -8
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Fashion
House) ... 3.5
Idaho
(0-1) at
Washington State
(0-1) 3:45 PM EST Saturday September 9th
Why to Watch: Last week, the WAC
had its first ever Hal Mumme Bowl with
New Mexico State playing Mumme’s former
team, Southeast Louisiana. In week two,
the first annual Dennis Erickson Bowl
will take place in Pullman as Erickson
and his Vandals travel to one of his
former haunts to face Wazzu. The
Vandals are much improved over last
season and are thinking major upset
after a good showing in a 27-17 loss to
Michigan State and with the Cougars
coming off a tough, bruising 40-14 loss
Auburn.
Why Idaho Might Win: With
just under ten minutes left against
Michigan State, the Vandals trailed by
only seven points when many thought they
would be facing the Spartans backups in
a blowout by that point. Moral victory
or not, the Vandals went toe-to-toe with
Sparty and the confidence gained in East
Lansing should reverberate throughout
the entire season. Having RB Jayson
Bird back on the field was instrumental
in winning the time of possession battle
as he registered 88 yards on 20
carries. In the new, shorter college
game, his ability to pick up four-plus
yards a carry is extremely valuable.
Why Washington State Might Win:
The Cougs may have lost All-Pac-10
running back Jerome Harrison, but his
successor, DeMaundray Woolridge averaged
nearly ten yards per carry against the
speedy Auburn defense. He only got nine
carries, but that should change, if he’s
fully healthy, facing an Idaho run
defense that gave up 193 yards to the
Spartans on the ground. Woolridge
suffered a thigh bruise in the Auburn
game and his status is questionable.
Who to Watch: WSU DE Mkristo
Bruce is one of the best pass rushers in
the Pac-10 and his ability to disrupt
the edge blocking schemes on both the
run and pass are vital this week. On
the other side of the ball, stopping
Woolridge and the Coug running game will
fall heavily on Idaho LB David Vobora,
who registered 16 tackles last week at
Michigan State.
What Will Happen: The Cougs QB
Alex Brink will get his confidence back
after a rough outing on the Plains (11
of 24 for 67 yards and one pick), but
then again facing the Auburn secondary
and the Idaho secondary are two
different animals altogether. The
Vandals will attempt to control the
clock and the ball with a controlled
passing game and a lot of Bird on the
ground, but that might not matter if the
Cougars are striking quickly. The Coug
defense won’t allow Idaho QB Stephen
Wichman to use the quick passing game as
an extension of the running game to pile
up 35+ minutes of game action like it
did against the Spartans.
CFN Prediction: Washington State 41
… Idaho 17 ...
Line: Washington State -17.5
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Fashion
House) ... 2
Stanford
(0-1) at
San Jose
State (0-1) 6:00
PM EST Saturday September 7th
Why to Watch: Even with ten
offensive starters returning, Stanford
struggled on its trip to Eugene to face
Oregon scoring an un-Pac-10 like ten
points while giving up 48. San Jose
State did not have the same problem
moving the football, but it gave up 35
points to the Washington Huskies in a
loss in Seattle. With the tough Pac-10
schedule on the horizon, this becomes a
must-win situation for the Cardinal, but
it’s vital for the Spartans to utilize
the momentum generated from last week’s
game against Washington in their own
home opener. San Jose State has given
its next door neighbor problems before,
and if it plays like it did last week,
it will again.
Why Stanford Might Win: The
Cardinal receiver tandem of Mark
Bradford (nine catches for 108 yards and
one TD) and 6-8 Evan Moore (four
receptions for 62 yards) is difficult
for any team to contain. The Spartans
only gave up 168 yards through the air
last week against Washington, but they
didn’t face this combination. Trent
Edwards will be able to bomb away all
game long.
Why San Jose State Might Win:
Spartan QB Adam Tafralis had one of the
best opening weekend performances across
the nation (28 of 35 for 323 yards and
three TDs) with 17 balls going to
either WR James Jones or John
Broussard. If he can stay composed, he
should have a good day against a
Cardinal secondary that allowed Oregon’s
Dennis Dixon to complete 70% of his
passes.
Who to Watch: Safety Trevor
Hooper registered 12 tackles last week
in Oregon, but if he has to do that
again this week, the results won’t be
good for the Cardinal. The Cardinal
linebackers can’t allow the Spartan
runners to get to the secondary level
throughout the game and have to keep an
eye at all times out for Yonus Davis.
The mini-back had only nine carries last
week due in large part to the fact that
the Spartans fell behind early against
Washington, but he’ll get far more work
this week.
What Will Happen: The Cardinal
running game didn’t get out of neutral
against Oregon with leading rusher Toby
Gerhart averaging less than four yards
per carry (a total of 100 yards on the
day), but the Spartans should be
softened up a bit. Needing their own
running game to flourish, the speed
runners aren’t going to be a problem for
the Cardinal defense. Oregon was able to
run behind the power of Jonathan
Stewart, but the Spartans don’t have a
back like him. The passing games for
both teams are solid, but Stanford’s is
much more dangerous.
CFN Prediction: Stanford 40 … San
Jose State 20
... Line: Stanford -10.5
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Fashion
House) ...
2
Pac 10 Week
Two Fearless Predictions,
Part 2