TCU
(1-0) at Texas
(1-0) 7:00 PM
Why to Watch: While
the Miami-Oklahoma game will be
the marquee matchup of the Big
12 slate, this one might be more
important to the national title
chase. This is TCU's BCS game.
This is TCU's shot at being more
than Boise State. This is TCU's
biggest game in decades. This is
TCU's chance at the big time,
with a win likely to spark a
debate all season long about the
possibility of deserving a spot
in the BCS Championship. The
Mountain West is decent, and
there are road dates at Wyoming
and BYU looming, but this is for
all the marbles in what could be
the program's biggest win since
shocking Oklahoma 17-10 in the
2005 season opener. For Texas,
this is a chance to be Texas
again. It's been a rough
last four games for the
Longhorns with losses to Kansas
State and Texas A&M, followed up
by a lackluster bowl win over a
bad Iowa team, followed up by a
21-13 win over ... Arkansas
State?! Longhorn fans are dying
for their boys to turn it on
again, and this game will show
if this really is a good team,
or if it just looks the part in
the orange jerseys. Why TCU Might Win: The Texas
offensive line hasn't been up to
snuff, at least it wasn't
against Arkansas State, and now
it'll face one of the nation's
most dangerous defensive lines.
The Horned Frog defensive front
seven is the real deal, led by
the type of pass rushers who
should put more pressure on QB
Colt McCoy than he's seen since
becoming the starter.
Consistency is going to be a
problem for a Longhorn attack
that couldn't run the ball last
week and might not have time to
let the deep pass plays develop. Why Texas Might Win: It's not
like TCU is going to hang 50 on
the board. All things go through
the TCU defense, and if it's not
dominant, the offense won't be
able to pick up the slack. If
Texas can get up by
double-digits, it's over. While
the Longhorns got ran on by the
Indians, this is a nasty run
defense that's much better than
it showed. UT will put everyone
and the jerseys of Tommy Nobis
and Derrick Johnson up front to
stop the run because ... Who to Watch: ... TCU QB Andy
Dalton probably isn't quite
ready for primetime. While the
freshman was fine against
Baylor, completing 18 of 30
passes for 205 yards and a
touchdown, he has to do more
than just manage the game and
limit mistakes. He's going to
have to be a difference maker,
and if this isn't his coming out
party, TCU won't be able to pull
off the upset. What Will Happen: TCU just
doesn't have enough horses to
make it happen. Star DE Tommy
Blake is coming off an
undisclosed illness and star RB
Aaron Brown is injured. Texas
has had to hear about this game
all off-season and will give it
all the attention and focus it
deserves. CFN Prediction:
Texas 17 ...
TCU
10 ... Line:
Texas -10.5 Must See Rating: (5 Mad Men - 1
Chelsea Lately)
... 4.5 Final Score:
Mountain West Saturday, September 8
Utah State (0-1) at Wyoming (1-0)
2:00 PM
Why to watch: All of a sudden,
Wyoming went from an afterthought in the
upcoming Mountain West race to a
possible contender after wiping away
Virginia 23-3. The Cowboys showed good
offensive balance, tremendous defense,
and good special teams in a near-perfect
win over a name team. Road trips to
Boise State and Ohio are up next before
the Mountain West opener against TCU.
The Cowboys need to keep improving
before the Horned Frogs come to town.
Utah State has lost seven in a row and
12 of its last 13, but it played
relatively well, at least defensively,
in a 23-16 loss to UNLV last week. With
Oklahoma up next, the Aggies need a
positive performance to avoid a brutal
start to the year. Why Utah State might win:
Kevin Robinson. For Utah State to pull
off a shocking upset, it needs help from
everywhere possible. Robinson is one of
the team's best all-around playmakers as
the top receiver, but his real worth
could be as a kick and punt returners.
He gave the Rebels fits last week
averaging 23.5 yards per punt return and
almost 28 yards per kickoff return, and
he's going to have to give the anemic
attack great field position time and
again for this to be close. Why Wyoming might win:
Virginia relied on a mobile
quarterback and a slew of running backs
to try to beat Wyoming. Utah State will
rely on a mobile quarterback and a slew
of running backs to try to beat the
Cowboys. USU starting QB Leon Jackson
isn't Jameel Sewell, Virginia's starting
quarterback, and the Aggie runners
aren't nearly as strong as Virginia's.
If Wyoming could hold Virginia to seven
net yards rushing, it should be able to
shut down USU. Who to watch: Wyoming's
thunder and lightning tandem of running
backs worked together perfectly against
the Cavaliers. Powerback Wynel Seldon
ran for 74 yards, while speedster Devin
Moore tore off 125 yards and a
touchdown on just 18 carries. QB Karsten
Sween is a talent, but the more work
done by the running backs over the next
several games, the better. What will happen: Wyoming
isn't going to let down now. A tough
team at home, the Virginia win will only
fire everyone up, led by a defense
that'll keep Utah State from getting
anything going until garbage time. CFN Prediction:
Wyoming
34 ... Utah State 6... Line:
Wyoming -24.5 Must See Rating: (5
Mad Men - 1 Chelsea
Lately) ... 1.5 Final Score:
California (1-0) at Colorado
State (0-1)
2:00 EST Why to watch: One long
year after enduring a public
spanking at the hands of
Tennessee, Cal got redemption
with a 45-31 win over the
Volunteers in Berkeley. With so
much emphasis put on that
opener, will the Bears have
anything left for a trip to Fort
Collins to play a Mountain West
opponent? They better because
the stakes have never been
higher for a program that’s
moved up two spots to No. 10 in
the polls and is can start
dreaming about a major bowl game
for the first time since 1958.
The extra special part about
Saturday’s win is that it was a
total team effort. Not only was
the offense humming, but the
defense and special teams also
contributed touchdowns. Cal’s
not the only team in Hughes
Stadium that needs to ward off a
letdown this week. Colorado
State is feeling pretty bummed
after dropping a game to rival
Colorado in overtime that it led
28-17 in the second half. The
Rams played well enough to win
and won just about every
statistical category, but still
came up short. The silver
lining in the loss was the
return of RB Kyle Bell, who
missed all of 2006 with a knee
injury. Why Cal might win: We’re
only one game into the season,
and Jeff Tedford’s offense
already looks downright scary.
Justin Forsett appears more than
capable of handling the role of
every down back, and Nate
Longshore was sharp in the win
over Tennessee, going 19-of-28
for 241 yards and a pair of
touchdowns. After having some
problems in Denver with
Colorado’s Cody Hawkins and
Demetrius Sumler, a couple of
freshmen, the Rams will wilt in
the face of the Bears’ speed and
offensive diversity. Why Colorado State might win:
For Cal on Saturday night,
it wasn’t all peaches and cream
in Strawberry Canyon. The
defense allowed Arian Foster to
average almost seven yards a
carry and Erik Ainge to throw
for 271 yards and three
touchdowns. While Foster and
Ainge don’t play for Sonny
Lubick, Ram QB Caleb Hanie is an
efficient passer and Bell is one
of the Mountain West’s toughest
backs. Against a Bear D that’s
still adjusting to the loss of
three all-stars, Hanie will find
TE Kory Sperry and WR Johnny
Walker often, while Bell
controls the clock with 30
carries. Who to watch: While
Longshore, Forsett, and DeSean
Jackson gobble up most of the
headlines, Cal has some budding
stars on defense who emerged
last Saturday night. LB Zack
Follett is a truly disruptive
playmaker, who set the tone for
Saturday night’s win by nailing
Ainge on the opening drive and
forcing a fumble that Worrell
Williams returned for a
touchdown. He has to hit Bell
early and often. What will happen: Don’t
be surprised if Cal is a little
groggy for the first quarter of
Saturday’s game. Fueled by the
skill position players, the
Bears will snap out of it early
enough to get out of Colorado
with a comfortable win. CFN Prediction:
California 41 … Colorado
State 20
... Line: Cal -17 Must See Rating: (5
Mad Men - 1 Chelsea
Lately) ... 3 Final Score:
BYU (1-0) at UCLA (1-0)
6:30 EST Why to watch: A couple of
programs that smacked around
second-tier Pac-10 teams on
opening day hook up for the
first time since 1993. UCLA was
supposed to beat Stanford, and
it did so in style, rolling up
624 yards and 45 points in Jay
Norvell’s debut as the offensive
coordinator. QB Ben Olson, who
originally signed with BYU in
2002 as a monster recruit, went
berserk in the opener (despite a
few too many misfires), throwing
for five touchdowns and 286
yards on 16-of-29 passing. If
this is the year that Olson
finally puts it all together,
the Bruins have the veteran
talent around him to be one of
this year's main contenders for
really big things. The Cougars
were almost as impressive in
Week One, stuffing Arizona,
20-7, in a game that was
considered to be a toss-up. Not
too shabby for a school that was
replacing QB John Beck with
untested sophomore Max Hall.
BYU has spanked Pac-10 teams in
its last two games, and won’t be
flustered by playing in
Pasadena. Why BYU might win: The
Cougars are one of the only
teams outside of a BCS
conference that can go
toe-to-toe with UCLA in the
trenches. On the offensive
line, Sete Aulai and Dallas
Reynolds will help keep DE Bruce
Davis from going wild, while
creating some space for Fui
Vakapuna and Harvey Unga to move
the chains. The Bruin pass rush
wasn’t there last week, and if
its not humming, BYU will put up
yards and points in bunches.
Defensively, BYU is a
disciplined group that rarely
misses tackles, and held Arizona
to just 288 yards and one score
last weekend. Why UCLA might win: Hall
is going to be a good one in
Provo, but it’s asking way too
much for him to beat this
speedy, experienced Bruin
defense in just his second
career start. The Cougars also
lack the burners at the skill
positions to break free from a
unit that closes fast and makes
a lot of plays for negative
yards. On offense, UCLA showed
hints last week of the big-play
ability that escaped them in
2006. Olson is poised for a
huge season, and Chris Markey
and Kahlil Bell combined for 266
yards on The Farm last Saturday. Who to watch: Reggie
Carter is one of those UCLA
linebackers that gets to the
ball in an instant and plays
with outstanding range and
tenacity. Built like a safety
at 6-1 and 220 pounds, he began
his sophomore year with ten
tackles and two tackles for
loss, and will post similar
numbers against the methodical
Cougars.
What will happen: A visit from
BYU will be a great test for a
UCLA program that’s trying to
figure out if it’s a legit top
10 team or not. The Bruins will
pass on the strength of Olson’s
left arm and a stingy defense
that doesn’t quite get the
credit it deserves.
CFN Prediction: UCLA
30 … BYU 16
... Line: UCLA -7.5 Must See Rating: (5
Mad Men - 1 Chelsea
Lately) ... 3.5 Final Score:
