Pete
Fiutak
Q:
Oklahoma or Texas? LSU or Florida? Penn State or Wisconsin?
A:
Oklahoma ... if it keeps Sam Bradford clean. The new quick-passing
OU attack is great at getting the ball out of Bradford's hands in a
hurry, and the Sooner offensive line is special, but Texas has a killer
pass rush with Brian Orakpo turning in an All-America caliber first half
of the season. I don't think this will be a blowout in any way, but I'll
take the OU offensive balance over the Colt McCoy show.
LSU. I'm not sold on the Florida lines vs. the LSU lines. If the game
comes down to the LSU quarterback vs. Tim Tebow, it'll be all Gators,
but the speed of the Tiger defense should help keep Percy Harvin and the
blazing wheels of Florida skill players in check. LSU will go Big Ten on
their ass ... power running, Charles Scott, short passing game.
Penn State on a coin-flip. I'm a little afraid of the wounded animal
factor. Wisconsin isn't ranked, no one's expecting anything, and it's
going to come out guns blazing as it tries to turn the season around.
Penn State hasn't been tested by anyone's lines yet and it'll be in for
a major battle with the running game. In the end, the Nittany Lion
offensive line will control the fourth quarter in a tight, tight
win.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q:
Oklahoma or Texas? LSU or Florida? Penn State or Wisconsin?
A:
Oklahoma. I’ve been dead wrong about Texas so far, but this is the game
that the curtain gets pulled back on the young Longhorn secondary.
Unless the ‘Horns can pressure Sam Bradford relentlessly, which is
unlikely, he’s going to pick apart a defense that lacks the stoppers to
contain Oklahoma’s wave of talented receivers.
LSU. Beyond Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin, I just haven’t been blown away
by Florida this season. The home loss to an average Ole Miss team was a
wake-up call that exposed the defense as being slightly overrated. The
Tigers have the big bodies up front to dominate the Gator defensive
line, springing Charles Scott for long gains and giving Jarrett Lee time
to operate.
Penn State. When Ohio State ended Wisconsin’s home winning streak
Saturday night, it squashed some of the mystique of playing at Camp
Randall. Plus, the Badgers have historically struggled with the kind of
spread offense that Penn State is bringing to Madison this weekend.
Matthew
Zemek
Q:
Oklahoma or Texas? LSU or Florida? Penn State or Wisconsin?
A:
Oklahoma. If the quarterbacks are close to even in this series, the
Sooners usually prevail. Texas's brief two-game win streak was the
result of enormous advantages under center. This time out (like last
year), OU can match Colt McCoy with Sam Bradford. Both should
dominate this game, but the Sooners typically offer more of a
finishing kick and better defensive playmakers.
Florida. On form, LSU is playing far better football right now, and
the Gators are coasting on their talent while not executing at the
level they need to. However, this figures to be the game in which
Tim Tebow's post-Ole Miss apology-cum-resolution should bear fruit.
If the defending Heisman winner was as serious as he appeared to be
on the afternoon of Sept. 27--and I don't doubt Tebow's sincerity
one lick--then he will max out Saturday night. The fact that this is
a night game, not an afternoon game, gives a slight additional push
to the Gators, who are a great CBS Sports team, but a terrible
Raycom Sports team.
Penn State. Wisconsin will hold down PSU's offense, but Allen
Evridge has proven to be far too inconsistent for the Badgers to be
able to rise to the very top of the Big Ten this season. Maybe,
though, the return of the Wisconsin band will make a difference at
Camp Randall Stadium. I'm still not sold on Penn State, but this is
a case where I think the opponent just isn't strong enough to pull
off the upset.
All in all, Oklahoma is the only team that inspires complete
confidence in this set of showdowns. LSU and Wisconsin could very
easily win on Saturday.
Steve Silverman
Q:
Oklahoma or Texas? LSU or Florida? Penn State or Wisconsin?
A: Oklahoma-Texas: By the time this weekend
is over, Texas will be crying in their Burnt Orange beer
once again. Every team has that one nemesis who they can
never seem to beat and the Longhorns just can't get the
best of the Sooners. Oklahoma will seemingly get the
break when they need it most. But it really has nothing
to do with luck. Oklahoma is tougher, stronger and
meaner and better. They also play defense much better
than Texas. Sam Bradford will chew up what passes for
the Texas defense.
LSU-Florida: There are no frauds in this game. LSU and
Florida are both monster teams but the Tigers are just a
little bit more mature and well-developed. The Gators
still have flaws and they were exposed in the Ole Miss
game. LSU will play tighter and tougher in the fourth
quarter and look for the Gators to make one or two big
mistakes in the fourth quarter. LSU wins in the end.
Penn State-Wisconsin: This looked a lot better a few
weeks ago before Wisconsin fell apart in the second half
against the worst Michigan team since 1967. A week
later, they played much better against Ohio State but
they got nipped at the wire by Terelle Pryor. If
Wisconsin was coming into this game undefeated or they
had managed to hold off the Buckeyes, they would have
had a good chance of leaving Joe Paterno dazed and
confused at the end of the game. But this is an
outstanding Penn State team that is not going to gack it
up in Madison. Penn State will fight off a good start by
Wisconsin and win this game going away