Spring
Preview
2009
The 20 Big Questions ... No.
20 (Part 4)
By
Pete Fiutak
2009 Spring Questions - Top
50
Non-Conference Games (No. 1 to 10)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 11 to 20)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 21 to 30)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 31 to 40)
2009 Spring Questions -
Top 50
Non-Conference Games (No. 41 to 50)
2008 Spring Questions - Top 40
Non-Conference Games
With spring ball underway, it's time to start diving into the 2009
season ... no, it's not way too early. Here are the 20 Big Questions to
start off the offseason, beginning with the top non-conference games.
20. 50 non-conference
games to get really, really excited about (No. 31 to 40) ...
40. California at Minnesota, Sept. 19
As last year’s
sleepwalking loss to Maryland showed, Cal doesn’t always do well when it
has to travel to a different time zone. This is the team’s first road
trip of the season, and while it has the talent and athleticism to win
in a walk, Minnesota should be pumped up in the first really big game in
its bright, shiny new stadium after opening it up the week before
against Air Force. If the Gophers can’t handle the Falcon running game,
it could be a sign that Cal’s Jahvid Best could be due for a huge day.
39.
Louisville at Kentucky, Sept. 12
To say the start of the Steve Kragthorpe era in
Louisville has been a bit rocky would be just a wee bit of an
understatement. He needs something positive in a big way to start to
change things around, and nothing would do that like a win over
Kentucky. It’s one thing to have two straight disappointing seasons, but
it’s another for UofL die-hards to have to deal with Wildcat fans after
two straight bitter losses. The Cards get a warm-up against Indiana
State, arguably the nation’s worst FCS team last season. The first half
of the season could be a disaster for the Cats if they lose to the
Cards. Kentucky kicks off the SEC season two weeks later with Florida
and Alabama followed up by road trips to South Carolina and Auburn.
38. South Carolina at NC State,
Sept. 3
When last we
saw South Carolina, it was stinking up the Outback Bowl in a blowout to
cap an ugly three game stretch of losses to Florida, Clemson and Iowa by
a combined score of 118 to 30. The USC season started out well with a
34-0 win over NC State with Pack quarterbacks combining to complete
5-of-20 passes for 49 yards and two interceptions. The Wolfpack improved
by leaps and bounds as the season went on, and now the program can show
just how good it has become under Tom O’Brien. For South Carolina, a
loss could be disastrous with a trip to Georgia coming up the next week.
37. Arizona at Iowa, Sept. 19
Call this a bit of a prove-it game for two
programs that came up with 2008 seasons that were key to the future of
their respective coaching staffs. Arizona starts out the season with
home games against Central Michigan and Northern Arizona before going on
the road for three nasty games. A loss in Iowa City could be devastating
with Pac 10 battles against Oregon State and USC to follow. This is a
sandwich game for Iowa between two road trips of varying degrees of
difficulty. The Iowa State rivalry game is always tough, made more so
this year with the new Cyclone coaching staff, while the game after the
visit from Arizona is the revenge game for Penn State in Happy Valley.
36. East Carolina at North
Carolina, Sept. 19
The
Pirates will be coming off a trip to West Virginia that’ll either put
them in the national spotlight early on, or will make them need the win
in Chapel Hill that much more. North Carolina will be one of the chic
bandwagons to jump on early this year, and it’ll be an even hotter team
if it wins at UConn the week before the ECU game. The Tar Heels can’t
get caught looking ahead to the ACC opener at Georgia Tech the following
week.
35. Arizona
State at Georgia, Sept. 26
Last year’s big showdown between the two turned out
to be a dud. Arizona State, fresh off a shocking overtime loss to UNLV,
didn’t have any offensive punch, and didn’t have any answers for
Knowshon Moreno, in the 27-10 loss that was part of a six-game losing
streak. For Georgia, things would fall apart the following week with a
41-30 loss to Alabama. This year, the Sun Devils make the trip to Athens
after warming up with Idaho State and UL Monroe, but the Dawgs aren’t
taking it easy in any way. This game is part of one of the most brutal
starts to the 2009 season that anyone has to deal with. At Oklahoma
State, South Carolina, at Arkansas, Arizona State, LSU, at Tennessee, at
Vanderbilt, Florida … yeeeeeeesh.
34. Virginia Tech at East
Carolina, Nov. 5
There
will be plenty of talk about payback from Virginia Tech after getting a
punt blocked for a touchdown to lose last year’s opener to East Carolina
27-22. However, the defending ACC champion might not simply be able to
show up and beat the defending Conference USA champion so late in the
season. The Hokies will be coming off tough ACC battles with Georgia
Tech and North Carolina, and will need to get ready for a tough
finishing kick with a date at Maryland to follow. ECU will be jacked up
for the nationally televised Thursday night game to close out a nasty
non-conference slate that includes trips to West Virginia and North
Carolina (along with the home opener against FCS superpower Appalachian
State).
33. Boise
State at Tulsa, Oct. 3
These two played a whale of a game in 2004, with
Boise State winning 45-42 in Tulsa. This year’s matchup should be just
as entertaining, and it might have been a bowl game last year had things
broken the right way. Tulsa is sort of a Boise State wannabe. It hasn’t
had the long-term success the Broncos have had, but they’ve put up big
numbers and have been a dangerous non-BCS program on the verge of big
things. However, there hasn’t been the big, splashy win to get
everyone’s full and undivided attention. Boise State is big time now
with double-digit win season after double-digit win season, but this
could be a major trap game with the WAC schedule about to kick in. Tulsa
will also be about ready to get into the meat of the Conference USA
slate after a non-conference schedule against New Mexico, Oklahoma, and
Sam Houston State.
32. East Carolina at West
Virginia, Sept. 12
The
24-3 ECU win over West Virginia early last season wasn’t necessarily a
stunner after the win over Virginia Tech the week before, but it turned
heads. It turned out to be the low point of the Mountaineer season with
two of the other three losses coming in overtime, and the other defeat a
19-15 battle against Pitt. There can’t be a slip for West Virginia with
a date at Auburn to follow, while ECU has just as big a road trip the
following week to North Carolina.
31. Boston College at Notre
Dame, Oct. 24
The USC
game is the one Notre Dame types seem to point to as the one that
defines the program on a yearly basis, but Boston College has been every
bit as thorny, if not more so. The Eagles have won six straight in the
series, seemingly always in tight defensive battles, and this year’s
game might take on even more meaning for Charlie Weis and the Irish
considering it comes the week after the USC game. This shouldn’t be the
same BC team that’s been so strong over the last several seasons,
there’s work to be done on both sides of the ball, but by midseason, the
team will be as good and as tuned up as it’s going to be.
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