Saturday Lunch Specials

So far, the college football season has been making more noise than Stephan A. Smith on Quite Frankly. Fortunately for us diehard Saturday pigskin fans, it is useful noise, exciting noise, interesting noise. Whatever type of noise you want to call it, we can all concur that this has been one of the greatest college football seasons ever. From Appalachian State over Michigan in Week 1 to USC’s 35-game home winning streak being ended by Stanford to Les Miles’ gutsy call against Auburn to the damn Kansas Jayhawks being 8-0 (this is football, mind you) and the Boston College Eagles being ranked #2 in the country. And as the season shifts into the second half we get to witness some epic conference games, the national title contenders emerge, the Heisman race heats up, and most of all we still get to listen to Lou’s Pep Talk on ESPN’s College Game Day (built by the Home Depot, of course). So, as Saturday draws closer by every passing minute, Barney is here to breakdown the top 3 games of the week.

1. #21 Wisconsin at #1 Ohio State- After surviving what could have been their toughest test of the season, Ohio State returns home to find another ranked opponent that is trying to steal their thunder. The Buckeyes were phenomenal at Happy Valley last weekend and was able to come out of one of the toughest stadiums in the country with a convincing 37-17 win against the Nittany Lions of Penn State. The Buckeyes defense stifled Anthony Morelli and the Penn State offense, allowing only 263 yards and a touchdown (Penn State’s 2nd TD came on a kick return). Junior quarterback Todd Boeckman also had a solid game, throwing for 253 yards and 3 TDs and Chris “Beanie” Wells punched in a 133 yards effort on the ground. Ohio State’s big, physical O-line allowed the Bucks to move the ball effortlessly down the field and allowed them to control the pace of the game. The win showed the country that OSU was not to be taken lightly. But now they face another test, this time in the friendly confines of the ‘Shoe. Wisconsin has won two games in a row after losing two in row. Then again, their two wins game against Northern Illinois and Indiana and their two loses came against Illinois and Penn State (yes, they lost 38-7 to the same Penn State team OSU beat 37-17). Wisconsin has struggled against ranked teams and this game will be no different. Ohio State’s defense will suffocate QB Tyler Donovan and RB PJ Hill (who is questionable for the game) and Wisconsin’s defense, which has allowed 20.9 points per game, will be worked over by Ohio State’s balanced run-pass attack. I hate to say it, but the Bucks are gonna win big.
Ohio State over Wisconsin 38-17

2. #4 Arizona State at #5 Oregon- By far the best game this week, and could turn out to be one of the best game’s of the season. Arizona State #4 in the country? It’s almost like saying Jim Rome is cool. I mean, this is the same ASU team that has won an average of 7 game per season over the past 3 seasons and now there 8-0! Ah, the beauty of college football. Last week ASU proved a lot to the college football world with a 31-20 win over then #21 Cal. Before that they hadn’t played a ranked team all season, but they did beat Stanford 41-3, the same Stanford team that beat USC (still not sure that really counts for anything though). The Sun Devils, under new head coach Dennis Erickson, are a great 2nd half team and have shown the ability to play well under pressure. Junior quarterback Rudy Carpenter (who is questionable for the game) is having a great seasons as QB 1, throwing for 1949 yards and 17 TDs, with only 2 INTs. Their defense, led by safety Troy Nolan and senior linebacker Robert James, has given up only 15.9 points per game. But the Sun Devils will face a very tough test when they travel to Autzen Stadium tomorrow. The Ducks, led by Heisman candidate and senior quarterback Dennis Dixon, were stellar against USC last week and it resulted in a 24-17 against the defending Pac-10 champions. While much of the attention is focused on Dixon, junior running back Jonathan Stewart is the unsung hero of the Ducks offense. Stewart has ran for 1043 yards and 9 TDs so far this season, including a 251 yard performance against Washington 2 weeks ago and a 103 yard performance against USC last week. Dixon’s stats have been impressive to say the least as well. He has passed for 1885 yards and 16 TDs and has run for 492 yards and 8 TDs. Oregon’s offense is averaging 524.4 yards per game and 43.8 points. They will run all over this Arizona State team (literally and figuratively) and deny the Sun Devils a chance and there first Pac-10 title since 1996. Oregon big at home. Oregon over Arizona State 42-34

3. #3 LSU at #17 Alabama- It seems as though the Nick Saban-Les Miles showdown has grabbed more attention than the fact that this is a major SEC game with conference and national title implications. Les Miles will take his Tigers into what will be a rocking Bryant-Denney Stadium tomorrow and Nick Saban will coach against his former team for the first time. Both teams are coming off a bye week and have no doubt been intensely preparing for this match-up for the past two weeks. Offensively, Alabama is led by senior QB John Parker Wilson who has passed for 1876 yards and 11 TDs this season. His main target is WR DJ Hall who will without a doubt draw a lot of attention from the LSU secondary. The 6-2 Hall has explosive speed and has 764 receiving yards and 5 TDs on the season. Two weeks ago, Hall torched Tennessee’s secondary, catching 13 passes for 185 and 2 TDs. LSU, especially shutdown corners Jonathan Zenon and Chevis Jackson, will need to shut him down in order to win this game. If star DT Glenn Dorsey is healthy (he sprained his right knee against Auburn), expect John Parker Wilson to be doing a lot of scrambling around and trying to escape LSU’s vaunted pass rush. Alabama’s offensive line did not allow a sack vs. Tennessee, though, and if they can hold up then Alabama will have a great chance to pull the upset. On offensive, LSU will be aided by the return of Early Doucet, who had been injured and didn’t see much playing time against Auburn. QB Matt Flynn will need to be mistake free and Les Miles will need to be more diverse in his offensive play calls. LSU needs to use speedy quarterback Ryan Perrilloux more often, look for the deep ball to Trindon Holliday, and pound it up the middle with Jacob Hester. If LSU can keep Alabama’s defense on their toes, then they should be able to come out of Tuscaloosa with a win. Another interesting stat. Since 2001, LSU is 19-6 in games decided by 7 points or less and Alabama is 12-14. But, college football has shown us that we need to look beyond that stats and numbers. Alabama will be fired up to play this game, the crowd will be going nuts, and they will end LSU’s hope of a national title and take control of the SEC West. Alabama over LSU 33-30