Its time for the 1st Installment of Shane O Mac’s Game’s of the Week. Basically I pick out 5 games of each weekend that you should be keeping a close eye on. These are games that are obviously ones to watch, but I throw in one sleeper pick every now and again. What I love about College Football is that in most cases Week 1 of the season means that cupcake games will be played(19)Penn St/Youngstown St., (2) Ohio State/Marshall, San Jose State at (1)Alabama, Presbyterian vs. Wake Forest etc… just to name a few. But this season schools want to make a name for themselves early and get some respect from the BCS voters and this first week of the season doesn’t waste any time.
(15)Pittsburgh at Utah –(8:30 Thursday, Versus)– Well the Panthers have their work cut out for them in this Thursday night battle, which is surprisingly on Versus nonetheless. Pitt comes into this game with one of the best running backs in the country in Dion Lewis, maybe the two best receivers in the country in the 6’5” giants in Jon Baldwin and Mike Shanahan, but they do have a weak spot. His name is Tino Sunseri and he is an unproved Sophomore and will get challenged by the Utes tough defense early in this game. Watch for Utah to rattle this young quarterback early with their talented secondary corps. Junior CB Brandon Burton will lead the secondary while former quarterback Chad Mannis will lead the linebackers. And oh yeah this game is in Salt Lake City so maybe jetlag will take its effect.
Uconn at Michigan (3:30 Saturday, ABC) – Well, a game at the “Big House” has lost it’s importance over the years but this game is still big for both teams. Rich Rod tried to get his team out of the gutter and improve on his 8-16 record he has established over the past 2 seasons. So not only is Michigan’s dream of being relevant in the Big Ten on the line but Rich Rod’s job is hanging by a thread and he would like nothing more than to beat a talented team like the Huskies in Ann Arbor.
(14)USC at Hawaii (11pm Thursday, ESPN) – Ok, you might be asking yourself why the heck is this game on here and I will tell you why. Number one I am a huge college football fan and I love games like these. Nothing is better than watching a west coast game because when you think all the games are over, one just pops out of nowhere. It just makes me feel like a little kid on Christmas Day opening all of the gifts under the tree and then having your parents pull one out from behind the couch and it happens to be the gift that you “really” wanted. Might be over the line, but that’s how I feel.
Ok to the game…USC lost a ton of scholarship players and are only playing with 70. Lane Kiffin is the new head coach and I want to see how he deals with the situation that Pete Carroll left him tonight. I know that USC has talented players because c’mon it’s USC, but something has to give and it might be tonight. Either one of two things could happen…number one – USC will buckle under pressure and will get upset tonight and ESPN will make a huge deal out of it and you will see the highlights over and over OR USC takes the critics like myself, tell them to shove it and play USC football and win big. I am looking forward to this “gift” of a game tonight.
(5)Boise St vs. (6)Virginia Tech (8pm Monday, ESPN) – HERE WE GO…this is what college football is all about. A team out of the state of Idaho that has been absolutely dominant the past five years is ranked in the top 5 heading into their first game of the season. I love it! Head Coach Chris Petersen has gone an astonishing (49-4) in the time he has been there and they have won HUGE games against TCU last year in the Fiesta Bowl and obviously the “State of Liberty” game against powerhouse Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Since then they only thing that has kept them out of the National Championship game is a tough schedule. Well, if the Broncos didn’t do it this year then I don’t know what they can do…they have this game against Virginia Tech in Landover, MD and a home game against Oregon State.
I am looking forward to see the battle of the quarterbacks, Kellen Moore vs. Tyrod Taylor. Both men are excellent athletes and can get the ball where ever they want to on the field. It’s just a matter of who gets the ball last and THAT’S why this game will be a dandy.
(24) Oregon State vs. (6) TCU (7:45 Saturday, ESPN)– So two teams from conferences that don’t get an automatic bye into the BCS Championship game are in the top 10. That just goes to show you how up in the air this season will be and expect ANYTHING to happen. In this game it’s no different. You have the Rodgers brothers on one side, who can blow it up and score some points and you have a tough defense that was 6th in points against last season (12.5). Senior quarterback Andy Dalton continues his leadership role on the Horned Frogs offense while sophomore Ryan Katz takes over Sean Canfield’s spot as quarterback for the Beavers. IT’S THE Horned Frogs vs. Beavers in this game and it will be interesting to see if Oregon State can cause the upset and rock the top 25 in the first week.
So that’s SHANE O MAC’S GAMES OF WEEK for Week 1…check out more from me on here. You will get reactions and previews from me about anything College Football, NFL and even a little WWE wrestling because I am a huge wrestling. So keep reading and I’ll keep writing.
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